Copenhagen ZOO and Carlsberg have entered into an agreement that allows Carlsberg's four brewery horses to move to the ZOO during the rebuilding of Carlsberg's historic stables.

“The brewery horses and historic stables are an important part of Carlsberg's history,” says Jakob Stilov, Senior Director Real Estate and head of Visit Carlsberg. “The horses were used for the distribution of beer up to the 1950s, but today we only use them for special occasions. I think it’s safe to say that they’re very spoilt, which is why we don’t think they should remain here while we renovate.”

As a consequence of many years of wear and tear, and in line with the development of Carlsberg City and the Carlsberg Group's ambition to offer a more contemporary attraction, the Carlsberg Visitor Centre is now facing a major renovation and modernisation programme.

“So far, the horses have been untouched by the modernisation, but the stables will be undergoing major renovation in the next few months,” says Jakob Stilov. “Carlsberg has therefore entered into an agreement to move the horses to Copenhagen ZOO. We’re especially pleased that the horses will be able to spend time out of the ZOO each day and thus maintain the training that is necessary for moving around in traffic. And we’re also happy that they don’t have to move too far away from home.”

Copenhagen ZOO has built a new horse paddock close to the gate at Roskildevej and will take on a large part of the care of the four brewery horses. A coachman from Carlsberg will accompany the horses and primarily be responsible for keeping, training and using the horses.

Copenhagen ZOO’s Scientific Director Bengt Holst has pulled strings to get the agreement in place and is looking forward to welcoming the four brewery horses:

“These are fantastically beautiful animals with a long and exciting history,” says Bengt Holst. “So I look forward to us and our guests being able to experience the horses up close. We always try to manage our square metres in the best possible way for the benefit of animals and guests, so when Carlsberg approached us we set about finding the necessary space and conditions worthy of these impressive animals. We succeeded, and we look forward to welcoming the horses and giving our guests an extra experience.”

The move will take place on Thursday 17 December. The horses will leave Carlsberg at 10 am. They arrive at Copenhagen ZOO around midday. They will return upon the re-opening of VisitCarlsberg scheduled for Spring 2022.