Fabó Beáta - Gall, Anthony: I came from the East to a City of Great Palaces. Károly Kós, the early years 1907-1914 (Budapest, 2013)

Kós' First Steps as an Independent Architect

H The giraffes arrive at the zoo

FÁNK fotógyűjtemény

M Streetlamp at the entrance to the Palm House

BFL XV.17.d.328 KT szor 1/47-5

The Municipal Engineering Bureau submitted eight sheets of plans for the Bison House and the Castle Ruins on 13th August and received permission on the 25th. The stonemasonry was assigned to the Peterek and Wagner Company, whose contract was signed on 23rd September. The ironwork and assembling of the Bison stables was to be performed by Farkas and Co., who completed their share of the construction in six weeks. The assignment for the timbering of the buildings was won by Zsigmond Popper, with a deadline of three weeks.

As soon as the walls of the new buildings were standing, the council decided to celebrate this new milestone as well and 2756 crowns were handed out to reward the ‘mortar makers, bricklayers, foremen and masons’, while the designing architects were also rewarded. The annual report mentions that eight members of the Zoo staff had been made redundant as a result of closing the park to the public. The 30 remaining staff members were given 1000 crowns altogether as a Christmas and New Year bonus. Considering the wages of the time this was rather generous.

The zoo needed some more animals and transport wagons for animals as well, so the management kept an eye on the advertisments. This is how they found out that the menagerie of Camillius in Luxemburg was being put up for sale. Dr Zoltán Rátonyi and Dr Adolf Lendl left on another European study trip, which included a visit to Luxemburg. From the Camillius-menagerie they bought a five-year-old male lion and a wagon. They visited famous animal traders, went to Paris, revisited Hagenbeck's zoo in Hamburg-Stellingen, also near Hamburg they met Fockemann and Gutschmied and their impressions were very good throughout the journey. Unfortunately the existent stock of animals at the Budapest zoo was hard hit by the chaos entailed by the thorough reconstruction works, so by the end of the year their number shrunk to a ‘mere’ 770 specimens. The main reason for this decrease was that the management had put a stop to poultry-raising at the zoo, while a lot of dogs and birds were also sold in this period. The entertainment of visitors was nevertheless catered for - by the eight troops of acrobats and buskers hiring the cabins built especially for this purpose.

1910

On the 10th February contractor György Pohl undertook the completion of the groundwork and concrete work of the Terrarium, for 9021 crowns, with a deadline of 8 weeks. The timbering was once again assigned to Zsigmond Popper, for 10,270 crowns and with a deadline 6 weeks away. The twenty sheets presenting the designs for the Palmhouse and the Aquarium were submitted on 30th April and the permits were issued on 11th May. The estimated costs amounted to more than expected again, so the committee was forced to ask for a loan once more. As a result, 643,000 crowns were granted at the council meeting of 6th and 7th of June.

The joinery work on the Palmhouse was assigned to Peterek and Wagner, who had proven their prowess earlier. Their contract was signed on 11th October. Planning the Palmhouse and overseeing its construction were assigned to Schott M. G. Metalworks, Greenhouse and Central Heating Factory, who temporarily opened the completed Palmhouse on 28th June, 1911. It was then the turn of Keresztély Ilsemann, director of gardening, to start working on furnishing the Palmhouse and the purchase of plants. The year 1910 also saw the completion of the Pheasant House, the Ostrich House, the Bison House and the Castle Ruins. The Terrarium, the Norwegian House and the Dairy (complete with cow stables) were also completed in this year. The four sheets with the designs of the Eagle Volier and the Camel Stable were also handed in and their permits were issued on 20th January 1911. The municipality kept close watch on the book-keeping of the reconstruction works, so on 30th December ‘municipal notary Dr Jenő Márkus held an unexpected audit at the zoo, but luckily found all the books in order’. The annual report of 1910 gives a list of the new buildings - namely the Small Rock and the Big Rock, the Palmhouse, the Birds' House, the Ostrich House, the Pheasant House, the House of Pachyderms, the Deer House, the Bison House, the Giraffe House, the Camel Stable and the House of Reptiles. Nine new staff members had been hired over the year, after the opening of the Birds' House, the Pheasant House, the Ostrich House, the Kangaroo House and the Camel Stable. The animal stock was also being expanded, from 770 specimens to 900. The majority of the new animals were birds, but more substantial donations also kept arriving, e.g. a bear and ten monkeys. The Entertainment Site continued to produce income to the zoo, with three new tenants this year. The eleven tenants paid an annual 55,670 crowns in total. Staff members didn't have to go home empty-handed at the end of the year - they received altogether 1275 crowns to place under the Christmas tree.

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