The Eifelpark is a wildlife and

leisure park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

Gondorf Gondorf is a municipality in the district of Bitburg-Prüm, in Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and ha ...

near Bitburg in the Eifel mountains of Germany.

History

In 1964 the Eifelpark was first opened under the name, ''Hochwildpark Eifel'' ("Eifel Mountain Wildlife Park"), as the first open-air wildlife enclosure in Germany. With the introduction of

brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is ...

s in 1969,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

took on the

sponsorship Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...

of the bear gorge. In 1975 the then Minister-President of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longes ...

, opened the new mountain wildlife park in the Eifelpark. In the following years other attractions were added (such as the Slide Paradise, roller coaster, Eifel Express, Hüpfkissen, all weather rodelbahn, etc.). Since 2004 the Eifelpark, which had hitherto been run together with the Kurpfalz Park and the Panorama Park, has been managed from

Haan Haan () is a town in the district of Mettmann, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated at the western edge of the Bergisches Land, 12 km southwest of Wuppertal and 17 km east of Düsseldorf. In 1975, Gruiten was incorporated ...

(near

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

). In early 2009, six Canadian timber wolves were introduced to the enclosure next to the renaturalised bear gorge. In December 2012 the operator filed for bankruptcy. Since 16 October 2013 the park has had a new owner and was reopened on 5 April 2014. In the 2014 season, the family ride, ''Eifel Blitz'', a Big Apple roller coaster, was opened along with various

bumper car Bumper cars or dodgems are the generic names for a type of flat amusement ride consisting of multiple small electrically powered cars which draw power from the floor and/or ceiling, and which are turned on and off remotely by an operator. Bumpe ...

rides, a merry-go-round and other attractions. In addition everything was thoroughly renovated and the zoo was invested in. In 2015 more rides were added: the Gondorf Pirate Fight (a

splash battle Splash or Splash! or The Splash may refer to: Common meanings * Splash (fluid mechanics), sudden disturbances on the surface of water Entertainment * ''Splash'' (film), a 1984 fantasy film starring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah ** '' Splash, Too ...

) and the Eifel Water Hunt (a jet ski with a crocodile theme by Heege).Neue Wasserattraktionen im Eifelpark – Aufwind setzt sich fort
Airtimers.com, 10. Februar 2015, retrieved 16 February 2015

Attractions

*80m Spining Drop Tower *14m family free fall tower * Mountain Wildlife Park (''Bergwildpark''), (over 200 animals) with bear gorge and lynx station, Canadian timber wolves,

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

and

fallow deer ''Dama'' is a genus of deer in the subfamily Cervinae, commonly referred to as fallow deer. Name The name fallow is derived from the deer's pale brown colour. The Latin word ''dāma'' or ''damma'', used for roe deer, gazelles, and antelopes ...

* Eifel Express (

road train A road train, land train or long combination vehicle (LCV) is a trucking vehicle used to move road freight more efficiently than semi-trailer trucks. It consists of two or more trailers or semi-trailers hauled by a prime mover. History Early ...

) *

Petting zoo A petting zoo (also called a children's zoo, children's farm, or petting farm) features a combination of domesticated animals and some wild species that are docile enough to touch and feed. In addition to independent petting zoos, many genera ...

with

mountain goat The mountain goat (''Oreamnos americanus''), also known as the Rocky Mountain goat, is a hoofed mammal endemic to mountainous areas of western North America. A subalpine to alpine species, it is a sure-footed climber commonly seen on cliffs and ...

s * Woodland

educational path An educational trail (or sometimes educational path), nature trail or nature walk is a specially developed hiking trail or footpath that runs through the countryside, along which there are marked stations or stops next to points of natural, techn ...

* Eifel Coaster (all weather

rodelbahn A toboggan is a simple sled traditionally used by children. It is also a traditional form of transport used by the Innu and Cree of northern Canada. In modern times, it is used on snow to carry one or more people (often children) down a hill o ...

), 1,050 m long * Family roller coaster, 126 m long, 30 km/h top speed * Adventure playground * 2 bumper car rides * Water scooters * Pony Express * Horse merry-go-round * Children's merry-go-round * Bungee trampoline * trampoline * Freefall slide with 60% gradient, 40 m long * Curved pipe slide and wave slide * Bouncy pillows * Fliegenpilz (Wellenflug-Kettenkarussell) * Numerous

play park A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people ...

s * Pedal boats * Electric cars

Shows

Different shows are put on in the woodland theatre and the event grounds: *

Birds of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predat ...

free flight show with

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

s and

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

s *

Puppet theatre Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a performan ...

* Daily animal feeding * dog show

References

Zoos in Germany Amusement parks in Germany Eifel Culture of Rhineland-Palatinate Wildlife parks {{RhinelandPalatinate-geo-stub