Palmenhaus, Vienna

Palmenhaus is a vast greenhouse for plants gathered from around the world, and it is the most prominent of the four plant houses in Schönbrunn Palace Park. Opened in 1882, it ranks among the world’s three largest structures of its kind and contains around 4,500 plant species. The building was created by Ignaz Gridl and Franz-Xaver von Segenschmid, with Sigmund Wagner responsible for its structural calculations.

Its iron framework supports a glass envelope measuring 111 metres in length, 28 metres in width and 25 metres in height, assembled from 45,000 panes. The northern and southern annexes function as a cool house and a tropical house. A bombing raid in February 1945 destroyed almost all the glazing, and many plants were lost.

Reconstruction began in 1948, and the Palmenhaus reopened in 1953. Among its living treasures is an olive tree about 350 years old, donated by Spain in 1974. Another remarkable resident is a Wollemia, a species discovered in 1994 and cultivated here on permanent loan from the University of Vienna’s Botanical Garden.