The New International Encyclopædia/Hagenbeck, Karl

HAGENBECK, hä'gen-bĕk, Karl (1844—). A German trainer of animals and circus manager. He was born at Hamburg, where his father in 1852 established a considerable trade in animals. The business, which subsequently passed into the hands of the son, was greatly enlarged by him. In order to obtain animals from Africa and other countries, several transports were annually sent out from Hamburg. He later traveled through Europe, giving ethnological exhibitions representing the life of the various races of Africa, Oceaniea, and of the far North. In 1886 he visited the United States, where he conceived the idea of organizing a circus. During the Chicago Exposition (1893) he revisited America, bringing with him about 1000 animals, including lions, tigers, bears, leopards, and wild boars. Hagenbeck has been styled ‘the Moltke of menagerie-owners.’