Josef Pallenberg

Josef Franz Pallenberg (6 August 1882, Cologne - 26 June 1946, Düsseldorf) was a German sculptor; best known for his animal statues.

Biography
He was the oldest son of Jean Pallenberg, a craftsman, and a nephew of Johann Heinrich Pallenberg, a furniture manufacturer with a Royal Warrant of Appointment to the Prussian Court. At the age of six, a visit to the Cologne Zoo inspired him to begin sketching animals. In 1899, he enrolled at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where he took drawing lessons from Ernst Roeber and Willy Spatz. He soon switched to the sculpture classes taught by Karl Janssen. His first large work, "Sauhatz" (pig hunt) was shown at the Kunstpalast (Düsseldorf) in 1902 as part of the Industrie- und Gewerbeausstellung Düsseldorf. He was, however, denied a medal because it was classified as a "student work". In 1904, he entered sixteen sculptures in the Große Berliner Kunstausstellung. He was awarded a gold medal there in 1907, for his bronze statue, "Fliegende Adler" (Flying Eagle).

After leaving the Kunstakademie, he went to the Berlin Zoo, where the zoologist, Ludwig Heck, became his patron. He produced several large animal sculptures, which caught the attention of Carl Hagenbeck, an animal dealer who is credited with creating the modern zoo. This resulted in a commission to sculpt the bronzes at the entrance gates of the Tierpark Hagenbeck.

At his studio in Cologne, near the zoo, he kept some live animal models; including a lioness named "Juste", and a wolf named "Prinz". He would take them for leashed walks, much to the displeasure of his neighbors. In 1912, he established a private zoo on a larger property, at a new studio in Düsseldorf. His younger brother, Christian, initially helped him care for the animals, until he was drafted. In 1915, Maria Steinhausen, a friend's widow, moved in with her fifteen year old daughter. Together, they took care of the animals and his household. He and Maria were married in 1917. During World War II, he had to part with most of his animals, due to a lack of food. His studio was seriously damaged by a bombing. Many of his works and most of his anatomical collection were lost. His surviving works were transferred to the Aquazoo Löbbecke Museum. When he died, following a long illness, his natural science collection was donated to them. He was interred at the cemetery in Lohausen, under a boulder with a bronze eagle. In 2013, an exhibit on his life and work was installed at Schloss Benrath.