I got a bit further: Setting: CLASSPATH="/etc/zookeeper/conf:/usr/share/java/zookeeper.jar:/usr/share/java/slf4j-simple.jar" i.e. adding the ":/usr/share/java/slf4j-simple.jar" helps a bit...
The server seems to start now, and via zkCli, I can `ls` my paths and `get` values. But there's still no logging (neither to file nor to systemd)... ...and zkCli used to show a "prompt" like: [zk: localhost:2181(CONNECTED) 3] commands go here but now, there is nothing, though I can enter commands. May be unrelated though