Tierpark Hagenbeck, Zoological park in Stellingen, Hamburg, Germany.
Tierpark Hagenbeck is a zoo in Stellingen, Hamburg, covering 19 hectares with over six kilometres of paths. Its former main entrance, built in 1907 to a design by theatre architect Moritz Lehmann, is a monumental gate of pale stone and brick-coloured masonry: two wide pillars, each topped by a sculpted group of green-patinated animals, with an elephant head below holding a hanging lantern in its trunk. The animal figures follow models by Düsseldorf sculptor Josef Pallenberg, who also made the park's dinosaur figures. The gate lost its function in the 2003 redesign and is a listed monument.
Carl Hagenbeck opened this zoo in 1907 and introduced a new system in which animals would live without visible bars in landscapes meant to resemble their home regions. After World War II the damaged grounds were rebuilt and the Hagenbeck family expanded the concept with a tropical aquarium completed in 2007 for the centennial anniversary.
Generations of families from across northern Germany have visited this zoo and many locals recall school trips and birthday parties spent among the open enclosures. The Hagenbeck name has become so familiar in Hamburg that it is used as shorthand for a zoo outing and the grounds remain deeply embedded in the city's everyday life.
The grounds open around 9 in the morning and close earlier in winter and later in summer depending on the season, with ticket counters stopping new admissions about an hour before closing. The paths are mostly paved and a full tour through all areas takes several hours, so comfortable shoes are recommended.
The former main gate, designed by theatre architect Moritz Lehmann and unveiled with the park in 1907, lost its function in the 2003 redesign but is listed as a Hamburg monument. Its animal figures were modelled by Düsseldorf sculptor Josef Pallenberg, who also made the park's life-sized dinosaur sculptures.
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