Berlin Zoo offers barrier-free tours for people living with dementia
Christel Krueger, 86, and her daughter took part in a specialized tour last month at Berlin Zoo arranged for people who live with dementia. Krueger, staring through thick glass at a mother hippopotamus and her child sleeping on a sandbar, was among several participants selected for a route designed to reduce strain and distractions during the visit.
The tour was organized by Malteser Deutschland, a Germany-based chapter of the international Catholic aid organization Malteser Order of Malta. On the outing, Ingrid Barkow, who was using a wheelchair, watched as elephants moved through their habitat, while Monika Jansen, 85, balanced on her tiptoes to get a better view of a rhinoceros.
Jansen said in an interview during the tour that she would keep thinking about the visit after she returned home. Krueger’s experience and the other participants’ reactions were used by the organizers to illustrate what they say is often missing from public attractions for people with dementia: a setting where they can be present, get comfortable at their own speed, and still feel included.
Organizers pointed to the scale of dementia in Germany as a reason for offering access beyond standard museum and event formats. The tour is aimed at people with dementia in a country where, according to the Office of the National Dementia Strategy, there are roughly 1.6 million people living with dementia, with the figure expected to rise to 2.8 million by 2050.
Gruschka, the project coordinator for Malteser Berlin, said that people with dementia “aren’t very visible in our society” and that the topic remains a major taboo. She said it still affects many people and that it is important for them to continue to be at the heart of society. Gruschka also said, “They have a right to participate, just like everyone else.”
Tembrink, who coordinates the tours at Malteser Berlin, said the program focuses on selected zoo areas rather than trying to cover the whole site. She said the participants spend time around the hippo, rhino and elephant habitats so they do not become too tired or overwhelmed.
Tembrink added that the zoo’s long-standing role in Berlin childhood memories can help trigger familiarity for people with dementia. She said childhood memories are often still present and may need only a small “jog” to return, and she described how seeing the animals, smelling the air when they enter the zoo, or going into the rhino house can create that natural connection.
For caregivers and families, the tours were described as a way to share time with others who understand what daily support can involve. Krueger was formally diagnosed with dementia last year, but her daughter, Kerstin Hoehne, said the symptoms appeared more than two years earlier.
Höhn e said what felt most meaningful was being with “like-minded people” who made her feel less alone and part of a group with others facing the same problem. Barkow’s daughter, Manuela Grudda, said the tour brought her family closer together and described pushing her mother’s wheelchair while touching her shoulders and pointing out animals.
Grudda said she cannot communicate with her mother in a normal way, but she watches and can see attention and engagement when something is shown. She said it made her happy that her mother was not just in her “own world,” but also participating in the tour environment.
Specialized barrier-free programming has expanded in recent years across museums and cultural institutions, with some offerings tailored for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, others built around touch for people with blindness or low vision, and programs for those on the autism spectrum. Malteser Berlin said its dementia-focused tours are offered at the zoo as well as planned or existing programming at other sites including the Museum of Natural History, Britzer Garden and Charlottenburg Palace, with hopes of expanding to additional locations.