Otto Koenig (behavioral scientist)

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Otto Koenig (1987) with Great Bustards on the institute premises

Otto Martin Lothar Koenig (born October 23, 1914 in Vienna ; † December 5, 1992 in Klosterneuburg ) was an Austrian behavioral scientist and publicist trained as a photographer . Immediately after the Second World War in 1945, Konrad Lorenz's pupil founded the Wilhelminenberg Biological Station in Vienna with his wife Lilli Koenig. This institute for comparative behavioral research (later as part of the Austrian Academy of Sciences) was headed by Otto Koenig himself. He made significant contributions to nature and wildlife conservation in Austria, received numerous awards and was appointed professor in 1962.

Childhood and school

Otto Koenig was the only child of Otto Martin Julius Koenig and his wife Mathilde, nee. Hruby was born in Vienna on October 23, 1914. He grew up in a social-democratic family that was very interested in education. Although Koenig went other ways than his parents, whose lifestyle also had “bourgeois” traits, his pronounced scientific interest was a family inheritance from early childhood. The basic social democratic positions of the family can also be recognized - by no means without breaks - in all phases of Koenig's life.

Koenig's school career was changeable. It was probably also a sign of the family's “bourgeois” claims that Otto Koenig did not complete his first year of primary school (1920/21) in school, but - together with his lifelong friend Richard Kretschmayer - in home lessons from the private teacher Reif. It was not until 1921 that he attended the five-grade elementary school in Klosterneuburg, the second class of which he entered on September 16, 1921. From his school legacies from this time, clear signs of his later interests in the natural and cultural sciences can be seen in his writings, but especially in his drawings. However, it had to do with the political orientation of the family that Otto Koenig did not move to the Klosterneuburg high school, which was classified as very conservative-national, after completing primary school in 1925, but to the humanistic federal high school Vienna IX, Wasagasse 10 . According to Otto Koenig, the population in the immediate catchment area of ​​this grammar school was socialist-oriented and had a high proportion of Jewish fellow citizens. Therefore, the grammar school had a very high proportion of Jewish students, so that Koenig partially adopted the idiom of these classmates in his tone . In Koenig's interview reports, it is not always possible to clearly distinguish which Viennese high school he is talking about. He only attended the humanistic federal high school for two years and after completing the 2nd grade switched to the federal high school Vienna II (Leopoldstadt) and from there to the federal high school Vienna XIV (Penzing).

But it was precisely at the grammar schools that, as he writes, “a more and more negative attitude towards teachers and the usual teaching operations developed.” Koenig's natural history, especially ornithological interests increasingly shifted to the extracurricular area. Very often he was drawn to the landscape to observe animals, to draw them or - with very simple means - to take photos. In addition - presumably since 1926 - there were also intensive contacts outside of school with the Bundestag youth. He joined a scout group in Vienna , which then joined the Red Falcons, founded in 1925 by Anton Tesarek . So he became more “socialist” in dealings and attitudes than his parents would have liked. It cannot be reconstructed in detail why the school aversions intensified so. Although he had to repeat the third grade at the Bundes-Realgymnasium Vienna II, the change to the Bundes-Realgymnasium Vienna XIV actually cost him another year. Koenig, who was only about two years before the Matura, could have implemented all of the scientific and professional goals he later specified from memory, even after completing school, and probably more effectively and faster. In any case, at the age of 18, to the great disappointment of his parents, he left high school to become an “animal photographer”. He obtained his Matura much later, namely on November 8, 1956, by taking the “Berufsreifeprüfung” at the University of Vienna. This was associated with the right to study psychology and zoology.

Education and career

The professional ideas that Koenig had already seen since childhood obviously did not go well with the content and form of the grammar school lessons. Under the influence of the animal books of the Swedish animal photographer Bengt Berg , he wanted to observe animals, especially birds, in the wild and record their behavior photographically. At that time, it was not about embarking on a scientific career, but rather about becoming an animal photographer. With all short-circuit school decisions, it was consequently consistent that Koenig left high school to improve his photographic skills and attended a vocational school from 1933 to 1936, namely the internationally renowned " Graphic Teaching and Research Institute , Photography Department" in Vienna. At this school, the only school of its kind in Austria, he successfully completed his training as a photographer after studying six semesters. It was there that he met his future wife, Lilli Frischauf (September 7, 1918 - November 9, 1994), who studied drawing from 1935 to 1939 .

Otto Koenig's training in photography remained closely linked to his leisure time activities and his participation in the youth of the Bund. Since he, as he reports, was 14 years old, probably in the summer of 1929, for the first time at a family outing Neusiedlersee met with his friend Richard Kretschmayer in the "primeval wilderness" of the reed belt as a complete surprise to a great bittern and egrets came, Birds that he only knew from animal books, he was so taken with the landscape, flora and fauna that over the next few years he kept coming back here to observe and take photos. From 1932 onwards he camped regularly at the lake, initially during the summer holidays. After completing the “Graphic Teaching and Research Institute” (certificate dated July 4, 1936), the excursions to the lake “began in spring and only ended in autumn”.

Otto Koenig (right) with Konrad Lorenz , 1974 in Winden am See

Koenig's meeting with Konrad Lorenz in 1936 was decisive for his further professional career . Koenig had already heard of his work with free-flying jackdaws, ravens and gray geese in neighboring Altenberg , but had not yet found access to him. The first contacts arose when Koenig worked on one of “Lecturer Dr. Konrad Lorenz ”led series of events at the Vienna People's Education House Urania on the subject of The Way to Real Animal History. He was able to talk to Konrad Lorenz more often when they happened to be taking the train home together. These encounters were of particular importance for Otto Koenig, because although he had extensive zoological, in particular ornithological experience through his animal observations, he had never completed a biological degree or passed any biological examination. Koenig was initially enrolled at the University of Vienna for ten semesters from 1954 to 1959. There he studied first as an extraordinary student, then after having passed the vocational matriculation examination from the summer semester of 1958 as a regular student. From 1962 to 1967 he studied again at the University of Vienna, but now again, presumably because of the restricted university entrance qualifications (psychology and zoology), as an extraordinary student. Between 1954 and 1967 his studies focused on the fields of psychology, philosophy, prehistory, ethnology, sociology and biology; none of these areas were concluded. Konrad Lorenz directed Koenig's interest to comparative behavioral research , which he never let go of. Koenig remained an autodidact from a biological / zoological point of view , but he repeatedly referred to himself as a student of Konrad Lorenz, namely his "oldest" and "most irregular student". When Konrad Lorenz remarked at the first meeting in 1936 that the research field of comparative behavioral research was so large “that one could build and employ one's own institute for it”, Koenig made it, as he reported several times, resolved to found such an institute . The first very real chance to found such an institute arose as early as 1938 on Lake Neusiedl, but it could not be realized because the war began. The second and successful attempt was the creation of the Biological Station Wilhelminenberg in 1945. Koenig tried to convey Konrad Lorenz in Vienna environment a job than this in 1948 came home from captivity, and also as Lorenz in 1973 from his post from the Max Planck Institute in Seewiesen retired .

