Although I’ve been a fan of zoos ever since my mom started taking me way back in the day, I honestly never thought about reading a full several hundred page book detailing just the history of one particular zoo. And of course, it never occurred to me to seek out such a book on a zoo as specific as Berlin’s zoo, of all such institutions. But I’m pleased with my decision to try “Through the Lion Gate.” As I should have expected, Germany’s first and oldest zoo has had quite a past, to understate things quite a bit. Rich in detail, this made for enjoyably intriguing reading.

I highly recommend reading this, along with The Zookeepers Wife. Even if you have seen the movie of The Zookeepers Wife, I highly recommend reading both of these together.

The journey to build from the ashes is incredible!

I love animals. I have lived in Germany. This book was a nice snippet into an interesting point in history. It took longer to warm up than I thought but it turned out to be quite a read.

Through the Lion Gate, A History of the Berlin Zoo by Gary Bruce was received direct from the publisher. Why would an American in Virginia want to read a book about the history of the Berlin Zoo? Maybe that American was stationed in Berlin while the infamous Berlin Wall was up (he was and can attest that wall meant serious business not like a proposed security wall along a country's border). Possibly it has been stated that the train station next to the Berlin Zoo is described in a rock bands song of the same name (I have read that more than once). Anyway this book will teach you not only about the Berlin zoo but the history of European zoos overall. Further, you can delve into history of Berlin and of the care takers of the zoo's animals. Highly recommended reading for those interested in zoo's, zoo animals and history. I would not say it is for all ages, as the realities of war are discussed in the book.

5 Stars

As a huge proponent of zoos and what they could bring to the human race, I am often fascinated by the history of the zoos I have visited (or perhaps want to visit) and those that run it. Especially when one is as well known as say the Berlin Zoo, I am particularly fascinated by the history and happenings in that zoo both historically and more recently.

Very well written and a very interesting read.

The Berlin zoo has been popular in Germany since its opening in 1844. It stimulated their intellectual curiosity about the broader world, lands and peoples beyond their borders. Unlike other zoos in Europe, the Berlin zoo was open to the public.
A zoo in the nineteenth century was much different than today. Folks went there for society: concerts, restaurants with 5,000 tables, evening strolls away from the urbanization of the city, and to see animals. In Through the Lion’s Gate, author Gary Bruce shares another quirky attraction: Berliners were excited by the prospect of smoking at the zoo, an act banned since 1787 on streets and squares.
People were less concerned about the welfare of animals than the need for educational and scientific goals. One of the founders, Martin Liechtenstein, was aghast that visitors put lit cigarettes in the hands of monkeys, but also promoted social dinners serving surplus zoo animals.
Animals were captured in the wild by hunters killing the mother and capturing the baby. Dominating nature and imposing man’s will on the animal world were the themes of the nineteenth century.
People were also displayed in the zoo. Inuits from Greenland, Nubians from northeast Africa, Mongolian nomads, Chileans, Lapps. As late as the 1920s, human exhibits were common. The people demonstrated their hunting skills, wedding traditions, and dances. This may sound similar to today’s living history museums, but in at least one instance, when an Inuit didn’t do what the sponsor wanted, he was whipped with a dog whip.
In the twentieth century, a new emphasis grew to save animals rather than hunt them into extinction. Animals’ lives, freedom and happiness are more important than dominance. During the Nazi era, nature conservation and animal protection were big themes. The Berlin zoo was implicit in identifying with Nazi racial policies, and tried to whitewash its past. At the outset of the war, the zoo had over 4,000 animals. At war’s end, only ninety-one had survived. Despite towering piles of rubble and make-shift shelters among the ruins, the zoo reopened two months later. More than a million Germans visited the zoo in the year after the war.
A devoted population saved the zoo many times, as they did during the Berlin Airlift. Zoos are expensive, and the people gave money to the zoo even when they had little.
After the war, the first female director discontinued public feeding of the animals, which led to deaths through overfeeding or intestinal infections. A polar bear died after being fed salt herring.
Through the Lion’s Gate offers an engrossing history of Berlin’s zoo.