Josef Pallenberg

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

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 was awarded a gold medal there in 1907, for his bronze statue, "Fliegende Adler" (Flying Eagle).

[citation needed] In 1912, he established a private zoo on a larger property, at a new studio in Düsseldorf.