The Palm House in the palace park at Schönbrunn is the largest of its kind on the European continent. It houses dozens of Mediterranean, tropical and subtropical plants. Emperor Franz Joseph commissioned the construction of the Palm House in 1882. Architect Franz Segenschmid had his hands full: with a length of 111 meters, 2,500 square meters in area and 4,900 square meters of glass, it is the largest Palm House on the European continent. 45,000 glass panes were installed. The Palm House is divided into three pavilions and three climate zones, which are connected to each other by tunnel-like corridors. The tallest room exhibits plants from the Mediterranean region, the Canary Islands, South Africa, America and Australia. The northern room houses plants from China, Japan, the Himalayas and New Zealand. Tropical and subtropical plants grow in the third area. Plants on display in the Palm House include a 23 meter-tall palm and in spring/summer the largest water lily in the world (with a leaf diameter of 1.20 meters). Temperatures range between 8 and 17 degrees Celsius.
