BOOK REVIEW

CHRONIK ZOOLOGISCHER GARTEN HALLE. TEIL 2

Most of the readers of IZN will know the famous books of C.H. Keeling, many of which – if not all – have been reviewed in the magazine. Glancing through old guidebooks, press cuttings or documents, Keeling tells certain parts of the story of the collections under discussion. Often he publishes extracts from the old guides and adds his own comments on them, lighting up the corresponding periods of the zoos’ history.

When I read my first Keeling book many years ago, I thought that it would be impossible to write such a book in Germany. For a long time I was right, but now I am proved wrong. What Keeling did in his books is in some ways surpassed by Ludwig Baumgarten in his Chronik Zoologischer Garten Halle (‘Chronicle of Halle Zoo’). The first part was published in 2001 when the zoo celebrated its hundredth anniversary. As far as I know, this first part was not reviewed in IZN: it covers the time from the opening in 1901 up to the end of World War II in 204 pages. Seven years later Baumgarten published the second part, dealing with the period from 1945 to 1976. As the methodology in both parts is the same, I will only review the second part with its 582 pages.

The book has four main chapters, each covering the period in office of one director. The first chapter, ‘SMAD und die Gründung der DDR 1945–1950’ (the Soviet military administration of Germany and the founding of the GDR) begins with a short overview of the history of Saxony-Anhalt and Halle between the end of the war and the foundation of the GDR. This complicated history with three administrations, at first by the U.S. army, then by the Soviet army and thereafter as part of the GDR, forms the background of the early postwar history of Halle Zoo. It is the period of the director Dr. Hans Voss. The second chapter deals with the period of director Dr Hans Petzsch from 1951 till 1959, the third (1959–1960) with the provisional director Dr Herhard Heyder and the fourth with the years from 1961 until 1976 when Dr K.-G. Witstruck was director.

Each chapter has subchapters, for example about the animal inventory, visitors, guests, buildings, publications, events, marketing and promotion and staff. As a main source Baumgarten uses the newspapers of Halle, the card-index of the animal collection, the diaries of the zoo and the annual reports published as Mitteilungen aus dem Zoo Halle since 1961.

To help explain the method I will use the second chapter as an example. Telling about the animals, Baumgarten gives an overview of all press cuttings of the time in historical order. Then he reviews the guides and thirdly the card index. At the end he gives a taxonomic overview of the animals. With this method, some species are mentioned in all four subdivisions, others only in one or two. Altogether this method gives an excellent impression of the animals which were kept, shown and bred, which of them were sold or exchanged and which died during the period covered. Such a quantity of facts is not easy to read and those who are not German speakers will regret the omission of the scientific names which would have helped to indicate which species are mentioned.

The story of the animals during the 31 years from 1945 to 1976 shows what improvements there have been in animal care since then. Many animals lived only a short time, and none had the longevity many zoo animals have today. This is true not only of Halle or the zoos in the GDR but of all zoos around the world. The main mission was to educate the public by exhibiting as many species as possible, so that visitors could compare the different subspecies of a species or the different species of a genus. During the time covered by the book only a few species were wiped out, and for most people and even most scientists the danger of mass extinction was not so visible as it is today.Baumgarten deals similarly with the buildings and all the other aspects of the history of Halle Zoo. Of special interest is the enumeration of all staff members, not only the keepers but also gardeners, workers, the people in the administration and all the others whose names and duties are enumerated. Many of these people are remembered with a photo.

The front pages of Mitteilungen aus dem Zoo Halle are shown, and also those of the guides and many other publications. The promotion films shown in the cinemas of Halle are recorded in the book, as are most of the posters the zoo published. Interestingly, some posters are lost and Baumgarten could not find a copy in any of the zoo’s archives or in any other archives or libraries.

Baumgarten needed seven years to finish the second volume of the chronicle. Let us hope that the next part will be completed mire quickly. The present volume is a real treasure for all who are interested in the history of zoos and Halle in particular. Its more than a thousand illustrations make it of interest also for people who did not understand German, as they show a part of zoo history before the big changes in zoos started. And they are a document of an aspect of life in the GDR which has ceased to exist.

Harro Strehlow