Yahoo – AFP,
September 1, 2017
 |
Snow leopard mother Siri stands next to her male cub Barid on August 13, 2015
at the zoo in Cologne, western Germany (AFP Photo/Federico GAMBARINI)
|
Berlin
(AFP) - A 93-year-old widow from the United States has donated $22 million to
the zoo in Cologne, Germany, saying she wanted to give back to the city where
she and her husband met during World War II, German media reported Friday.
"We
never forgot Cologne," Elizabeth Reichert told the Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger
newspaper by phone from her home in Philadelphia.
She said
she and her Jewish husband Arnulf Reichert both grew up in the western German
city. They met in 1944, she recalled, when Arnulf lived in hiding to avoid
being discovered by the Nazis.
They
married a year after the war ended and briefly moved to Israel before settling
in the US, where they lived the American dream and made their fortune.
Reichert
said she worked as a hairdresser, while her husband took a job for a wholesaler
selling pets and pet supplies, before setting up his own business and making
millions.
Shortly
before her husband died in 1998, the childless couple agreed to bequeath their
money to the Cologne Zoo after their deaths.
"When
you start thinking about who you want to leave your money to, memories play a
big role. With the zoo, the money is well spent," Reichert said.
The couple
had already shown their affection for the zoo in 1954, when they gifted a
soft-shell turtle.
The
considerably larger donation this time will come into effect after Reichert's
death, when a foundation named after her husband will provide the zoo with an
annual payment.
The zoo's
director, Christopher Landsberg, said he was taken aback when he learned of the
windfall from across the pond.
"I
nearly fell off my chair," he told the DPA news agency.
No comments:
Post a Comment