How much Konrad Lorenz valued Otto Koenig's early scientific endeavors is also shown by the fact that he visited him in the early summer of 1939 together with Otto Koehler and his Königsberg students in the reed belt of Lake Neusiedl. In 1943 Koehler invited Koenig to give a lecture on Lake Neusiedl at the University of Königsberg .

Otto Koenig, who was awarded the title of Professor by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research in 1962 , developed as an animal photographer and behavioral researcher, as his books from 1939 and 1943 show. He distinguished himself as an animal photographer in 1939 with his first book Wonderland of the Wild Birds . In the 99-page book he presented and commented on the photographic harvest of his observations on Lake Neusiedl. The photos were highly praised, but the comments were dismissed as "banal" by the scientific community, namely by the Berlin zoologist Erwin Stresemann . Deeply hit by this criticism, in his next, larger work, Rallen und Bartmeisen (1943) , which he wrote during his military service, he sought to bring the text to the scientific level of the emerging comparative behavioral research. Stresemann now judged that a “new, high directional stake in ornithology” had been given.

Teachers, students and companions

In his numerous writings Otto Koenig spoke more often about his academic teachers, his students and companions. With regard to his scientific interests and knowledge, he considered it “the great luck” to “get to know personally the entire scientific elite from the early days of behavioral research”. He “spoke to everyone and exchanged letters,” received recognition and criticism. This is the "best school one can imagine". Because one does not become “a scientist” “in the lecture halls of the university, which I later eagerly visited, but outside in the field work and in conversation with the experienced supporters of intellectual scientific culture.” According to Koenig's repeated judgment, Konrad Lorenz comes first among his teachers , namely "beyond any doubt and deliberate competition". This is followed by the other well-known and early representatives of ethology, the Berlin ornithologist Oskar Heinroth , the Königsberg zoologist Otto Koehler and the Berlin zoologist Erwin Stresemann . Koenig also counts the zoologists Gustav Kramer , Wilhelmshaven, and Karl von Frisch , Munich, among this group of teachers. But especially after the establishment of the Biological Station Wilhelminenberg , Otto Koenig's Institute, which had a big name through publications and films and from 1956 through its continuous television presence, was the contact point for a large group of established as well as a large number of young scientists from different disciplines.

Koenig has also named a number of academics as his teachers from the cultural studies areas. However, these contacts did not arise until the early post-war period. The Viennese psychologist Prof. Dr. Sylvia Bayr-Klimpfinger , the Viennese ethnologist and Africanist Prof. Dr. Walter Hirschberg and - a little later (1971) - the Hamburg folklorist and historian Prof. Dr. Walter Hävernick . Hirschberg and Hävernick were particularly interlocutors in the development of cultural ethology .

Otto Koenig and colleagues in the open-air school in 1948

Otto Koenig included Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt in his early student body at the Wilhelminenberg Biological Station , but also Wolfgang Schleidt , Heinz Prechtl , Ilse Prechtl-Gilles and Eberhard Trumler . They were the first "station members" and also profess their literary support for this student body.

Koenig would certainly count among his companions the later Klosterneuburg community doctor Richard Kretschmayer, who - of the same age as Koenig - was close friends with him from childhood to old age. Alfred Seitz , PhD student under Konrad Lorenz and later director of the Nuremberg zoo (1951–1970), should be mentioned as a scientific companion of the early research period at Lake Neusiedl (from around 1934) . Alfred Seitz had already reported on the heron colonies on Lake Neusiedl in 1934 and also shared Koenig's commitment to nature conservation for the lake. Koenig was able to exchange ideas with him in joint ventures and benefited from his biological and photographic experience.

From the post-war period, numerous of his institute employees and supporters of his work were among his companions, including Dagmar Schratter , who were also long-time participants in the Matreier Talks he founded, such as Gustav Reingrabner and Max Liedtke .

In first place in the series of his companions is his wife Lilli Koenig, née. Frischauf (September 7, 1918 - November 9, 1994). Although the two met during their training at the graphic testing and teaching institute, they only had more intensive contacts since 1939. After Koenig's first successful book publication, the publisher had planned another book project with him, the “Vagabond's Logbook”. The publisher had planned to use Lilli Frischauf as the illustrator. Nothing came of the project because of the beginning of the war, but it was nevertheless the beginning of a lifelong journey together. Otto Koenig and Lilli Frischauf married on May 8, 1943 during a short home vacation in Vienna. Lilli Koenig supported her husband in a wide variety of ways, illustrated many publications by her husband and his employees, wrote her own behavioral studies, selected the appropriate location for the Wilhelminenberg Biological Station, was imaginatively involved in raising animals and carried out extensive organizational work . She was also a successful writer. Her zoological and animal psychological well-founded animal books for young people , Dieklar Augen (1951), Gringolo (1956) and Timba (1959) have received numerous awards and have been translated into several languages. It was her literary reaction to the contemporary “ Bambi cult ” in which the animals were humanized and distorted in a simplistic way. In 1983 she was awarded the title of Professor . Shortly before his death, Otto Koenig wrote a great, very touching text about his relationship with his wife.

Commitment to the Boy Scouts

Otto Koenig was often accompanied by friends on excursions to Lake Neusiedl, especially from the Red Falcon group . He was intensely committed to them, although the characteristic ways of life of the youth movement (hiking, experiencing nature, camping, group life) had greater weight than the political goals. When the Social Democratic Party was banned by the Austro-Fascist state in 1934 and the Red Falcons also had to disband, Koenig and his group switched to the Boy Scouts . The Austrian Scout Association was almost the only largely independent youth organization at the time. This change to the scouts, decried as “bourgeois”, was certainly a break ideologically and was actually seen as “shame and disgrace” in the tradition of the Red Falcons , who very consciously confessed “to the fighting working class ”. In the political emergency, however, the change was perhaps understandable because this was the only way the group could stay together and because there were many similarities with the Scouts in terms of program and lifestyle. He was particularly interested in the implementation of the Baden Powell scout idea in the area of ​​behavior on the water (" River Scout"). The war initially prevented the continuation of this work and when in 1938 after the so-called annexation to the German Reich the scouting was banned, the meetings were initially largely reduced to occasional personal contacts. In 1944 the scout group was illegally re-established in Muckendorf / Donau . The previous connection to the Red Falcons was abandoned. In 1950 Koenig was appointed field master with the scouts and at the same time a consultant for "Rover and Driving School", in 1953 and 1957 he was elected "Commissioner for Rover". In 1959 he no longer stood for election. Because of these contacts, scout friends were also companions and helpers in setting up the Wilhelminenberg Biological Station (from October 1, 1945), the later (from January 12, 1967) "Institute for Comparative Behavioral Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences". He made a valuable contribution to the pedagogy of the older scouts (rovers), whose basic concept was considerably less effective than that of the children and young people. Unfortunately, the goal of introducing every member over 17 years of age, suggested by Koenig, was soon abandoned.

