Schönbrunn Animal Park

Having been built during the reign of the great Maria Theresia the zoo is the oldest of its kind in the world.

The history of Tiergarten Schönbrunn goes back to Empress Maria Theresia and her husband Franz Stephan von Lothringen (Franz Stephan of Lorraine).
Stephan was chosen as the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nations in 1745. He commissioned his compatriot from Lorraine, the architect Jean Nicholas Jadot der Ville-Issey, to design a menagerie in the park of Schönbrunn, the new Habsburg-Lothringen summer residence.

The facility then consisted of 12 enclosures with equally sized animal houses along with an administrative/technical buildings opening into the garden area. This was accompanied by a pond and two farmyards. In summer 1752, after a one-year construction period, the animals were brought to the zoo and presented to the public.

Much time has passed until then, yet the zoo is still a crowd-puller, especially since September 2007 as the Schönbrunn Zoo was the first ever European zoo to welcome a naturally conceived Panda baby as its youngest attraction. 'Fu Long', as he was named, has put every body in a frenzy and makes this zoo even more special.

www.zoovienna.at

Imperial Austria
c/o Schönbrunner Tiergarten GmbH
Maxingstrasse 13b
1130 Vienna
T: +43 1 877 9294-500
E: info@imperial-austria.at
www.imperial-austria.at

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