Epilogue and Final Thoughts Before I start discussing my overall thoughts on my trip to Berlin, the collections I visited during the week I spent in Germany and my overall feelings about the trip, it would be highly remiss of me to fail to thank the many people who gave me advice in this thread prior to the trip. The trip would not have been anywhere near as much of a success without the help, guidance and friendship of all those who contributed to my German adventures. Particular thanks go to those individuals with whom I corresponded in greater detail by email and private message regarding my travel plans - IanRRobinson, zoogiraffe, sooty mangabey, Tim May, Maguari and robmv - and the two German zoochatters who were kind enough to meet up with Helly and myself, Animal and Hongabonga. Of course, I would also like to thank Javan Rhino and Agile Gibbon for providing enjoyable company throughout much of the trip - despite my tongue-in-cheek complaints that they were stalking us! ----- First, and most importantly, it should be noted - to the surprise of probably no one reading this thread - that I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Berlin, and that I am incredibly glad to have done so. The city was pleasant and contained a surprising amount of green spaces, and I was rather impressed with how cheap and efficient the public transport system was; I would certainly recommend that anyone visiting the city invest in purchasing a WelcomeCard, as this made travelling around the city even more affordable. Moreover, I found the inhabitants of the city with whom I interacted - both at the two zoological collections and elsewhere in the city - extremely patient and helpful. It is worth noting that the level of fluency with English *is* still rather lower in the east of the city than it is elsewhere; however this is to be expected, and I found that I didn't have too much trouble interacting even with these individuals using my rusty grasp of Deutsch. I did, of course, have the companionship of German zoo enthusiasts on the first two days of my trip, which rather helped whilst I "got my bearings" as it were. As will have become very obvious through the course of this thread, I have fallen in love with the two Berlin collections, each of which I would now rank in joint first-place in terms of my favourite zoological collections. One of the great things about the two collections - something which I feel confident in saying is unique to Berlin, with no counterpart to be found in other zoological collections - is the degree to which they complement one another, with each playing to their own strengths and displaying a wide range of taxonomic variety whilst largely avoiding duplicating exhibits. Zoo Berlin is the collection for those who want to see historical buildings, a comprehensive collection of invertebrates, fish and lower tetrapods, a vast collection of tropical birds and a wide range of primates; Tierpark Berlin is the collection for those who want to see large tranquil areas of woodland and grassland dotted with zoo exhibits, massive sprawling areas of hoofstock, a comprehensive collection of caprines, camelids and equids and a large collection of cold-climate birds. There are some strengths shared by both collections; a massive collection of both large and small carnivores, a keen eye for unusual and unique taxa, a comprehensive representation of the diversity of life - but by and large, each collection does not compete with the other, and as such they stand as equals. Each collection does have failings, some long-standing and some newer in origin, and many of these issues have been discussed on Zoochat both within this thread and the wider forum for years. For many of those who read this report, these faults are fatal to your enjoyment of the whole; others deny the faults altogether. I personally would like to think I take a more balanced view; I would very much like the failings of each collection to be addressed, but I do believe they can be addressed without compromising the spirit of the collections, what makes them so very special. My reservations about the future direction of the two Berlin collections under their new director have, I think, been discussed at sufficient length already. Therefore, I shall only say that I fear that future developments at the two Berlin collections may well risk compromising that which makes them so special. Even if - as I very much hope - my fears are unwarranted, and Zoo Berlin and Tierpark Berlin retain much of the spirit which I perceived, they will still be very different places. My visit came at the end of an era for the Berlin collections; I certainly hope and plan to return there before too much time passes, but when I do the collections I fell in love with will be gone forever. I very much hope that I fall in love with them again. My travels also took me to the city of Magdeburg, a trip which was very much facilitated by the fact that Helly, Chris, Ang and myself made use of the Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket recommended to us by lintworm. As discussed previously in this thread, this allowed the four of us to travel by regional train for a pittance, and I strongly urge anyone visiting Germany to look into making use of this scheme. We were unable to spend quite as much time in the city as we had planned, but from what we saw it would seem that Magdeburg has not yet fully recovered from the ravages of the Cold War, having been part of the old DDR. The buildings we saw when walking from the train station to the zoo were dishevelled and in poor condition - I am given to understand