What fascinated him about scouting was the connection between experiences, personal probation, the possibility of inner growth and maturation, as well as the community he experienced in small groups that he led himself, which integrated itself into a whole, as evidenced by the costume, but not least the connection of authority and partnership. These experiences flowed into the cultural ethology he later formulated, but they were also evident in his remarks in the television series Rendezvous with animals (and humans).

Popular education

The continuation of the training of employees in the Austrian Boy Scout Association, which Koenig suggested, took place in connection with his anchoring in popular education work. He knew this through the work of his father, who tried to break new ground there ( Wiener Volksheim ). Otto Koenig jun. sought to introduce new possibilities and new methods into educational work without necessarily being tied to the system of popular educational establishments established in Vienna after the war . In terms of content, he was primarily concerned with increasing scientific knowledge and the willingness to actively deal with nature, but then also making certain motivations and human behavior understandable. For this he used lectures and excursions (including the guided tours in the biological station) on the one hand, and pictures, films and then television on the other.

Research focus on Lake Neusiedl

At around 15, the young person begins to hike Lake Neusiedl , spends entire weeks of leisure time in the lake area, tents in the reeds, is out and about in the cane forests - without any means or special equipment - to observe, explore, take photos and make notes. Often he goes alone, sometimes friends accompany him. Later he leads his “Red Falcons” (“Boy Scouts” again after the end of the war) - youth groups in his “research area”. Already at a very young age with a rich knowledge of history and biology, a vision that is not yet concrete emerges: the ornithological exploration of Lake Neusiedl with the help and involvement of interested volunteers. As early as 1938 he received a welcome visit from a paddling group in the reed forest of Lake Neusiedl, where he camped at the confluence of the Wulka near Donnerskirchen in order to advance his scientific research. Accompanied by Otto Koehler and his Königsberg students, his teacher Konrad Lorenz wants to spend a few days of excursion in the reeds with him.

Otto Koenig 1938 Lake Neusiedl

In 1939 Otto Koenig's first book about Lake Neusiedl was written: “Wonderland of the Wild Birds” (Gottschammel & Hammer, Vienna). This year he works with the ornithologist Friedrich Goethe as a scientific advisor on a UFA film project about Lake Neusiedl. This is followed by his own films on behalf of the Reich Association for Bird Protection. Otto Koenig's knowledge of the geological development of the lake, called "Lacus Peiso" by Pliny , the flora and fauna, the historical background of the region, the relationships between the princely families and their heraldry, were enormous. He is just as familiar with literature and museum holdings as the place names, costumes and customs of the entire Burgenland lake area. He was very familiar with the composition of the population and knew about the "strangers", the gypsies and Jews who went about their work in various communities. He often sat with the farmers in their rooms after he had helped with milking or fishing and let them tell him: stories from their lives, their work, about their perceptions. He heard their superstitions and their fears.

The war only seemingly separated him from his research positions. He received his war training at the Aviation School in Neubiberg near Munich, where he took the opportunity to explore and film the Ismaning reservoirs and their wetlands with their rich mammal and bird life. He observes, researches and writes even during the war. In 1942 he was given three weeks of special leave for scientific work on Lake Neusiedl, after which he was assigned to the main image department of the Reich Aviation Ministry in Berlin. The invitation to give a lecture on Lake Neusiedl led him to the University of Königsberg in 1943, which enabled him to make contact with the German Ornithological Society and the Berlin Zoo ; he also met the animal filmmaker Heinz Sielmann, who was already known at the time . Otto Koenig wrote most of his publications about Lake Neusiedl and its fauna, including many supplements to his scientific films. In 1959 the first helicopter inspection flights take place (Österr. Bundesmin.f.Inneres), regular further inspections are carried out with the help of the Österr. Federal Ministry of National Defense flown and a sketch of the cane forests created. In 1949 his second book on Lake Neusiedl was published, "Weg ins Schilf", Ullstein, Vienna, 1961 "The Book of Lake Neusiedl", Morawa, Vienna, 1964 a wonderful "Guide to Lake Neusiedl" Jugend & Volk, Vienna, 1980 a hiking map “Habitat Neusiedler See” with detailed text from Freytag & Berndt, Vienna.

Otto Koenig founded numerous research institutes and was involved in a number of start-up projects: In Donnerskirchen he founded his last research institute on the lake. Protection and preservation of the Neusiedler See habitat was very important to him. In 1972, in protest against the construction of a bridge over the lake, he took a stand against politics with all his institutes and in his television program. The project is dropped.

Research focus Matrei in Osttirol: Klaubaufiegen and Matreier Schützen

In 1965 Otto Koenig spent vacation days with his wife in Lienz in East Tyrol , where he met a mask carver and visited his workshop. The fascination of the “Klaubaufmasken” carved from wood, which are primarily made for use by locals during the Krampus days, will not let go of his life. A first observation of the chewing up in East Tyrolean Matrei follows, in 1967 a report by Otto Koenig appears in the Osttiroler Boten : Klaubaufforschung und Klaubauferleben. Many other visits to the region, including with his employees, give Otto Koenig the opportunity to study the different types of masks, to take photos and to film various carvers at work. He compares the larvae with those in Salzburg and Carinthia and speaks of a “masked landscape”.

A Krampus mask from St. Johann in Pongau, Salzburg

He buys countless masks, which later all hang in his institutes, in his living rooms and above all in the Wilhelminenberg Institute for Comparative Behavioral Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Valuable cinematic documents about mask carving and chopping up especially in Matrei emerge, some of which Otto Koenig presents in his long-standing television program "Rendezvous with animals and humans" as well as personalities of the carvers, artists and shooters from Matrei.

Otto Koenig's long-term collaboration with scientists from a wide range of disciplines from Austria, Germany, Holland and Switzerland led to the establishment of a symposium that took place in Hamburg, Vienna and finally in 1972 for the first time in Matrei in East Tyrol. From 1976 the conference established itself in an expanded form from December 3rd to 7th as " Matreier Talks for Interdisciplinary Cultural Research ". The Matreier Talks still exist today.

Otto Koenig was not only attracted by the Klaubaufaufen. As an extremely knowledgeable history and culture connoisseur, he photographs and films the Tyrolean shooters at their festivals and activities, especially the Matreier shooters at their get-togethers. He knows every costume of the individual companies in the Tyrolean region.

