Tierpark Bern, Bern

The Tierpark Dählhölzli, or Dählhölzli Zoo, is a public zoo in Bern, Switzerland.Opened in 1937 and operated by an affiliated association, the Tierparkverein Bern, the city of Bern is the proprietary of the park and bring most of the financing. It is situated on the bank of the river Aare near the historical city center.The zoo exhibits some 3,000 animals on 15ha and employs a staff of 27. It also cares for the bears exhibited in the Bärengraben.HistoryThe idea of opening a zoo with Europeans animals in the city of Bern was first bought in 1871 by a group of optimists with an idea, and a first small park was opened on Engehaldenstrasse in 1873 to house deers, bisons and many small animals. It closes a few year later in 1876 due to a lack of funding. The idea of building a bigger zoo stayed in the air for a long time, and the site of Dählhölzli forest was even considered at a time to open a zoo for exotic animals in 1886.The creation of the parkIn 1901, a rich clockmaker from Loche of the name William Gabus gave 150 000 francs at his death to the city of Bern for the construction of a new zoological park, preferably on the site of Dählhözli forest. The project stalled for a time, but the city finally acquired a suitable land in 1918, the Elfenau estate. It seemed at the time that the terrain would be more adequate for a simple animal garden, but it was nonetheless the site choosed in by the city council in 1927 to build the park. The design were put on the table and an association was founded to find partners for the construction of the zoo. The idea of creating an association proved useful, as it had more than 1800 members only two years later, and publicities in the cinema and on the street permitted to gain approximately 50,000 francs to help the construction. The association submitted a final draft in 1933 with a plan that respected the natural landscape of the Elfenau estate. All was going well, but dissident voices in the population started to have concern on the Elfenau estate site, considering the Dählhölzli one to be of better quality. The Berneses finally voted on the subject at the end of the year 1935 and the Dählhölzli was finally choosen.

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