that the city centre is in rather better condition, but as noted we regrettably were unable to spend time there. However, the park in which the zoo itself is located was well-kept and pleasant, as was the zoo itself. We had chosen to travel to Zoo Magdeburg for a handful of reasons; it appeared to have been seldom-visited by UK zoochatters and as such little had been written about it on the forum, those who *had* visited the collection spoke glowingly about the zoo, we knew that it was in the process of undergoing several redevelopments, and last but not least it presented an opportunity to see a number of unusual species rarely seen elsewhere in Europe - including the Marbled Polecat, one of my favourite small carnivore taxa. We did not regret making this choice at all; the collection is extremely well-designed and contains a number of very high-quality exhibits. The row of enclosures for native taxa of central and southern Europe set among shady woodland along one side of the zoo merits particular praise, as does the ongoing Africambo development. I strongly urge anyone who visits the two Berlin collections to also take the time to visit Magdeburg; were it in the United Kingdom I am certain it would be held up as one of the best small-to-medium collections in the country, but I rather suspect that by the standards of German collections it is rather par for the course! One thing that should however be noted is that the staff at the collection, and likely the inhabitants of Magdeburg as a whole, had little-to-no ability to speak English; as such, some ability on the part of the visitor to speak Deutsch would be very much advisable! The staff were friendly and patient, however, so this did not present a problem nor an impediment to our enjoyment of the day. The final city we visited was Leipzig - again, a city which had been part of the old East Germany but one which appears to have redeveloped and rebuilt somewhat more successfully than has Magdeburg. Based on what we saw of the city, it was pleasant and finding our way around on foot was relatively easy. Those inhabitants of Leipzig - both at the zoo and in the wider city - with whom we spoke seemed to have a greater level of fluency in English than those in Magdeburg and eastern Berlin did, although less than those in western Berlin. Again, we found those individuals with whom we spoke very friendly and helpful. The most important point to make about Zoo Leipzig is that I *did* enjoy the collection - I felt it was a good zoo, with a number of excellent exhibits including the Kiwara Savannah, the Aquarium and the outdoor enclosures of Pongoland, and the opportunity to see Chinese Pangolin was one which I am still extremely happy to have been able to enjoy. Moreover, Gondwanaland was probably the most impressive bit of zoo engineering and design which I had ever been fortunate enough to view, despite my reservations about the house itself. However, equally I had - and continue to have - issues with the excessive use of theming in some areas, a feeling of artificiality and a lack of soul, and an apparent focus on looking polished and impressive. In essence, I feel that Zoo Leipzig is a very good zoo which suffers for being over-hyped and held up as greater than it actually is; of course, I am happy to acknowledge that many people could say the same about the two Berlin collections which I praise so highly. At the end of the day, differences in opinion are part of what makes discussion of zoological collections so rewarding, and as such I would never want people to bow to my opinion alone. As I noted in my larger discussion of Zoo Leipzig, I fully intend to return and I am heartened by suggestions made in this thread by individuals who have visited the collection subsequent to myself that some of the failings I observed - such as a marked lack of free-flying birds within Gondwanaland and as such a sense of wasted opportunity - are in the process of being addressed. Overall, then, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Berlin and surrounding cities in April 2014 - and equally I have thoroughly enjoyed writing about the trip in this thread, even if there have been rather a few severe delays brought on by writer's block, my own distaste for using a laptop to type long stretches of prose and technological breakdown! I would strongly recommend that Zoochatters visiting the two Berlin collections for the first time consider a similar plan to mine; visiting a smaller collection (Magdeburg) and a third large collection (Leipzig) provided an interesting and valuable point of reference to the experience of Zoo Berlin and Tierpark Berlin. This would be all the more valuable if - like myself - the visit was also the first time one had visited a German collection, or indeed any collection outside one's homeland. ----- I hope that this thread will act both as a "time capsule" of sorts, discussing the state of the four German zoological collections I visited in April 2014, a look at these collections from the perspective of someone new to German collections, as well as a valuable resource for any Zoochatters planning to visit these collections for the first time. To this end a full index and contents page for my Berlin trip report - including links to each portion of the report in order, and annotations detailing the contents of each post - will follow this post; I will also edit the first post of this thread to include this index. It goes without saying that I actively hope people will continue to read this thread and comment on it; I would very much like to hear people's feedback on my thoughts and opinions.