Tyrolean rifle company

In 1981 he created the “Tiroler Schützenkalender”, which he photographed until his death for the first time. His numerous films about Matreier Klaubaufaufen as well as about the shooting scene were deposited, administered and lent out in the Encyclopaedia Cinematographica (Institute for Scientific Film) Göttingen with a scientific supplement .

He learns from Otto Koenig's repeated excursions with employees and guests, which not only take him to Matrei and the most remote mountain farms in the area, further into all of the East Tyrolean valleys, where he observes and films the chewing in its regionally specific form know the population and their farmers or inns. He values ​​the artistic talents of many East Tyroleans, their painting, wood and metal design and their music. His memory is held in high esteem by the older generation of Matreis residents.

Through his films and television programs, Otto Koenig primarily made known the Matreier Klaubauf consumption, which has a particular dynamic. From a scientific point of view, the effect that was not so favorable was that the masks became larger and more representative in the following years, the fur clothing more splendid. These changes were made to make the masks more “media effective”. TV came a few times to film the running on site.

The opening of the annual “Matreier Talks” on December 3rd was a ritual while Otto Koenig was still alive. The guests, scientists and employees gathered in the festive hall of a beautiful Matreier inn on the Hintermarkt, where all participants also lived together during the conference. The festive costumes of the Tyrolean riflemen shone among them, along with sutlers and representatives of the market community. A colorful, impressive picture. The evening always began with a musical lecture by one of the numerous lounge music or singer groups.

watch TV

With his ORF broadcasts, which ran under various titles from 1956 until his death in 1992 (initially Wunder der Tierwelt , later Rendezvous with animals , most recently rendezvous with animals and humans ), the passionate beard and khaki bearer became known throughout Austria . Initially, the film was shot in improvisational studios in Vienna-Meidling, later in the new ORF studios on the Küniglberg in Vienna XIII. In this program he brought nature conservation , but also Austrian traditions and cultures closer to a broad public. However, he was increasingly pessimistic about the technical development of human civilization. When the program was discontinued, this was the longest broadcast television series in the world and later the longest constant program in the German-speaking area.

Without any written evidence, Otto Koenig stood in the studio setting and lectured. He was one of the last moderators who could do it like that - and was allowed to. There was only a process sheet that was loosely agreed with the director and prepared according to Otto Koenig's specifications, usually rehearsed once, which in an emergency - it was mostly live broadcasts up until the 1970s - often changed because Koenig's spontaneous ideas were captured by the entire surprised crew and had to be implemented. His ideas for the current show were often no older than two days. Sometimes he set Heaven, Hell and many of his employees in motion to get special presentation objects, animals and guests, which understandably triggered signs of exhaustion in his environment, which he himself never showed and therefore did not understand. There were times when two programs were pre-recorded in a row, which required considerable effort, concentration and staff. The 16mm films made by Otto Koenig and his assistants were of particular importance, at least one of which was included in the program. The monthly television series was well received and had top ratings. First it ran for a long time in the main evening program, later in the 80s in the evening program. Several times it was filmed directly in the institute on Wilhelminenberg, which meant hectic for the daily routine of the employees, but especially for the groups of animals housed in large aviaries on the institute premises, because an infinite number of cables ran through the institute, spotlights shone and strangers passed through Nothing at all guaranteed the quiet operation anymore and the whole human and animal workforce breathed a sigh of relief when everyday life returned, which was varied enough with daily surprises. Otto Koenig set up his programs solely with the help of his introduction, few preliminary talks with guests and employees took place, he never made notes or even a written concept himself. But there were hardly any breakdowns, apart from the fact that some birds or mammals, irritated by headlights, fled into the technical frame of the large studio halls, from where they had to be laboriously collected from different angles and heights. Otto Koenig always brought live animals with him, which he introduced; He talked about their needs and care, what was suitable for keeping or not. During the program, he spoke to guests from science and politics. Relevant books were presented, nature conservation projects pointed out, threats pointed out.

The show was popular and for a long time the financial foundation of the institute. The “Wilhelminenberg TV backdrop” was always the same and without any major effects. Some focal points were the animals or cultural objects, small groups of tin soldiers that Otto Koenig loved and collected were always part of the decoration.

natural reserve

As a close observer of ecosystems , Otto Koenig knew exactly about the influence of human activity on nature. He campaigned for the preservation of natural areas, as well as for the resettlement by regionally extinct or rare animal species, such as the great bustard in the Seewinkel . In particular, he campaigned for the protection of fauna and flora on Lake Neusiedl .

Otto Koenig in a dugout canoe, 1972

In the context of the debate about Danube power plants , Otto Koenig coined the term “ second-hand living space ”. This designation was repeatedly cited incorrectly as “ second-hand nature ”: an actually obvious mistake, since humans can design habitats, but not nature. It doesn't matter to organisms, Koenig argued, how a habitat was created, as long as it only fulfills the conditions that the organism needs to live. He took the position that purely conservative nature conservation cannot solve all problems in the area of ​​tension between nature, technology and culture, and was not fundamentally negative about the power plants on the Danube . He took the position that hydropower could be an ecological source of energy if the associated construction work would take nature into account. Every building project should be accompanied by ecologists in order to ensure that as few natural habitats as possible are destroyed and new alternative habitats are created. In doing so, he took a position with which many environmentalists, including Konrad Lorenz, could not identify at the time. They also accused him of being close to the electricity-generating companies that financially support his research institutes. In retrospect, Otto Koenig was decades ahead of his time: His vision and demand have now been implemented in the mandatory environmental impact assessment for all major construction projects.

Research: From Ethology to Cultural Ethology

Otto Koenig was a behavioral scientist with a broad range of interests. Many different animal species were kept, bred and scientifically observed at the research institutes. For Otto Koenig, the beginning of a research process was always the creation of an ethogram , i.e. the most complete and objective description of all animal behavior. This can only be successful if the researcher lives with the animals in their habitat, as Otto Koenig did, for example, on Lake Neusiedl. Or if the animal is kept under conditions that are as natural as possible. In this context, Otto Koenig also spoke of eco-ethology, to emphasize that the behavior of an animal can only be understood in the context of the surrounding ecosystem. He was also interested in the relationship between animals and humans. Through his television programs and lectures to pet owners, he was the first point of contact for many Austrians when it came to questions about keeping animals. The behavior of people was also always of interest to him, although he did not proceed as systematically in this research area, human ethology, as his student Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt , who founded human ethology . Otto Konig rather examined the tension between human-nature and human-culture. This inevitably led him to issues of nature conservation and cultural ethology.

