Through the Lion Gate
A History of the Berlin Zoo
Seiten
2022
Oxford University Press Inc (Verlag)
978-0-19-761723-6 (ISBN)
Oxford University Press Inc (Verlag)
978-0-19-761723-6 (ISBN)
In 1943, fierce aerial bombardment razed the Berlin zoo and killed most of its animals. But only two months after the war's end, Berliners had already resurrected it, reopening its gates and creating a symbol of endurance in the heart of a shattered city. The Berlin zoo therefore offers one of the most unusual--yet utterly compelling--lenses through which to view German history. This enormously popular attraction closely mirrored each of the political systems under which it existed: the authoritarian monarchy of the kaiser, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, and the post-1945 democratic and communist states.
In Through the Lion Gate, Gary Bruce provides the first English-language history of the Berlin zoo, from its founding in 1844 until the 1990 unification of the West Berlin and East Berlin zoos. At the center of the capital's social life, the Berlin zoo helped to shape German views not only of the animal world but also of the human world for more than 150 years. Given its enormous reach, the German government used the zoo to spread its political message, from the ethnographic display "exotic" peoples in the late nineteenth century to the Nazis' bizarre attempts to breed back long-extinct European cattle.
By exploring the intersection of zoology, politics, and leisure, Bruce shows why the Berlin zoo was the most beloved institution in Germany for so long: it allowed people to dream of another place, far away from an often grim reality. It is not purely coincidence that the profound connection of Berliners to their zoo intensified through the bloody twentieth century. Its exotic, iconic animals--including Rostom the elephant, Knautschke the hippo, and Evi the sun bear--seemed to satisfy, even partially, a longing for a better, more tranquil world.
In Through the Lion Gate, Gary Bruce provides the first English-language history of the Berlin zoo, from its founding in 1844 until the 1990 unification of the West Berlin and East Berlin zoos. At the center of the capital's social life, the Berlin zoo helped to shape German views not only of the animal world but also of the human world for more than 150 years. Given its enormous reach, the German government used the zoo to spread its political message, from the ethnographic display "exotic" peoples in the late nineteenth century to the Nazis' bizarre attempts to breed back long-extinct European cattle.
By exploring the intersection of zoology, politics, and leisure, Bruce shows why the Berlin zoo was the most beloved institution in Germany for so long: it allowed people to dream of another place, far away from an often grim reality. It is not purely coincidence that the profound connection of Berliners to their zoo intensified through the bloody twentieth century. Its exotic, iconic animals--including Rostom the elephant, Knautschke the hippo, and Evi the sun bear--seemed to satisfy, even partially, a longing for a better, more tranquil world.
Gary Bruce is Professor of History at the University of Waterloo. He has published widely on modern German history, including most recently The Firm: The Inside Story of the Stasi.
Introduction
Chapter 1: Out from the Island of Peacocks
Chapter 2: The Human Zoo
Chapter 3: To the Zoo! Animals and Society in the Imperial Capital
Chapter 4: An End to the Sighing of the Animals
Chapter 5: The Nazi Ox: The Berlin Zoo and Nazism
Chapter 6: Animals among the Beasts: The Zoo Descends into War
Chapter 7: The Hippo and the Panda: A Tale of Two Zoos
Epilogue: Of Trams and Tortoises
Bibliography
| Erscheinungsdatum | 21.02.2022 |
|---|---|
| Zusatzinfo | 16 illus. |
| Verlagsort | New York |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 229 x 150 mm |
| Gewicht | 454 g |
| Themenwelt | Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Neuzeit (bis 1918) |
| Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► 1918 bis 1945 | |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte | |
| Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Militärgeschichte | |
| Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Wirtschaftsgeschichte | |
| ISBN-10 | 0-19-761723-9 / 0197617239 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0-19-761723-6 / 9780197617236 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
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