The place is full of tradition: the old dressage hall in the Hagenbeck zoo was always used for animal training. In December 2008 it became the arena for the Hamburg Dinner Circus where Martin and his lions were performing. Lions need a lot of space, which can sometimes prove a problem for the large enclosures needed. And so it proved here. Finally the only solution that worked was for Martin to share King Tonga’s “bedroom”. Perhaps that is why both of them remember their time in Hamburg so fondly.