The development of cultural ethology can be described as Otto Koenig's greatest scientific achievement. The cultural ethology is certainly one of the anthropologically most informative extensions of Darwin's theory of evolution and in this respect a discovery of the highest scientific-historical importance. Konrad Lorenz considered this new field of ethology , ie comparative behavioral research, to be so important that he made cultural ethology the central subject of his 1973 Nobel Prize speech.

Bashford Dean presented the development of helmets in a family tree, which can be seen in evolution analogously to a family tree

Otto Koenig had shown in his work from 1970, using the example of the history of uniforms, that obviously many regularities, as they are known from biological evolution and from which the specific physiology and behavior of organisms can be explained, also apply in the cultural sector and therefore also here can help to better understand relationships, functions and development processes. In the extensive work from 1975 (Urmotiv Auge. Munich), Koenig considerably expanded his investigations from 1970.

Koenig understands cultural ethology as "a special field of general comparative behavioral research (ethology) that deals with the ideal and material products (culture) of humans, their development, ecological conditions and their dependence on innate behavior as well as with corresponding phenomena in animals ". Otto Koenig interprets culture as the learning-dependent adaptation of an organism, whether animal or human, to the respective environment. First of all, it is secondary whether the observed 'culture' is about learned techniques such as nest building of birds, the use of tools by great apes or forms of human culture from simple techniques of survival (food acquisition, clothing, housing) to highly different forms of technology, science, art, legal regulations for coexistence and ideological / religious interpretations.

Approaches to a cultural ethology can be found, although this term is not used, even before Otto Koenig. This is particularly evident in Emanuel Herrmann's work on the “natural history of clothing” , published in Vienna as early as 1878 . At the same time, Bashford Dean was working . Later, in "Homo sapiens" (1st edition 1959; 2nd edition 1965) , Bernhard Rensch treated the "legalities of cultural development" in a separate section and named 14 different forms of development - analogous to biological evolution (1965, p. 117-128). But Otto Koenig can nonetheless be considered the founder of cultural ethology. It surpasses Herrmann in terms of systematic demands and inventiveness and the largely only sketching Bernhard Rensch in the abundance of empirical evidence. In order to intensify research into the research approach, O. Koenig founded the interdisciplinary "Matreier Talks" in 1972, which have been taking place annually since 1976. The results of these discussions are published regularly. A summarizing presentation of the basics of cultural ethology and examples of its field of investigation was published in 1994.

Publications

Books

  • 1939 Wild Birds Wonderland. 99 p., 54 of which are illustrated. Gottschammel and hammer. Vienna.
  • 1946 letters from the south. 133 p., 82 plates, many drawings. Scholle Verlag, Vienna.
  • 1949 Path into the reeds, experiences with animals. 181 p., 48 plates. Ullstein Verlag, Vienna.
  • 1952 On sunny streets. Experiences with animals and people in Italy. 206 p., 16 plates, many drawings. Gutenberg Book Guild, Vienna.
  • 1961 The book from Lake Neusiedl. 284 p., 96 plates. Wollzeilen Verlag, Vienna.
  • 1962 Kif-Kif. Human and animal between the Sahara and Wilhelminenberg. 239 p., 40 plates. Wollzeilen Verlag, Vienna.
  • 1964 guide around Lake Neusiedl. 135 p., 12 plates. Verlag Jugend & Volk, Vienna and Munich.
  • 1965 rendezvous with animals. 263 p., 32 plates, many drawings. Wollzeilen Verlag, Vienna.
  • 1970 culture and behavioral research. Introduction to cultural ethology. With a foreword by Konrad Lorenz. 290 p., 58 plates. dtv, Munich.
  • 1971 Paradise at our door. A researcher sees animals and people. 447 p., 48 plates, many drawings. Molden, Vienna.
    • Swedish: Paradiset utanför dörren. Morstedt, Stockholm 1972.
    • French: Un paradis a notre porte. Flammarion, Paris 1973
  • 1974 rendezvous with animals and humans. 207 p., 64 color plates, many black and white pictures and drawings. Molden, Vienna.
  • 1975 original eye motif. Newly discovered features of human behavior. 556 p., 766 partly colored pictures, 162 drawings. Piper, Munich and Zurich.
  • 1981 animals and humans. Keeping, caring for and getting to know animals. With contributions from employees. 616 S. Verlag Jugend & Volk. Vienna and Munich.
  • 1981 Science and popular education, possibilities and methods of popularization. 156 p. Series “Pedagogy of the Present”, 502. Verlag Jugend & Volk, Vienna and Munich.
  • 1983 Behavioral research in Austria - Konrad Lorenz 80 years. With contributions from other authors. 528 p., 56 plates, many drawings. Ueberreuter Vienna and Heidelberg.
  • 1983 Klaubauf-Krampus-Nikolaus. Mask usage in Tyrol and Salzburg. 23 p., 60 color plates. Tusch-Varia, Vienna.
  • 1984 Tyrolean shooters. 23 p., 60 color plates. Tusch-Varia, Vienna.
  • 1989 Tyrolean costume and military service. Rifle companies from the perspective of comparative behavioral research. 231 pages, including 112 color plates. Verlag Jugend & Volk, Vienna and Munich.
  • 1990 Nature conservation at the turn. 234 p., 16 color plates. Verlag Jugend & Volk, Vienna and Munich.
  • 1991 Start with humans. Otto Koenig in conversation with Kurt Mündl. 207 p., 16 plates. Verlag Jugend & Volk, Vienna and Munich.

