The ticket booth and the toilets are still temporarily housed in a container.

This does not change the function: Since Wednesday morning at 9 a.m., no public passage has been possible on the Philosophenweg between Kronberg and Königstein, which leads through the middle of the Opel Zoo.

The zoo uses the opportunity to move in the path.

This allows the last change to the development plan decided at the end of 2021.

This was published on November 20th and is therefore legally binding.

Bernhard Biener

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Hochtaunus district.

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"Finally, like every other zoo in Germany, we have a coherent company site," said director Thomas Kauffels during an on-site visit.

“This step makes it easier to ensure security.” As managing director, he is responsible for this around the clock.

"Just think of an animal escaping." In Frankfurt there is a three meter high wall around the zoo.

"It would be gone here." But it is also important that there is now a clearly defined outer border and that everyone with the entrance ticket recognizes the parking regulations.

Controversy over free passage has raged for decades.

That is why the development plan includes an agreement between the city and the zoo, according to which all Kronbergers are entitled to a half-price annual pass.

You can also cross the site on the Philosophenweg free of charge within an hour in the direction of Königstein.

This is checked with a personalized chip card on which the photo and fingerprint are stored.

"And only on the map, the zoo does not save the imprint," emphasized Kauffels.

The tickets are issued at the new ticket office on Philosophenweg.

If you don't leave the zoo, you have to pay

Later, a permanent ticket office with toilet facilities is to be built on the Kronberg side.

"To do this, two plots of land have to be merged, so it's still taking time," said the zoo director.

The technology for the chip cards has not yet been delivered either.

Therefore, there is an interim solution for citizens of Kronberg with a pass card and a time recording card: At the exit in Königstein they have to check out at a time clock.

The following will also apply in the future: If you do not leave the zoo at the end of the Philosophenweg, your pass will be blocked and you will have to pay the entrance fee next time.

Mayor Christoph König (SPD) suspects that the Kronberg residents will be more in demand for reduced annual tickets than for the pass card, which, strictly speaking, is not allowed on the rest of the zoo grounds.

In the past 20 years, the city has worked constructively and in partnership to find a solution.

Politically, there is a clear majority for the zoo.

"There were four dissenting votes in the vote on the change to the development plan," said König.

He saw the political majority as confirmed by the fact that this question had been an issue in several election campaigns.

"We are happy and proud that we have the Opel Zoo," says the mayor.

He is an important image factor and employer - Kauffels spoke of 127 employees, which puts the zoo in fifth place among Kronberg's employers.

The first city councilor responsible for urban planning, Robert Siedler (non-party), called the previously public route an "anachronism".

He thanked his employees, who had been dealing with the issue for years.

König regretted that Königstein did not join the agreement.

The zoo also offered discounts and free passage tickets to citizens registered in Königstein.

There, however, a citizens' initiative was directed against accession to the treaty.

The city council then withdrew the decision without a formal referendum being held.

They had unsuccessfully demanded a separate cash register on the Königstein side.

However, there will only be one turnstile for the exit and automated access for one person at a time.

The mayor of Königstein, Leonhard Helm (CDU), said on request that one would now wait for the period of one year in which a lawsuit against the development plan would be possible.

"Let's see if someone can check him." He himself does not consider the plan to be illegal.

After the deadline, it makes sense to join the agreement in order to get the same benefits for Königstein citizens.