Wilhelma - The zoo-botanical garden of Stuttgart, Germany
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
The Wilhelma is a unique mixture of a zoo with a botanical garden with a stress on the zoological aspect.
The whole structure has developed out of a pleasance in the Moorish architecture in the Alhambra style. It was being erected by King Wilhelm I in 1842.
In the course of time the whole area has been converted into the present zoo-botanical garden.
The Area
Immediately upon entering you you have the choice to turn to the right side into the open area and start to investigate the area by yourself - especially if you are more interested in the zoo-part. In this case it is advisable to buy a groundplan of the area, otherwise you will easily loose your way.
If instead you proceed straight ahead, you can follow the Rundgang-sign (= tour), which will lead you - though not uneringly - through the area.
In the beginning however, you start with a straight line of greenhouses with nicely arranged plants and paths, now and then with some animals inbetween. The plants seem to be only slightly arranged according to the usual geobotanical aspects and more for beauty - maybe because the greenhouse-area isn‘t overly extensive and it is more designed to meet the eye than research needs, but in this it is good.
After leaving the greenhouse line the zoological aspect gets precedence, although plants always play a more prominent part than it is usual for a pure zoo.
On the zoological side the management has taken great care to give the visitor an easy visual access to to animals.
If you want to visit the area intensively, you should plan for a whole day. Benches to rest are everywhere and for
Eating
you can find at least two self-service restaurants on the site.
One is named Cafe Belvedere. It has a little of a fast food character with - for the location - moderate prices. The food cooked isn‘t of the tastiest kind.
The other restaurant looked a little bit better - from the outside at least.
Tickets
Ticket prices aren‘t low, though not extremely high. They are above the level of cinema tickets.
Approach
The way to the Wilhelma is comparatively easy to find. At the Hauptbahnhof ((Central Station), just follow the Wilhelma signs, sometimes with an elephant on it: U-train Nr. 14 (Dir. Remseck-Neckargrüningen), exit Wilhelma; or busses 52, 55, 56, exit Rosensteinbrücke.