Articles in magazines

  • 1937 From a little paradise. Hain (Journal of the Austrian Nature Conservation Union), Volume 2, pp. 18-20.
  • 1937 The bird world at Lake Neusiedl (Burgenland). Austrian Weeks, No. 48, p. 6.
  • 1939 portrait and artificial light. Der Lichtbildner, Vol. 34, pp. 329–336.
  • 1939 family life in reeds and cane. Wife and mother. 2nd May issue, p. 13.
  • 1939 Rallen in the swamp. Leaves for Natural History and Nature Conservation, pp. 172–175.
  • 1939 macro photography under water. Der Lichtbildner, vol. 35. H. 6, p. 6,10.
  • 1943 Rallen and Bearded Tits. Niederdonau - Natur und Kultur, H. 25, P. 5–63, Tafeln I-XIl.
  • 1946 Ornithological post-war observations at Lake Neusiedl. Aquila, LI-LIV, pp. 96-98.
  • 1946 intellectual achievements in flat bass. Umwelt, vol. 1, no. 1, p. 22.
  • 1946 Biological Station Wilhelminenberg - creation of an idea. Die Bastei, vol. 1, no. 10, p. 28 f.
  • 1947 Abnormal behavior in pterophylls. Environment. Vol. 1, no. 2, p. 64 f.
  • 1947 The human psyche. Umwelt, Vol. 1, H. 2, S. 87.
  • 1947 New ways in aquarium technology. Environment. Vol. 1, no. 2, p. 88 f.
  • 1947 Little stories about a deer. Umwelt, vol. 1, no. 3, p. 128 f.
  • 1947 Basic information on animal trapping, animal trade. Livestock farming. Umwelt, vol. 1, no. 3, p. 134 f.
  • 1947 biology and school. Environment. Vol. 1, H. 3.S. 138 f.
  • 1947 Original form and development of human expression. Environment. Vol. 1, no. 4, p. 180 f.
  • 1947 Beekeeping and nature conservation. Umwelt, vol. 1, no. 4, p. 187.
  • 1947 Rearing turkey chicks. Environment. Vol. 1, H. 4, p. 187.
  • 1947 On the nature of clubs. Umwelt, Vol. 1, 1-1.4, p. 191.
  • 1947 The behavior of the bearded tit. Umwelt, vol. 1, no. 5, p. 220.
  • 1947 birds in the reed forest. Umwelt, Vol. 1, H. 6, pp. 256-258.
  • 1947 Mammals at Lake Neusiedl. Environment. Vol. 1, no. 6, p. 262 f.
  • 1947 Raising birds in the wild. Environment. Vol. 1, H. 6, p. 268.
  • 1947 Here and elsewhere. Umwelt, vol. 1, no. 6, p. 269.
  • 1947 brood care observations on macropods. Umwelt, vol. 1, no. 7, p. 289.
  • 1947 Naturalization of foreign mammals. Umwelt, Vol. 1, H. 10, S. 400 f.
  • 1948 Environment and Mind . Environment, vol. 2, volume 1, p. 4 f.
  • 1948 Movement patterns of paramecia in the natural environment. (Together with F. Haiderer, R. Kirchshofer, L. Koenig, K. Palat.) Umwelt, Vol. 2, H. 2, S. 1–4.
  • 1948 shape and performance. Umwelt, Vol. 2, H. 3, pp. 12-14.
  • 1948 Scheme conspecific. Environment, vol. 2, no. 3, p. 14 f.
  • 1949 About the harmfulness of the heron species. Austria's Weidwerk, no. 12, p. 113 f.
  • 1949 herons. Frohes Schaffen XXIII, pp. 204–214. Verlag Jugend & Volk, Vienna.
  • 1950 Breeding of the bearded tit in captivity. Zoological Information, No. 2, p. 1.
  • 1950 Contribution to the locomotion of lizards. Zoological Information, No. 2, p. 2.
  • 1950 Observations on the importance of the Bankiva chick drawing. Zoological information, No. 3, p. 3 f.
  • 1951 The action system of the bearded tit (Panurus biarmicus L.) , Part 1. Austrian Zoological Journal, Vol. III, pp. 1–82.
  • 1951 The action system of the bearded tit (Panurus biarmicus L.) , Part 2. Austrian Zoological Journal, Vol. III, pp. 247-325.
  • 1952 Ecology and behavior of the birds of the Neusiedlersee reed belt. Journal for Ornithology, Vol. 93, pp. 207-289.
  • 1952 experience with a bittern. Du (Swiss Monthly Publication), vol. 12, no. 10, pp. 21-27.
  • 1953 Individuality and personality development in herons. Journal of Ornithology, Vol. 94, pp. 315-341.
  • 1953 The biological basis of the concept of symbols. Studium Generale, Vol. 6, pp. 184–194.
  • 1954 Animal Child Psychology - a new branch of research. Continents, vol. 8, pp. 16-21.
  • 1956 Animal Children and Child Psychology. Du (Swiss Monthly Publication), vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 47–50.
  • 1957 New radiant heaters for animal husbandry. Messages from the Biological Station Wilhelminenberg, No. 1, pp. 1–8.
  • 1957 Becoming and being of humans from the perspective of comparative behavioral research. Communications from the Anthropological Society in Vienna, vol. 87, pp. 87–90.
  • 1957 experience with coral fishing. The aquarium and terrarium magazine (DATZ), vol. 10, pp. 156–158.
  • 1958 observations on the textile weaver. The feathered world, vol. 82, pp. 101-103.
  • 1958 zoo. The sight, vol. 13, p. 69 f.
  • 1959 Contribution to the reproductive biology of Dascyllus trimaculatus. The aquarium and terrarium magazine (DATZ), vol. 11, pp. 107–111.
  • 1959 The care of hummingbirds and nectar birds in captivity. Die Gefiederte Welt, Vol. 14, pp. 116–163.
  • 1959 The ecological adjustment of the wading birds of the Neusiedler-See. Landscape Neusiedler See, Scientific work from Burgenland, H. 23, P. 181-184.
  • 1959 The Wilhelminenberg Biological Station. Messages from the Biological Station Wilhelminenberg, No. 2, pp. 3–40.
  • 1959 The keeping of giant stocks and coral fish. Messages from the Biological Station Wilhelminenberg, No. 2, pp. 60–67.
  • 1959 Man between Stone Age and Today. Messages from the Biological Station Wilhelminenberg, No. 2, pp. 76–81.
  • 1960 Contribution to the methodology of the settlement and naturalization of various animal species. The sight, H. 3/4, p. 4.
