🐘 In 1888, Munich hosted a parade and festivities for the 100th birthday of Ludwig I, which ended in disaster, the so-called Münchener Elefantenkatastrophe (Munich elephant catastrophe).
👑 Ludwig I was born on August 25, 1786 and the Centenarfeier was supposed to take place in 1886. However, Ludwig II died in 1786 at the Starnberger See, so the celebration was postponed by two years.
🐘 The festivities took place from July 29-31 and on the last day, the parade turned into a mass panic when eight Indian elephants from Carl Hagenbeck’s Circus got spooked.
Parade turned Panic
🐘 Everything was going well until, there were floats from local clubs and tradespeople, actors and students sported historic costumes, there was music and camels, and thousands of people lined the streets and watched from windows and balconies. The 3 kilometer long procession marched through downtown Munich towards the Odeonsplatz.
🐲 The Iron Industry had decorated a street locomotive as a dragon and was bringing up the rear of the parade. Close to the Siegestor, the locomotive-dragon blew off steam. This noise spooked the elephants and they tried to get away. The spectators panicked and also ran.
🐘 According the Carl Hagenbeck who was present at the parade, he was able to stop the elephants several times but the people kept hitting the elephants with sticks and umbrellas, screaming and running, that he was unable to keep the elephants calm.
🐘 During the mass panic, several people died and got injured.
Illustration from “Neue Illustrierte Zeitung”, August 19, 1888. Title: “Die Unterbrechung des Münchner Festzugs zur Centenarfeier König Ludwigs I. durch die scheugewordenen Elefanten” (The interruption of the Munich parade for the centennial of King Ludwig I by startled elephants). Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Sources and Resources
- Elefantenkatastrophe – Wiki
- Carl Hagenbeck, Auszug aus “Von Tieren und Menschen”: Von Elefanten und der Münchener Drachenpanik
- Carl Hagenbeck’s “Von Tieren und Menschen: Erlebnisse und Erfahrungen” (Deutsch), download here
- Münchener Guckkasten, 4. August 1888 (Deutsch), download here
- More photos under bavarikon.de, search for “Centanar-Feier”
- Süddeutsche Zeitung: Wild gewordene Horde
