This rivals the terrible cage that is no more in Honolulu. Probably the worst I ever saw in recent years. Fortunately, Honolulu has made significant improvements for their Orangs.
Happily, Frankfurt's apes now have a vastly improved new home, one of the best multi-species ape houses I've seen (and that's coming from someone with no great interest in apes).
As I said, I haven't been since 2002, and news of new exhibit constructions/openings usually go into one ear and out the other, unless the species in question is of particular interest to me. I guess the shame is on me but fortunately we've got Maguari with the facts here!
Here it looks unchanged from the 1960's apart from woodwool on the floor. But that House is now no more and a lovely new 'state of the art' one one has arisen in its place.
I'd actually be interested to know which other zoos you visited in Europe. I've been on Zoochat three years now and while I know you have done a lot of travel in Southeast Asia and Australasia, I honestly don't recall you saying until now that you've visited Europe ... if you don't mind!
I was just passing through Frankfurt on the way to England so went to the zoo and the amazing Senckenberg Museum (there are no dedicated natural history museums in NZ so I was in heaven there). In England I saw Manchester Airport and a little town called Bury, and that's it (long story, which I don't care to relate).