  • 1960 Cross between mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos) and red pochard (Netta rufina). Scientific information, in: Die Pyramid, vol. 8, p. 17.
  • 1960 Goat of Antilope cervicapra pregnant twice in one year. Scientific information, in: Die Pyramid, vol. 8, p. 17.
  • 1960 Behavioral studies on anemonefish. Scientific information, in: Die Pyramide, Vol. 8, pp. 52–56.
  • 1960 Blood quills burst in the cold. Scientific information, in: Die Pyramid, vol. 8., p. 56.
  • 1960 Observations on the food acquisition of the night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax). Scientific information, in: Die Pyramid, vol. 8, p. 80.
  • 1960 Change of drawing for hot coalfish (Amphiprion ephippium). Scientific information, in: Die Pyramid, vol. 8, p. 115.
  • 1960 New ways of researching the heron colonies of Lake Neusiedl. In: Burgenland homeland sheets . Vol. 22, pp. 15-22, PDF on ZOBODAT
  • 1961 About population density and nest enemies in a little bittern breeding area. Scientific information, in: Die Pyramid, vol. 9, p. 23 f.
  • 1961 Ringing of herons and spoonbills in the cane forest. Scientific information, in: Die Pyramid, Vol. 9, pp. 24–26.
  • 1961 Heron protection. Scientific information, in: Die Pyramid, vol. 9, p. 170.
  • 1961 Flight control of heron colonies. Scientific information, in: Die Pyramide, Vol. 9, pp. 170–172.
  • 1961 Problems of animal communication. Writings of the association for the dissemination of scientific knowledge in Vienna, association year 1960/61, pp. 149–173.
  • 1962 Stone Age hunters on the road. Liewers-Post, pp. 22-24.
  • 1962 About the long tails of Hahnschweifwidah and Paradise Widow. Scientific information, in: Die Pyramid, vol. 10, p. 23 f.
  • 1962 White barn swallows. Scientific information, in: Die Pyramid, vol. 10, p. 72.
  • 1962 The captivity of the quetzal (Pharomacrus mocinno). Scientific information, in: Die Pyramid, vol. 10, p. 74 f.
  • 1962 The "playing" of the proboscis fish. Scientific information, in: Die Pyramid, vol. 10, p. 75 f.
  • 1962 Unusual nesting material. Scientific information, in: Die Pyramid, vol. 10, p. 170.
  • 1962 Curlews at Lake Neusiedl. Scientific information, in: Die Pyramid, vol. 10, p. 170 f.
  • 1962 The shrill apparatus of the widow of paradise Steganura paradisaea. Journal for Ornithology, Vol. 103, pp. 86-91.
  • 1964 The Biological Station Rust. Messages from the Biological Station Wilhelminenberg, in: Natur und Land, no. 3, p. 1 f.
  • 1964 Some observations on tame capercaillie. Messages from the Biological Station Wilhelminenberg, in: Natur und Land, no. 4, p. 80 f.
  • 1964 Three purple herons at an eyrie. Messages from the Biological Station Wilhelminenberg, in: Natur und Land, no. 4, p. 87 f.
  • 1964 Breitenbrunn Nature Park. Messages from the Biological Station Wilhelminenberg, in: Natur und Land, no. 6, pp. 137–140.
  • 1964 conflict between animal and nature conservation? Das Tier, Vol. 4, H. 10, P. 3.
  • 1967 "Bad robbers" among the animals. Das Tier, Vol. 7, H. 6, P. 3.
  • 1967 Klaubaufforschung and Klaubauferleben. Osttiroler Bote, vol. 29, no. 5 !, pp. 41–43.
  • 1968 Biology of the Uniform. Natural science and medicine (N + M), Vol. 5, pp. 2-19, pp. 40-50.
  • 1969 Great Bustard in Lower Austria. (Together with L. Lukschanderl.) Culture reports, April issue, pp. 1–8.
  • 1970 The community archive for films from behavioral research. In: Community archive for films from behavioral research, No. 1, pp. 2–6.
  • 1970 Engine congestion on the motorway. Deutsche Zeitung / Christ und Welt, No. 33, p. 9.
  • 1972 The argument between parents and children. Das Tier, Vol. 12, H. 2, pp. 20-27.
  • 1972 The earth is only on loan. Das Tier, Vol. 12, H. 3, P. 3.
  • 1972 drawings protect against attacks and the "evil eye". Das Tier, Vol. 12, H. 4, pp. 17-20.
  • 1976 Humans, animals and plants. Natur und Land, vol. 62, no. 4, p. 93 f.
  • 1977 hummingbird husbandry. Die Gefiederte Welt, vol. 101, no. 10, pp. 181-184.
  • 1982 accumulation effects in the cultural sector. Pedagogical Review (St. Augustin), pp. 359–366.
  • 1982 "That's why I am for the shooters ...". Tiroler Bauernzeitung, No. 7, p. 5.
  • 1983 Stone Age behavior and industrial society. 33 Volt (Austrian magazine for electronics and electrical engineering), January / February issue, p. 30 f.
  • 1983 attitude of the settler weaver (Philetairus socius). The Feathered World, Vol. 107, pp. 92–94.
  • 1983 strategies for survival. Tiroler Bauernzeitung No. 34, p. 4.
  • 1983 Much enemy, much honor. Tiroler Schützenzeitung, vol. 7, no. 1, p. 1 f.
  • 1983 Forward to 1920. Politicum (Josef Krainer Haus Schriften), Vol. 4, March issue, p. 30.
  • 1984 The nature and value of home. Tiroler Schützenzeitung, fixed edition 1984, p. 39.
  • 1989 uniform. Sams-Informations, Bulletin of the Swiss Working Group on Military and Social Sciences, 13th year, no. 1, pp. 11–16.
  • 1990 The Easter egg from the perspective of cultural ethology. ORF review, no. 4, pp. 10-13.
  • 1990 The ecological function of the herons and cormorants in Austria. Öko-Text, vol. 1, pp. 19–31. Austrian Society for Nature and Environmental Protection.
  • 1990 Hunting and Ecology. Austria's pastures, volume 8., 8.33.
  • 1991 Winter Sun - The Influence of the Solstice on Human and Animal Behavior. ORF review, no. 1, pp. 11-15.
  • 1991 man and computer. Solutions H. 2, pp. 8-10.
  • 1992 animals and humans. Politics, Josef Kramer Haus Schriften, H. 53, S. 40 f.

