Tierpark Berlin celebrates 70 years: A look at its impressive history!

Tierpark Berlin celebrates 70 years: A look at its impressive history!

Lichtenberg, Deutschland - On July 1, 2025, the district office Lichtenberg congratulated the renowned Tierpark Berlin on his 70th birthday. The zoo, which was opened on July 2, 1955 and extends over an impressive area of ​​around 160 hectares, is considered the largest landscape animal park in Europe. At its opening, the park housed around 400 animals from 120 species. Today almost 7,800 animals live from 632 species, which underlines the impressive development of the park.

District Mayor Martin Schaefer (CDU) praised the zoo as an important place for education and relaxation. In addition, the national radiance of the park is highlighted, in particular its valuable contribution to species protection. The background to the establishment of the animal park was the division of Germany after the Second World War; East Berlin urgently needed his own zoo.

A look at the story

The founding decision of the East Berlin magistrate dates to August 27, 1954. This was followed by the laying of the foundation stone in November of the same year and the opening under the direction of Prof. Heinrich Dathe in spring 1955. Dathe set decisive accents in the zoo in 1990 in 1990

A special highlight is the Alfred Brehm-Haus, which was opened in 1963 as the largest animal house in the world. The Friedrichsfelde Castle was also restored in the 1980s. In the past two decades, there were extensive renovation work that aimed to improve the enclosures and systems of the zoo in the sense of animal welfare.

celebrations for the anniversary

Numerous actions are planned as part of the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the zoo. On April 10, 2025, the exhibition "70 years of poster art" was opened, which addresses the visual history of the zoo with historical advertising posters. Among other things, posters such as the first of 1955 with bear boys and the "Black Panther" drawing by Horst Naumann are shown. These posters not only act as time documents, but also as an expression of cultural change, such as Dr. Andreas Knieriem, the current director of the zoo, emphasized.

The special anniversary campaigns include exclusive tours of the history of the park, a symbolic sponsorship for a Sumatra tiger and a photo competition for "zoo moments". A historic walk with 40 information steles is intended to immerse visitors in the history of the park. Furthermore, the return of dinosaur models is celebrated and the program is on the program, including the Pentecost concert on June 9, 2025.

The highlight of the celebrations will take place on July 2, 2025. On this day, the unveiling of two new anniversary guards will take place, which represent a decisive part of the more than 100 poster motifs that have been created in the zoo since 1955. Of these, 52 works are permanently issued, which further underlines the cultural and historical importance of the zoo. Further information on the anniversary celebrations and the special program items can be found on the website Mitte-bitte