The Blijdorp Zoo

A trip to the zoo is one of the nicest things to do with the whole family and The Blijdorp Zoo makes it an extra special day! The zoo is one of the first Dutch zoos, and thus, has an elaborate history.

The very beginning of the zoo can be traced back to 1855, when a garden for water birds and pheasants located at the Kruiskade opened. Due to its success it expanded into a zoo, the Rotterdamsche Zoo opened in 1857. Back in the day it was open for members of the association ‘Vereniging Rotterdamsche Diergaarde’, which were only the richer citizens.

Unfortunately there were some financial problems in the beginning in the 20^th century. That’s why the zoo decided to move, and for 1 gilder they bought 13 acers of land in the district Blijdorp in 1938. With the help of the Associantion Vokskracht they were able to build the new zoo and it opened for everybody.

In 1940 the zoo got hit by bombardments, two days before the large bombardment of the city. A few animals were killed, and a few were able to escape. According to popular stories a zebra escaped into the shopping streets and a couple of sea lions were swimming in the canals of the city.

The new zoo is designed by Sybold van Ravesteyn, he designed it in such manner that he used canals and walls instead of fences. The heated indoor spaces and the large outdoor spaces were phenomenal back then, and so was Blijdorp one of the first zoo’s using this system. Blijdorp Zoo is also one of the few zoo’s that are designed by one architect. It’s because of that that the zoo is proclaimed as national monument in 2004.

On the 9^th of December 1940 the zoo opened its new doors for the public.

Would you like to know what the zoo offers nowadays? Check our blog coming Thursday!

Would you like to live in Blijdorp Rotterdam? You can! Check Domica Rotterdam for more details!