Suleyman
Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) at
Menagerie Schloss Kaiserebersdorf in Austria

Biography

☨ ♂ Suleyman
Suleiman at Wasserburg on the River Inn, in a woodcut by Michael Minck dated 24 January 1552.

Alternative name:	Soliman, Suleiman
Museum locations
Present / last location:	Bavarian National Museum, in Germany

Date of arrival

1928-00-00	Bavarian National Museum, München, Germany from Munich Old Academy, München, Germany

Identification


Description
Species:	Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
Sex and age:	Male ♂ 13 years old
Origin
Born:	* 1540 captive-born
Birth place:	in King Bhuvanaikabahu VII of Kotte
Imported:	1542 by King Bhuvanaikabahu VII of Kotte
Freight:	Ship from Ceylon
Death
Dead:	†1553-12-18
Death reason:	unknown:
Locations - owners
Present / last location:	Menagerie Schloss Kaiserebersdorf, in Austria

Date of arrival

1552-03-06	Menagerie Schloss Kaiserebersdorf from Vienna Imperial Elephant House

	Vienna Imperial Elephant House from Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II of Austria

	Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II of Austria from Port of Genoa

1551-11-12	Port of Genoa from Port of Barcelona

	Port of Barcelona from King John III of Portugal

	King John III of Portugal from Port of Lisbon

	Port of Lisbon from Port of Colombo

	Port of Colombo from King Bhuvanaikabahu VII of Kotte

Record history
History of updates	2009-10-22: name variety 2025-03-26: source, birth

Latest document update	2025-03-26 16:00:33
Google map

† Suleyman is a dead Male ♂ Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), , who died 1553-12-18 at Menagerie Schloss Kaiserebersdorf, in Austria, .

Museum locationThe Museum specimen remains of this animal is within the collection at Bavarian National Museum, in München, Germany, since 1928-00-00.

Origin

Suleyman was born captive-born 1540 at King Bhuvanaikabahu VII of Kotte. and imported 1542 by King Bhuvanaikabahu VII of Kotte, Ship from Ceylon

Comments / pictures

Suleiman (or Suleyman) (1540-18 December 1553) was an Asian Elephant that was presented to the Habsburg Prince Maximilian (later King of Bohemia, King of Hungary, and Holy Roman Emperor) by John III, the King of Portugal.

Suleiman may have been a gift following Maximilian's wedding to Maria of Spain in 1548, or after the birth of his short-lived heir, Ferdinand of Austria. Known in German as "Soliman", he is named after the Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent.

Suleiman was transported from the Portuguese colonies in the Far East to Lisbon, and then to Valladolid, then the capital of Spain. Accompanied by Maximilian, his wife and their two children, and their attendants, Suleiman was shipped from Barcelona to Genoa, where he arrived on 12 November 1551, and then travelled overland via Milan, Cremona and Mantua.[citation needed] He reached Trent, where the Council of Trent had just finished meeting, on 13 December. He crossed over the Brenner pass to enter Austria, where he was transported along the River Inn and Danube to Vienna. He reached Innsbruck on 6 January for the feast of the Epiphany, and Wasserburg on 24 January 1552. The procession entered Vienna on 6 March 1552. A wave of "elephant enthusiasms" followed, and Suleiman was a popular subject for artists and poets. Suleyman was installed in the menagerie at Schloß Kaiser-Ebersdorf, but died only 18 months later, in December 1553.

Maximillian had a commemorative medal issued after Suleiman's death to a design by sculptor Michael Fuchs. Parts of Suleiman's carcass were distributed around the Holy Roman Empire. His front right foot and part of a shoulderblade were given to the mayor of Vienna, Sebastian Huetstocker; the bones were fashioned into a chair that currently resides at the Kremsmunster abbey. The elephant's skin was stuffed and exhibited in Kaiserebersdorf until Maximillian, as Emperor, presented it as a gift to Albert V, Duke of Bavaria.

After standing more than 100 years in the Old Academy in Munich, the body was transferred to the Bavarian national museum in 1928. The remains were destroyed in a World War II bombing raid in 1943.

wikipedia

Reference list

References

Koehl, Dan, (2026). Suleyman, Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) located at Menagerie Schloss Kaiserebersdorf in Austria. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 8 March 2026 at https://www.elephant.se/database2.php?elephant_id=2320. (archived at the Wayback machine)