The Berlin Zoo (Zoologischer Garten Berlin) opened in 1844 and is located in the district of Tiergarten. It houses one of the most comprehensive collections of species in the world. The first animals were donated by Frederick William IV, King of Prussia. After the division of Berlin, the Berlin Zoo became part of West Berlin, and a second zoo, the Tierpark Berlin, was subsequently built in East Berlin. Visitors can either enter the Berlin Zoo through the Elephant Gate on Budapester Straße or through the Lion Gate on Hardenbergplatz.

Berlin Zoo – Elephant Gate on Budapester Strasse. www.walled-in-berlin.com. Photo © J. Elke Ertle

Berlin Zoo Badly Damaged During World War II

The first Allied WWII bombs hit the zoo area in September of 1941. The damage was relatively minor. But two years later, bombardments resulted in horrific damage. In less than 15 minutes on the first day, 30% of the zoo animals were killed. Of the eight elephants, only one survived. He lost his entire harem. The 2-year-old hippo bull, Knautschke, was saved by teenage boys who helped him escape from his enclosure. But the most damage was done during the Battle of Berlin between 22 April and 30 April 1945 when the Berlin Zoo was under constant Red Army artillery fire. On 31 May 1945, following German capitulation, zoo personnel counted the animals that had survived the war. Only 91 of the 3,715 animals had survived.

WWII Survivor – Knautschke the Hippo

Knautschke became the darling of the public and produced 35 offspring during his lifetime. He was born in the middle of the war and trapped in his hippo shelter – a building made of bricks – when the zoo was bombed. Debris blocked the exits, and the young hippo tried in vain to escape. He was already a fairly large animal, and his head got stuck in the exit. Glowing tinder and burning pieces of the roof were falling on him when several teenage boys saw what was happening and managed to work some boards free so that Knautschke could fit through the opening. They were successful. Knauschke jumped into the water basin and survived.

Knut – Famous Polar Bear Cub at the Berlin Zoo

The Berlin Zoo became known around the world when Knut, a polar bear, was born in captivity on 5 December 2006. He and his twin were rejected by their mother at birth and were subsequently raised by zookeeper Thomas Doerflein. Only the size of a guinea pig, Knut spent the first 44 days of his life in an incubator. Then Dörflein began to hand-raise the cub. The baby polar bear required 24-hour care, and Dörflein sleep on a mattress next to Knut’s sleeping crate at night. He played with, bathed, and fed the cub daily. When Knut was almost one year old and too strong for his human companion, the Berlin Zoo decided it was time for Doerflein to stop physical contact with the cub.

Berlin Zoo – Zookeeper Thomas Doerflein with Knut, the Polar Bear Cub. www.walled-in-Berlin.com. Image licensed under Creative Commons- Share Alila, a 2.5 generic license

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic or current events, people, places or food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.