Cologne Zoo (Kölner Zoo) has been part of life on the Rhine since 1860, making it the third-oldest zoo in Germany and one of the oldest zoos in the world still operating. Today the zoo, with its attached aquarium and invertebrate exhibit, keeps more than 10,000 animals of over 850 species on a site of more than 20 hectares in the north of the city.
The zoo was founded by a shareholding company organized by local citizens, who appointed the biologist Heinrich Bodinus as its first director — he would later go on to run the Berlin Zoological Garden. The earliest enclosures were architectural showpieces: an elephant house styled as a Moorish temple, a bird house resembling a Russian cathedral, and cattle houses built like Swiss log cabins. Around 1914 the naturalistic rockwork ideas of Carl Hagenbeck reshaped parts of the zoo, notably the baboon and polar bear exhibits.
Key Stats
| Opened | 1860 |
| Location | Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany |
| Animals / species | More than 10,000 animals of 850+ species |
| Area | More than 20 hectares (about 50 acres) |
Wars, Ruin and Rebirth
Cologne Zoo’s story tracks Germany’s turbulent 20th century. After a successful start, World War I and the Great Depression brought stagnation and food shortages for the animals, and World War II left the zoo so heavily destroyed that it had to close entirely for two years, reopening in 1947. The postwar decades brought modernization: in 1960 the grounds grew from 11 to 18.8 hectares, and three years later Cologne opened the first education centre at any European zoo.
Landmark Exhibits
From the 1980s onward the zoo built a series of exhibits considered pioneering for their time. The Urwaldhaus great ape jungle house of 1985 was one of Europe’s first immersion exhibits, and the same year Cologne launched the first European Endangered Species Programme. A Southeast Asian rainforest house followed in 2000, a vast open-air Asian elephant park in 2004, and in 2010 the Hippodom — a West African river landscape shared by hippos and crocodiles.
Conservation Beyond the Zoo Gates
Cologne Zoo is active in preservational breeding of endangered species and supports field conservation and research focused on Madagascar, Wallacea and Vietnam, working with Cologne University and local projects. Its efforts range from Przewalski’s horses — the wild horse once extinct in the wild — to a captive breeding programme for the psychedelic rock gecko.
FAQ
How old is Cologne Zoo?
The zoo opened in 1860, which makes it more than 165 years old and the third-oldest zoo in Germany, after Berlin and Frankfurt.
How many animals does Cologne Zoo have?
More than 10,000 animals representing over 850 species, including the residents of its aquarium and invertebrate house.
What is the Hippodom?
The Hippodom, opened in 2010, is Cologne Zoo’s West African-themed house where hippopotamuses and Nile crocodiles live in a recreated river landscape.
Photo: Doppelklecks via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)