Good news for visitors to Frankfurt Zoo: holders of permanent and advance tickets will be able to use the entrance on Rhönstraße again from 15 June to 17 September. In the course of the opening of the new zoo entrance at Alfred-Brehm-Platz in 2013, the eastern side entrance in Rhönstraße was closed. In order to make access possible again, especially for the residents in the east of Frankfurt, Dr. Ina Hartwig, head of the department of culture, has found a temporary solution together with the zoo.
"The gate from the zoo to the Ostend is open again. I am very pleased about this. Many conversations with residents and stakeholders from the eastern part of Frankfurt have made it clear to me how much the entrance was missed, and how troublesome access to the zoo was for some due to the longer distance to the main entrance. From now on, access is once again possible for many visitors during the summer months," says Head of Culture Dr. Ina Hartwig.
For years, the side entrance in Rhönstraße was an alternative to the zoo entrance at Alfred-Brehm-Platz - especially for residents of the residential areas to the east of the zoo, residents of the surrounding senior citizen facilities, including numerous wheelchair users, daycare centers and visitors who used the parking lots around the Zoomauer.
Soon after she took office and at the suggestion of the head of the culture department, solutions were sought to push open the gateway to Frankfurt's east again. With success: from 15 June to 17 September, the entrance can be used daily between 9 am and 3 pm. This entrance can be used by anyone in possession of annual or advance tickets for Frankfurt Zoo. Admission control will be carried out by a service employee from an external service provider. Tickets can still only be purchased at the entrance at Alfred-Brehm-Platz.
"Despite all the constraints that led to the closure of the entrance at the time, we have of course always had a great deal of understanding for the desire to make the eastern zoo entrance possible again," says Zoo Director Professor Dr. Manfred Niekisch, "after all, we are aware that it was an extremely practical facility for many. It is of course much nicer to walk through the zoo instead of first walking around the outside of the wall around the zoo."
The response from the district as well as from the wider environment of the zoo is great: "We are ‚beastly' pleased that the head of culture Ina Hartwig has taken up the wish of so many small and older zoo friends and that we can visit the zoo regularly again already this summer. However, we continue to advocate that in the near future the entrance in Rhönstraße will once again be a full entrance that can be used by everyone," says Jeannette Kaupp from the Lebenswertes Ostend association.
The entrance will initially be opened on a trial basis, and a balance will be drawn in the autumn: "We will observe how much the offer is used, and what suggestions we receive from visitors. With the results, especially the hopefully pleasing visitor numbers, we will assess in the autumn whether and how a permanent entrance for all to use can be set up in the Rhönstraße," says Hartwig.
More info can also be found at: <link http: www.zoo-frankfurt.de _blank>Www.zoo-frankfurt.de
