Urs Eggenschwyler

From the list of elephant persons Family: Eggenschwyler

 ☨ Urs Eggenschwyler 
Picture of Urs  Eggenschwyler
Urs Eggenschwyler at Museum der Stadt Solothurn
Personal details
Born 1849-01-24 Subingen, Kanton Solothurn in Switzerland

Dead 1923-12-08 Luzern in Switzerland

Residence
Country Switzerland

Locations
Title zoo designer 1920-1922
Location at Basel Zoo in Switzerland

Title zoo designer 1909-1910
Location at Rome Zoo in Italy

Title zoo designer 1896-1907
Location at Carl Hagenbecks Tierpark (Stellingen) in Germany

Title zoo designer -
Location at Antwerp Zoo in Belgium

Relevant literature
Biography details

Urs Eggenschwyler , animal trainer, and artist, and owner, and zoo designer in Switzerland

Eggenschwyler was born * 1849-01-24 in Subingen, Kanton Solothurn Switzerland dead 1923-12-08 Luzern, in Switzerland .

The painter and stonecutter Urs Eggenschwyler, (1849-1923) from Switzerland was educated in stone cutting by Joseph Pflüger 1865-1867, and in 1870 art at the Art Academy in Munich, where he had to interupt the studies due to his problems of hearing, since ha was sick in Scarlet fever as a young boy. He was born in Matzendorf, Subingen, Kanton Solothurn, as oldest child to parents Niklaus Eggenschwyler and Anna Maria, born Schneider.

Already in 1873 he participated in the 1873 Vienna World's Fair, and in 1878 he moved to Zürich.

In 1881 he founded a private menagerie in Milchbuck, Zürich, where he kept lions, leopards, bears, hyenas, and other exotic animals. He used to walk a hand-raised lion in the Niederdorf area in the city, and after som complaints he took his walk in the night time.

Urs  Eggenschwyler
Urs Eggenschwyler menagerie in Milchbuck

Urs  Eggenschwyler

He was making artificial rocks in the zoo "Peter and Paul" in St. Gallien in Switzerland, when he was contacted by Caarl Hagenbeck Jr. in 1896, who asked him to join him in Hamburg, building up his animal enclosures in his new zoo.

Urs  Eggenschwyler
The Arctic Panorama (Nordlandpanorama in German) in Carl Hagenbecks Tierpark (Stellingen), constructed by Urs Eggenschwyler 1904-1907 to resemble a northern Norwegian fjord.

Eggenschwyler tried out a technique for concrete which he used in Hagenbecks Tierpark 1896-1907, and he was responsible for a lot of the enclosures in other places that would lead to the reformation of the future zoo architecture, worldvide, among those Antwerpen ZooB, Basel Zoo, Budapest Zoo, Rome Zoo, and Vienna Zoo.

Eggenschwyler is also famous for making animal statues in European cities.

Urs  Eggenschwyler
The lions at Seegfrörni des Zürichsee in Zurich, were made by Eggenschwyler.

Urs  Eggenschwyler
The sealion Panorma in Basel Zoo, completed by Eggenschwyler in 1922, one year before his death.

After his death in 1923, short before his bankrupsy, some of his anmials ended up in Zurich Zoo, and many of his collection are located in Naturmuseums Solothurn.

Urs  Eggenschwyler
Memorial over Urs Eggenschwyler in Hagenbecks Zoo in Hamburg.

Urs Eggenschwyler is mentioned on 1 other person pagesCarl Hagenbeck,  

Urs Eggenschwyler is mentioned on 1 location pagesCarl Hagenbecks Tierpark (Stellingen),  

Reference list

References

Koehl, Dan, (2025). animal trainer, and artist, and owner, and zoo designer Urs Eggenschwyler in Switzerland. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 11 July 2025 at https://www.elephant.se/person.php?id=517. (archived at the Wayback machine)

Sources used for this article is among others:



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Categories animal trainer,artist,owner,zoo designer | Basel Zoo | Eggenschwyler family | Born 1849 | Dead 1923 | People from Switzerland


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