Pfaueninsel Peacocks
Pfaueninsel Peacock by Christina Zur Nedden/Flickr
In southwestern Berlin lies a wild bird sanctuary that is popular for its large population of peacocks. The 67 hectares of lawns, fields, and woodlands is known as Peacock Island, but peacocks were not always the animal of interest on the island.
It started out as Rabbit Island, with a rabbit breeding station set up there in the 1600’s. When ownership changed hands, the island was abandoned for the next century. Finally, in 1793, the Pfaueninsel castle was built by the Prussian king Frederick William II. He had an English garden built around the summer home, as well as a gothic revival church.
Frederick William III succeeded his father and added a model farm to the island, as well as a menagerie, or zoo, for exotic animals. Animals included buffalos, alligators, kangaroos, wolves, monkeys, chameleons, eagles, lions, llamas, bears, beavers and peacocks. More than 100 species roamed the menagerie. The attraction became so popular that special trains from Berlin were often overcrowded with people traveling there.
Today, the island has kept its exotic wildlife and is now a nature reserve for the unique array of animals found therein.
It started out as Rabbit Island, with a rabbit breeding station set up there in the 1600’s. When ownership changed hands, the island was abandoned for the next century. Finally, in 1793, the Pfaueninsel castle was built by the Prussian king Frederick William II. He had an English garden built around the summer home, as well as a gothic revival church.
Frederick William III succeeded his father and added a model farm to the island, as well as a menagerie, or zoo, for exotic animals. Animals included buffalos, alligators, kangaroos, wolves, monkeys, chameleons, eagles, lions, llamas, bears, beavers and peacocks. More than 100 species roamed the menagerie. The attraction became so popular that special trains from Berlin were often overcrowded with people traveling there.
Today, the island has kept its exotic wildlife and is now a nature reserve for the unique array of animals found therein.
