Wiener Naturgeschichten: Vom Museum in die Stratosphare

Text in German. Curtain up on the panopticon of human and animal actors. A colorful hodgepodge of Viennese stories brings to light numerous new and unusual facets of nature in the former imperial, capital and residence city. The life story of a mayor who achieved world fame as a butterfly researcher, a stranded whale as an attraction in the Prater, which ended up in the museum. In July 1876 there were violent tremors that we feared falling from our chairs and a request to observe the periodic natural phenomena in the vegetation . A university professor who waited for the end of the world, a museum director who collected 400,000 fish, a police officer as a passionate ornithologist - the approaches to Vienna’s nature could hardly be more diverse. Whether in a museum, in public places, in archives or while strolling through Vienna’s city center, the authors, both profound experts on Vienna, bring the unexpected to light. They amaze and inspire with unconventional approaches. They tell the results of their research, garnished with links to the cultural history of the former imperial capital and residence, in astonishing stories.