The Bears of Köllnischer Park

Rule #1 – bring your camera because your friends won’t believe you when you tell them that there are bears living in the center of Berlin.

Though one can’t go far in the city before coming across an image of Berlin’s heraldic animal, it is still unsettling to see two live, shaggy-coated European brown bears lumbering about their open air enclosure in the city’s historical center. First opened in 1937 as part of celebrations marking the 700th anniversary of the founding of the Berlin, the Bärenzwinger is home to Berlin’s official city bears. The cage’s four original residents were presented as gifts from a local newspaper and zoos in Berlin and Bern. During WWII the area was heavily damaged by Allied bombing and only one of the bears survived, but by the following decade the reconstructed enclosure’s furry inhabitants were again delighting the city’s children.

The bears have been munching on their lunches—feeding time is at 12:30 every day—and padding around the park ever since, despite occasional outcries by animal activists who argue that keeping bears in a pit in the center of the city is cruel and inhumane. Today the enclosure is home to the 27 year-old Schnute and her 22 year-old daughter, Maxi, who seem quite oblivious to the endless stream of children and adults gaping, pointing and snapping photos of Berlin’s favorite city officials.