Artis (zoo)

This article is about a zoo in Amsterdam. For other uses, see Artis (disambiguation).

Natura Artis Magistra (Latin for "Nature is the teacher of art"), commonly known just as Artis (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɑrtɪs]), is a zoo and botanical garden in the centre of Amsterdam. It is the oldest zoo in the Netherlands and fifth oldest zoo in the world.^[11]

Artis Royal Zoo
Natura Artis Magistra
The zoo's entrance in 2004
52°21′58″N 04°55′00″E
Date opened	1838; 187 years ago (1838)[1]
Location	Amsterdam, Netherlands
No. of species	900[1]
Annual visitors	1,448,345 (2019)[2] 729,755 (2020)[3] 712,941 (2021)[4]
Memberships	NVD,[5] EAZA,[6] ISIS,[7] WAZA[8]
Director	Rembrandt Sutorius[9]
Public transit access	Artis (tram stop line 14)[10]
Website	www.artis.nl/en

In addition to the zoo, Artis also contains an aquarium, a planetarium, an arboretum, Micropia, and the Groote Museum. A part of the art collection is on display in the aquarium building of the zoo. Artis contains 27 historically significant (listed) buildings, bridges, and ponds, most of which are still used as animal enclosures.

The zoo is a member of the Dutch Zoo Federation (NVD), the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), Species360, the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) and the Nederlandse Vereniging van Botanische Tuinen [nl] (NVBT).^[12]

History

Litho of the zoo's founders J.J. Wijsmuller, G.F. Westerman, and J.W.H. Werlemann from 1888

Postcard of the monkey cage in 1908

The zoo was founded in 1838 by three zoology enthusiasts, Gerard Westerman, J.W.H. Werlemann and J.J. Wijsmuller (also known as the three Ws). It was initially open only to members. Starting in 1851 it was opened to the public during the month of September.^[13] In 1920 it was opened year-round to the public, but September remains discount month.^[14]

The core of the current zoo property, then the "Middenhof" estate, was purchased by the board of the zoological society "Natura Artis Magistra" late in 1838 in the Plantage, which was then a thinly populated area on the outskirts of Amsterdam. From the start it exhibited both live and mounted specimens.^[15]

The zoo is commonly referred to as Artis, because the zoo has three gates with the words 'Natura', 'Artis', and 'Magistra' written above each of them, respectively, which combined formed its actual name. More often than not, only the middle gate was open, so that people who walked through it, seeing that 'Artis' was written above it, believed that the zoo was just called Artis. Thanks to this, soon few people knew it by its full name: Natura Artis Magistra.

The last quagga in captivity died at Artis on 12 August 1883, because all zebras were referred to as quagga, nobody realized this was the last quagga alive until years later.

Ethnological Collections

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Artis, the zoo in Amsterdam, organized exhibitions in which not only people from the Dutch colonies, such as Suriname and Dutch East Indies, but also individuals with physical features considered 'deviant', were publicly displayed.

Between approximately 1902 and 1941, people from these communities were brought to Artis to live and be exhibited in specially reconstructed 'authentic' villages. These human exhibitions were presented as educational and 'true to nature,' an idea also propagated by Carl Hagenbeck — an influential German animal trader and organizer of ethnographic exhibitions. In his memoirs, Hagenbeck emphasized that the displayed groups, such as the Inuit ("guests from the far north"), were supposedly unaware that they were performing a show; according to him, they thus presented a "true copy of life in nature." In reality, this practice was part of a broader colonial ideology, in which people from other cultures were reduced to objects of entertainment and study for a predominantly Western audience.^[16][17][18]

These practices were part of a broader European tradition of "human zoos," in which both people of different skin colors and individuals whose physical appearance deviated from the norm were exhibited. The extensive ethnographic collection that Artis displayed for a long time in its Ethnographic Museum was transferred in 1921 to the nearby Tropenmuseum.

In recent years, Artis has taken steps to improve the living conditions of animals, while attention to its colonial past in educational communications has remained limited.^[19]

Historic buildings

Aquarium building in 2012

Artis includes 27 historic buildings. The aquarium was built in 1882 on land leased from the city on condition that only a museum ever be built on it.^[20] The Heimans-diorama (1926) is located in the back of the aquarium.^[21] The library dates back to 1867 and the building the 'Ledenlokalen' on the right side of the main entrance dates back to the 19th century as well.

The wolf house (formerly an inn), and the Masman Garden House which now houses scarlet ibis were both on the site before the zoo was established.^[14]

Library

Main article: Artis Library

Reading room of the library in 2012

Artis has a library on the history of zoology and botany. It houses the library of the zoo, as well as the libraries of the Zoological Museum Amsterdam and the Amsterdam Botanical Garden. It also hosts the archives of a number of zoologists and botanists, such as the archive of Hugo de Vries. It contains 20,000 books, 3000 manuscripts and 80,000 animal prints.^[22]

The library is part of the special collections of the University of Amsterdam.

Gallery

• 
  Aldabra tortoises at Artis
• 
  Camels at Artis
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  Artis aquarium
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  Crowned pigeons at Artis
• 
  There are no longer any orangutans at Artis
• 
  Crocodiles at Artis
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  Dreams - A rock facade in Artis
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  Bronze sea lion sculpture by Anthony Smith at Artis