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The two books about plants and insects in Vienna are part of the series "Kultur für Genießer", published by Falter Verlag since the 1990s. The biological connection might sound alien at first, but alongside coffee houses, facades, hiking guides, and wild swimming spots, the series also brings together "50 Wiener Bäume" or "Famose Vögel", thus bridging the gap between culture and nature.
What distinguishes many books in this series, including the two nature books presented here—in the truest sense of the word—are illustrations by Silvia Ungersböck. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna under Gunther Damisch and Christian Schwarzwald and lives in Vienna as a freelance artist.
Back in 2022, Birgit Lahner, together with Cristina-Estera Klein, had already written "Botanische Spaziergänge", also in this series. For Lahner, who studied agricultural sciences and applied plant sciences and lives in the Kamptal (Lower Austria), the book inspired a desire "to research further", as she writes in the preface. The essential aspect and, as it were, common thread of this vademecum of 50 species is: "They all have a special connection to Vienna."
She divides the book into four chapters, starting with "Meadow, woodland, and roadside plants". Here we encounter—and this runs throughout the entire book—both plants that are widely known and species that may seem new, having previously been barely known or identifiable. Old acquaintances include the sweet violet, the green hellebore (Helleborus viridis), or the common poppy (Papaver rhoeas). To illustrate the connection to Vienna, a look at the violet (Viola odorata) on pages 55 to 59: In Austria, there are five scented and just under 20 non-scented species.
In the 19th century in particular, violets experienced a real boom—and not just in Vienna—becoming widespread as decorative motifs. In Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller's classic painting (Upper Belvedere) "Vorfrühling im Wienerwald" (page 58), children are picking the first small bunches of violets. Sisi, Empress of Austria, is also said to have consumed—at least for a time—only two oranges and violet sorbet daily to stay slim. The search for the first violets in spring is also legendary—a tradition dating back to Duke Leopold VI (1176–1230).
Chapter two, "Fruit and vegetables", ranges from pineapple (page 66ff) to wild service tree (page 115ff) and brings together not only cabbage, bell peppers, peas, plums, and black elderberry ("Holler"), but also bitter oranges and figs. In doing so, Lahner also provides a stage for "plant species whose sweet fruits were largely served only to high Viennese society in the past". Under "Trees and other woody plants" (chapter three), field maple, European beech, butterfly bush, or even the downy oak can be found, alongside large-leaved linden and the wild grapevine. A few quick words on the tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), whose seeds were sent from China to Europe in the 18th century and were initially highly valued here. Today, the tree (page 123ff) with its pinnate leaves is regarded as a neophyte. A simple wall joint or crack in the pavement is enough for it to germinate. Vienna's most famous Ailanthus on the south side of St. Stephen's Cathedral, right next to the stairs to the south tower's watchman's chamber, demonstrates this.
In chapter four, "Ornamental and magical plants", the titan arum (page 165ff) at the Botanical Garden is introduced, among others. During its last bloom, which lasted only a single day in May 2022 and was accompanied by a beastly stench, around 10,000 people came to view the two-metre-high inflorescence of Amorphophallus titanum along with its rather unique olfactory note. By way of balance, coffee (page 174ff) and true vanilla (page 214) invite the reader in, forging a bridge to Viennese cuisine and coffee house culture.
"This book aims to be a magnifying glass that makes some of the small wonders visible," writes Dominique Zimmermann, curator of Hymenoptera ("membrane-winged insects") at the Natural History Museum Vienna, in her introduction. She begins with the sentence: "I would not want to live in a world where cities belong only to us humans." The author, a proven expert on insects, possesses profound entomological knowledge of Vienna. Together with Sabine Schoder, she studied "Die Wildbienenfauna des ehemaligen Verschiebebahnhofs Breitenlee (Wien)" from April to August 2022. Over an area of 90 hectares, the two researchers were able to identify no fewer than 163 species of wild bees.
Yet the world of Viennese insects does not begin in Transdanubian Breitenlee, but in our bathrooms. Paraphrasing Zimmermann at the end of the foreword: "Let's coexist!" Who doesn't know them, the little silverfish (Lepisma saccharina) with their two long antennae? These synanthropes are presented on pages 33 to 36. At the beginning, one finds not only the German and the scientific name in Latin, but also a catchy title: "A modest seducer". Indeed, "male silverfish court females very discreetly." Zimmermann describes behaviours and habitats in accessible language, while footnotes cite the original scientific literature. Along with drawings by Ungersböck, some of them full-page, grey silhouettes at the beginning show the true size of the insects. Added to this are QR codes containing further ("5-minute podcast on the silverfish", page 36) and often acoustic information ("What a bush-cricket chirp sounds like", page 168).
The parade of the 50 animals presented here begins with the winter damselfly (Sympecna fusca), which belongs to the damselfly suborder. When it comes to overwintering, it is a specialist and can even survive under snow. Introduced from page 31 is the sabre wasp (Rhyssa persuasoria), which was named Insect of the Year in 2025. The wasp is followed by the silverfish portrayed above. The strictly protected, truly beautiful southern festoon (Zerynthia polyxena), "a small work of art of nature" (page 49), is featured just as prominently as firebugs (Pyrrhocoris apterus), whose mating act lasts seven hours on average. But it can last even longer, as a footnote on page 55 reveals: "Up to seven days."
The field cricket (Gryllus campestris), Rosalia longicorn (Rosalia alpina), "one of the most striking and beautiful beetle species in Austria", and the house mosquito (Culex pipiens molestus), which belongs to the roughly 50 native mosquito species, were included just as much as the great green bush-cricket (Tettigonia viridissima), an eye-catcher on the book's cover, right down to the common earwig (Forficula auricularia), also known as Ohrwurm or Ohrenkreuler. Number 49 belongs to the seven-spot ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata), regarded as a symbol of good luck, before the violet carpenter bee (Xylocopa violacea) closes the book. By the way, it is one of the 163 wild bee species from Breitenlee.
Conclusion: "50 Wiener Pflanzen und ihre Geschichte – Die vielfältige Botanik der Stadt" offers well-researched portraits with a distinct Vienna connection, often containing little-known or unfamiliar facts. "50 Wiener Insekten – Ein Querschnitt durch die Insektenvielfalt der Stadt" fascinates with well-presented insider knowledge that reveals many details about the lifestyles and habitats of insects. (Thomas Hofmann, 4 September 2026)