A Guidebook Library: TLD's year-long randomised walkthrough of zoo guides

Day 150: Zoo Berlin (1930) - Young Gorilla



Page count: 52 pages
Photographs: 51 black-and-white photographs
Illustrations/diagrams: N/A
Layout: Comprehensive walkthrough account of collection.
Map: Fold-out at rear of guidebook

As discussed upthread, this is the (significantly-belated) formal "conclusion" of my year-long walkthrough of zoological guidebooks located within my personal collection, although posts will continue on a less-regimented and more informal basis; given this fact, when it became clear I would only get one or two further posts completed I moved this particular guidebook up the schedule (it was originally selected for the 154th post) in order to provide a satisfactory end point. My comprehensive walkthrough of Zoo Berlin guidebooks will comprise one of the primary areas of focus within this thread going forward, of course, but given the significance which the material published by the zoo plays within my personal collection - and the fact that this thread opened with the 1866 guidebook published by Zoo Berlin - it seems fitting that I conclude the randomised walkthrough thus.



As was the case throughout the shorter guidebooks published by Zoo Berlin throughout the years immediately following the 1920s German hyperinflation crisis, the main body of this guidebook comprises a fairly succinct - but nonetheless highly-detailed and comprehensive - walkthrough account describing the various exhibits and species which the visitor would encounter when following a suggested route throughout the collection. Although the majority of this walkthrough is based on the presumption that the visitor would have entered the zoo through the Stadtbahn entrance (located immediately opposite the Zoologischer Garten railway station, and approximately 120 metres southwest of the modern-day Löwentor entrance) there are supplementary passages detailing the exhibits which one would encounter when entering via the Budapesterstraße entrance (the modern-day Elefantentor) and via the original zoo entrance in the Tiergarten.

Although broadly-speaking similar in general format and style to the guidebooks which immediately preceded this edition - containing a handful of photographs depicting significant structures and exhibits, but otherwise being entirely unillustrated, avoiding the use of taxonomic names when discussing the species displayed within the collection, and being rather more matter-of-fact and lacking in florid descriptions than those guidebooks published prior to the Great War - the actual content has undergone noticeable updates. Firstly, the decision to switch to a more modern and legible typeface has been retained from the 1929 guidebook, an innovation which significantly improves accessibility and ease-of-interpretation from the point of view of a present-day zoological historian. Secondly, although some of the photographs found within the main body of the text have been recycled from those reproduced throughout prior editions, a number of new photographs have been provided here - allowing a more comprehensive picture of what the collection physically looked like during the inter-war period. Finally, the text itself has been updated to reflect changes in the animal collection, both in terms of arrivals and departures, and the construction of new exhibits and houses; although it would require a more detailed examination than I have the time and mental energy for at the present time, I suspect that this *may* be the most comprehensive update in this regard since the 1925 edition.



Given the fact that the late-1920s saw a massive upswing in the construction, renovation and expansion of the restaurants, concert halls and pavilions located throughout Zoo Berlin, it is perhaps unsurprising that the corresponding section of this guidebook - located at the end of the walkthrough account - is the passage which has been most noticeably expanded and updated. The content within this section represents an incredibly valuable primary resource not only for those interested in zoological history, but also those interested in the wider sociological and cultural history of Berlin itself during the Weimar era; as I have remarked previously, the concert halls, restaurants, exhibit halls and other supplementary attractions located within the ground of Zoo Berlin were major cultural hubs within the city during the latter part of the 1920s - something which, as I shall doubtless discuss at a later date, became even more pronounced during the Nazi era of the 1930s. As such, the information provided here gives a valuable insight into the cultural and sociological atmosphere of the time. For instance, to cite but one example, the reader is told that the Waldschänke located to the south of the Antelope House - a restaurant and inn constructed in the style of a traditional wooden farmhouse tavern - sold massive quantities of Berliner Weiße; this is a regional variant of wheat beer developed in the 16th century distinguished by a strongly-sour flavour (and often accompanied by raspberry or woodruff syrup) which was largely restricted to Berlin and the surrounding area, but at the time of publication was by far the most popular alcoholic drink in the city, In subsequent decades, it has become significantly less popular - from a height of over 700 breweries producing Berliner Weiße within Berlin alone in the late 19th century, Wikipedia indicates that it is now only produced by two breweries within Berlin and a small handful elsewhere.




As usual, the guidebook concludes with a series of photographic plates depicting selected species located within Zoo Berlin; although some of these images have been reproduced from prior editions, many are novel to this particular edition. Moreover, as I have remarked in the past, it is possible to draw reasonable conclusions about the species collection at the time of publication by paying attention to which species are no longer depicted within these photographic plates, and correspondingly which species may have ceased to be present within the collection. The supplementary text provided alongside these images provides further valuable information; I have previously highlighted the presence in the immediately-preceding edition of several photographs citing a 1925 expedition to Ethiopia which resulted in significant additions to the species collection. Similarly, we are here informed that the Bornean Banteng located within Zoo Berlin at the time of publication was the first to be held in captivity, and that the European Wisent was now extinct in the wild, with the breeding population in German zoological collections representing the sole survivors.



The fold-out map located within the rear cover of the guidebook is, as always, excellent; it is clear and well-designed, with careful use of contrast and colour enhancing accessibility and ease-of-reference. As usual, all houses and supplementary structures throughout the zoo are depicted in bright red, with the surrounding animal exhibits in dark green, supplemented by line sketches of enclosure boundaries and areas of vegetation where necessary; these are all rendered on a pale green background, with the result that the map represents not only an extremely accurate depiction of Zoo Berlin at the time of publication, and hence a highly-useful reference tool both for those visiting the collection at the time and the modern-day zoo historian, but also an attractive work of art in its own right.

When compared to the map provided within the 1929 guidebook, a number of changes are immediately apparent, reflecting the various construction projects which had been undertaken over the course of the preceding year or so. These include:

• The construction of several small dance halls throughout the zoo.
• Expansion and re-development of the various commercial structures, concert halls and restaurant located throughout the eastern and south-eastern portions of the zoo as a whole, and the addition of features such as children's playgrounds and dance halls.
• The construction of a new pool and outdoor enclosure for sealions; as far as I can tell, this was located in the same general area of the zoo, and to the same general design, as the modern-day sealion/seal pool at Zoo Berlin,
• Similarly, the construction of a new paddock and house for reindeer,

Overall, this once again represents an interesting and highly-informative primary resource for anyone interested in the history of Zoo Berlin, or indeed the socioeconomic and cultural history of Germany and Berlin as a whole during the interwar period from which this guidebook originates. Moreover, even when viewed as a "living" guidebook to be consulted at the time of publication by a visitor to Zoo Berlin, it serves the purpose very well through the combination of a methodical and detailed walkthrough account and the accompanying map. In my experience, this is also one of the more commonplace guidebooks from the pre-Nazi era of Zoo Berlin on the secondary market; as such, I strongly recommend that anyone reading this thread who encounters the guidebook "in the wild" should give serious thought to adding it to their own collection.