Index and Contents April 2nd 2014 - Arrival I: Journey To Berlin April 3rd 2014 - First Day At Tierpark Berlin I: Arrival II: Dingos, Domestics And Damp Polar Bears III: Seabirds And Civets IV: Alfred-Brehm Haus Perimeter V: Alfred-Brehm Interior VI: From Elephant House To Aquarium VII: Hoofstock And Highland VIII: Towards The Schloss IX: Snakes And Crocodiles X: Assorted Areas En-Route To The Exit --- Photographic Highlights April 4th 2014 - First Day At Zoo Berlin I: Carnivore And Nocturnal House II: Zoo Aquarium III: Ape House IV: Antelope House And Hoofstock Paddocks V: Expansion Area To Penguin House VI: Condor Aviary To Seabird Aviary VII: Fasanerie VIII: Bird House IX: Bear Enclosures To Exit --- Photographic Highlights April 5th 2014 - Zoologischer Garten Magdeburg I: A Train, A Walk And First Impressions II: Parrots And Predators III: Callitrichids, Marbled Polecat And Tapir House IV: Rhinoceros House And Environs V: A Spot Of Lunch, A High Point And A Low Point VI: Pottering To Pademelons VII: From Australia To Central Europe VIII: Childrens Zoo And Further Callitrichids IX: Final Areas, Overall Thoughts On Magdeburg And Return To Berlin --- Photographic Highlights April 6th 2014 - Second Day At Zoo Berlin I: Ibex Mountain And Swine House II: Hippo House, Revisits And Overall Thoughts On Zoo Berlin --- Photographic Highlights April 7th 2014: Zoo Leipzig I: Travel To Leipzig And First Impressions II: Kiwara Savannah And Enclosures Towards Elephant Temple III: Pangolins, Prairie Dogs And Path To Gondwanaland IV: Gondwanaland: Introduction, Volcano Tunnel and South America V: Gondwanaland: Africa, Asia And Overall Thoughts VI: Bird House And Parrot Aviaries VII: Bear Exhibit, Aquarium and "Monkey Islands" VIII: Pongoland And Environs IX: Final Thoughts And Return To Berlin --- Photographic Highlights April 8th 2014 - Second Day At Tierpark Berlin I: Pottering Around Once Again II: Last Hours At Tierpark And Final Thoughts --- Photographic Highlights April 9th 2014: Reichstag, Museum für Naturkunde and Hackescher Markt I: The Reichstag Dome II: A Long-Awaited Sauropod III: From Tendaguru To The Present IV: The Variety Of Nature V: Museum Conclusion And Hackescher Markt --- Photographic Highlights April 10th 2014: Departure I: Homeward Bound ---------- Epilogue And Final Thoughts
Bravo TLD! Just bravo! I found your posts to be informative, humorous, and detailed and have similar hopes for you Bavarian trips. I feel I have literally visited the zoos you have described and felt the excitement of seeing an ultra rare species and your disappointment of seeing some of the (albeit very few!) "terrible" enclosures. This is a guide I would certainly refer back to if I ever make it to Germany!(While of course doing other non-zoo related activities)
Just bumping this thread to remark on the scary thought that it is now ten years ( ) since the trip documented within; at the time, I never dreamed that my travels around Europe would have continued to the extents that they have, nor that I would have the confidence to travel as often (and far afield) as I have in the past decade. But there are always new horizons - in the coming months I hope to visit France and Switzerland for the first time!
Coincidence has it that your trip to Germany fell together with the arrival of Andreas Knieriem, then brand new head of Berlin's three large institutions Zoo, Zoo-Aquarium and Tierpark. So you were just in time to find all of them in their prior condition. In the decade since then, however, not a single major building in the Tierpark has remained unaltered. The elephant building will be the last one to reopen. But he has also changed quite a bit at Zoo and Zoo-Aquarium. So perhaps, eventually, your confidence will lead you back to where your journeys began...
Oh, it already has twice - in September 2018 and in September 2023 so I am very happy that I produced this thread as an in-depth historical record for future generations documenting the Berlin collections at the end of the Bernhard Blaszkiewicz era. I only wish my mental energy and focus when it comes to writing was as strong as it once was - as such I suspect an updated record will be the responsibility of another author!
