VISIT TO THE ZOO

Just a few kilometers from Trendelburg Castle, at the foot of another castle, lies the Sababurg Zoo, which introduces visitors to the secrets of the Reinhardswald Forest with its rare animals and a hunting museum.

The Brothers Grimm are said to have written “Sleeping Beauty” in the gatehouse of the Sababurg. The history of the zoo also begins like a fairy tale: Once upon a time there was a good landgrave who was called the “scholar on the prince’s throne” because of his scientific education and who had a zoo established in 1571.

As if in a Noah’s Ark, Landgrave Wilhelm IV gathered here European large animals that were once native to the region. Therefore, under three centuries old oaks graze stately herds of primitive wild horses, wild cattle and wild goats, rare birds of prey, deer and wild boar.

In the park’s forestry and hunting museum, you can hear the parforce horns of the landgravial hunting party that used to hunt deer and boar in the Reinhardswald. Just a half-hour walk from the park, hikers enter a real primeval forest of oaks and beeches dating back to the 14th century.