Two kneeling elephants made of Elbe sandstone support two heavy columns, on top of which is a curved roof, decorated with golden oriental paintings and imaginative carvings (see berlin zoo map): even the entrance to the Zoo Berlin, the Elefantentor ("Elephant Gate") built in 1899 – is unique. And it really is a zoo of superlatives: it celebrates its 175th birthday and is the oldest one in Germany. With around 20,000 animals from more than 1,000 species, it is the most important collection in the world. The berlin zoo has a big cat house, a hippopotamus house and a nocturnal animal house, as well as the biggest bird house in Europe. Give your family a treat and take them to Berlin famous zoo.

 

In the mid-19th century, the famous naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, the African explorer Martin Hinrich Lichtenstein and the landscape designer Peter Joseph Lenné proposed the opening of a zoological garden in Berlin. After three years under construction, the berlin zoo designed by Lenné opened its gates in 1844. Berlin zoo first inhabitants were the animals that King Friedrich Wilhelm IV donated from his menagerie and pheasantry in the Tiergarten. Over the years, the site of the zoo was redesigned and extended a number of times (see berlin zoo map). Of the 4000 animals it housed before the Second World War, only 91 survived, and many of its buildings were destroyed which you will not see nowadays. Today, the Zoologischer Garten is one of Berlin's most visited attractions.