Sponsorship of the ‘Bundesgiraffe’ supports programmes for children and young people

“NATUR beflügelt”is a joint programme run by the Alexander-Koenig-Gesellschaft and the Museum Koenig for children and young people with a particular interest in biology and other natural sciences. It offers participants the opportunity to take part in cutting-edge scientific research and, outside the everyday school routine, to explore and experience the Earth’s vast biodiversity and ecological interrelationships. The AKG relies on donations to fund the programme, which comprises the ‘Junior Researchers’ Club’, ‘Young Researchers’ Club’, ‘Girls Make Museum’ and ‘Alexander Koenig Club’ initiatives. Animal sponsorships form an important pillar of this funding.

Many animals in the museum already have sponsors, but the standing giraffe in the savannah had so far been left without one. Now it too has found a sponsor: Viktor Baumann GmbH & Co. KG. Managing Director Sabine Baumann-Duvenbeck, who feels a strong connection to the African savannah thanks to her many years of experience in Africa, wishes to set an example with this fitting sponsorship. “It is important to support such significant institutions as the Museum Koenig. Given its anatomy, the giraffe is a perfect fit for us as a crane company,” says Sabine Baumann-Duvenbeck.

The standing, taxidermied male specimen from the giraffe group was brought back from Sudan in 1913 by one of Alexander Koenig’s research expeditions. Since then, it has dominated the museum’s atrium, which previously housed only a row of taxidermied large mammals along its edges. The male giraffe gained particular fame in 1948, when all the large animals had to be removed from the atrium for the opening session of the Parliamentary Council, which was tasked with drafting the new constitution of the young Federal Republic. The space was needed for the rows of chairs, and the organisers presumably also wanted to avoid any visual distractions for the delegates and the media. The male giraffe, however, was too tall to fit under the surrounding arches. The solution was to push it through one of these arches as far back as possible until it could be draped with a large cloth. The people of Bonn therefore gave the animal the nickname ‘Bundesgiraffe’ (Federal Giraffe).

By the way: you too can sponsor one of our animal exhibits and thereby support our programmes for children and young people. You can find all the information here. Sponsorship also includes a one-year, free membership of the Alexander Koenig Society.