Palmenhaus

Palmenhaus stands in Schönbrunn Palace Park in Vienna, bringing plants from worldwide climates beneath an iron-and-glass roof. Opened in 1882, the greenhouse measures 111 metres long, 28 metres wide and 25 metres high. Its structure combines 600 tonnes of wrought iron, 120 tonnes of cast iron and around 45,000 glass panes.

The central section provides a temperate Mediterranean climate, while the north annex forms a coldhouse and the south annex a hothouse. Around 4,500 plant species fill these spaces, including a 350-year-old olive tree donated by Spain. A Wollemia, cultivated outside Australia, grows beside a coco de mer from the Seychelles and collections of azaleas and tree ferns.

A Livistona chinensis usually rises above the other plants at the centre, where it carries the name Mirna palm. Bombing in February 1945 destroyed much of the glazing, while the Sonnenuhrhaus sheltered plants that survived. Reconstruction began in 1948, and the restored greenhouse reopened in 1953.