Further contributions and writings

  • 1949 Adventure in the Rohrwald. In: The Neusiedlersee, a gem of Austria. Verlag Karl Kühne, Vienna and Leipzig, pp. 255–258.
  • 1959 Innate Behaviors and Advertising. Report on the 6th Advertising Industry Conference in Vienna, pp. 94-100.
  • 1961 The bird world of the Neusiedler See. In: R. Hansham, Burgenland, Grenzland in the heart of Europe , Verlag RH Hammer, Vienna, pp. 37–45.
  • 1961 Notes on turtle care. Leaflet of the Biological Station Wilhelminenberg, 4 p.
  • 1961 herons are useful. Leaflet of the Biological Station Wilhelminenberg, 2 p.
  • 1969 Behavioral Research and Culture. In: Günter Altner (ed.), Kreatur Mensch , Moos Verlag, Graefelfing, pp. 57–84.
  • 1972 The film as a scientific means of publication. In: Scientific film in research and teaching , 1962–1972. Festschrift of the Federal Central Office for Scientific Cinematography, Vienna, pp. 67–69.
  • 1972 Basics of the scientific work of the Institute for Comparative Behavioral Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. In: 15 years of the Society of Friends of the Wilhelminenberg Biological Station, 1957–1972 . Overall design of the brochure and text p. 14–37, p. 46 f.
  • 1973 Population growth and its consequences. In: New goals for growth , Piper, Munich, pp. 51–63
  • 1974 eye catcher. In: Advertising Policy , Verlag H. Böhlaus Nachf., Vienna, Cologne, Graz, pp. 89-103.
  • 1974 The animal in the recreational landscape. IFPRA-IFLA Congress Brochure, pp. 42–44.
  • 1976 Clothing from a cultural ethological point of view. Exhibition catalog 200 Years of Fashion in Vienna , pp. 31–42.
  • 1976 Innate in the service of advertising. Report of the 23rd Advertising Industry Conference in Vienna, pp. 161–164.
  • 1978 Basics of the work system of Department I., General Behavioral Research and Cultural Ethology. Issue of the research community Wilhelminenberg, Vienna. 12 pp.
  • 1978 The educational significance of toy animals in the present situation. Issue of the research community Wilhelminenberg, Vienna. 4 p.
  • 1978 Live animals for children. Issue of the research community Wilhelminenberg, Vienna. 8 p.
  • 1978 The eye as the biological root of cultural phenomena. In: The Psychology of the 20th Century , Vol. VI: Lorenz and the Consequences . Kindler, Zurich, pp. 495–504.
  • 1978 keeping, breeding and settlement of capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus). Issue of the research community Wilhelminenberg, Vienna. 25 pp.
  • 1978 About the origin and development of human clothing. Issue of the research community Wilhelminenberg, Vienna. 17 pp.
  • 1978 Konrad Lorenz 75 years. Natur und Land, no. 6, pp. 211-213.
  • 1978 Uniform as an example of cultural evolution. In: IT Schick, W. v. Halem, The Pictorial Lexicon of Uniforms from 1700 to the Present. Südwest-Verlag, Munich, pp. 8-12.
  • 1978 Bad living creates neuroses. In the brochure Live better, live better , p. 14 f.
  • 1979 Significance and method of settling beavers. (Together with U. Krebs.) Issue of the Research Association Wilhelminenberg, Vienna, 14 pp.
  • 1979 The Great Bustard (Otis tarda L.). Present problems and ways to save. Issue of the Research Association Wilhelminenberg Vienna, 18 pp.
  • 1979 Ethology as a contribution to the social sciences. In: Social politics with or without a worldview? International Humanum Foundation, Scientia Humana Institute, Bonn, pp. 56–73.
  • 1979 33 years of Wilhelminenberg - From the heron colonies of Lake Neusiedl to cultural ethology. (Together with the group of employees.) Catalog for the exhibition (March 27 to May 1, 1979) in the Vienna Secession. 229 pp.
  • 1980 going out for holidays. A mask custom in East Tyrol and the Gastein. Brochure from the Hamburg Museum of Ethnology, Hamburg. 89 pp.
  • 1980 Lake Neusiedl habitat. Text for hiking map 271, 1:50, Neusiedlersee - Rust - Seewinkel, Vienna.
  • 1981 cultural ethological consideration of the cleavage. In: Matreier Talks. Mask - fashion - small group. Verlag Jugend & Volk, Vienna and Munich, pp. 45–58.
  • 1981 Protect endangered animals! Leaflet on the Austrian special postage stamp set Great Bustard, Beaver. Wood grouse. 3 pp.
  • 1981 Ethological principles of animal settlement. Conference "Reintroduction of Endangered Species", Augsburg 7. – 9. December 1981. ANL Conference Report 12/81, pp. 75–78.
  • 1981 On the creation of the Matreier Talks. In: Matreier Talks. Mask - fashion - small group. Contributions to interdisciplinary cultural research. Verlag Jugend & Volk, Vienna, p. 5 f.
  • 1981 Calendar "Second Hand Living Space" 1982. 13 text pages and 13 color images. Enns power plants.
  • 1981 Search and Find. In: For Klaus Piper on his 70th birthday. Piper, Munich and Zurich, pp. 193–195.
  • 1982 Memorandum for the opening of the Leopoldsdorf Department of the Institute for Applied Eco-Ethology. Opening leaflet (September 9, 1982), p. 1 f.
  • 1982 Scientific background of the Institute for Applied Eco-Ethology. Inaugural brochure, Staning (April 29, 1982), pp. 6-22.
  • 1982 Calendar "second hand living space" 1983. 13 text pages and 12 color images. Verbundgesellschaft.
  • 1983 Source archive at the Institute for Scientific Film, Göttingen. Issue of the research community Wilhelminenberg, Vienna. 4 p.
  • 1983 Fishing with birds on Lake Dojran. In: Fisheries then and now. Catalog of the state exhibition (April 15 to November 13, 1983), Schloss Orth an der Donau, pp. 67–72.
  • 1983 Cultural significance of learning and teaching. In: School history in the context of cultural development , ed. L. Kriss-Rettenbeck and M. Liedtke, Julius Klinkhardt publishing house, Bad Heilbrunn / Obb., Pp. 33–39.
  • 1983 Calendar "Second Hand Living Space" 1984. 13 pages of text and 12 color images. Verbundgesellschaft.
  • 1984 Relationship between costume and uniform. In: Tracht in Österreich , eds. Lipp, Längle, Tostmann, Hubmann. Christian Brandstätter Verlag, Vienna, pp. 200–208.
  • 1984 youth movement and school. In: School of the 19th and 20th centuries in Central Europe. Comparative studies on school history, youth movement and reform pedagogy in the southern German language area. Verlag Julius Klinkhardt, Bad Heilbrunn / Obb., Pp. 206-222.
  • 1984 From Otto Koenig's exercise books, sketchbooks and writings. Drawings and essays between 1920 and 1984. In: Matreier Talks. Otto Koenig 70 years. Ueberreuter, Vienna, pp. 7-70.
  • 1985 Pet care in the service of upbringing and education. Environment No. 1, series for ecology and ethology. Vienna.
  • 1985 Conversations with Otto Koenig (Franz Kreuzer). In: Franz Kreuzer, Animal Gods - Idol animals . Franz Deuticke Verlagsgesellschaft, Vienna, pp. 84–112.
  • 1985 The revitalization of storage spaces. In: Storage spaces - living spaces. Symposium report of the Working Group on Hydropower in Bavaria, pp. 18–27.
  • 1985 Scientific advice on all environmental issues. Green Paper of the E-Industry, pp. 20–23.
  • 1986 Outline of a human action system. Environment No. 7, series for ecology and ethology. Vienna.
  • 1986 The problem of learning-dependent method improvement from an ethological point of view. In: Education and teaching methods in historical change. Edited by M. Liedtke and L. Kriss-Rettenbeck. Julius Klinkhardt publishing house, Bad Heilbrunn / Obb., Pp. 20-26.
  • 1986 Foreword to the brochure “ 125 Years of the Ebensee Bird Friends Association” , p. 1.
  • 1987 Ethological and cultural ethological foundations of aesthetic valuation models. In: From scribbling to art. Ed. JG Prinz v. Hohenzollern and M. Liedtke. Verlag Julius Klinkhardt, Bad Heilbrunn / Obb., Pp. 27–41.
  • 1988 The problem of the separation between the so-called humanities and natural sciences. In: Science teaching and accumulation of knowledge. Ed. JG Prinz v. Hohenzollern u. M. Liedtke. Julius Klinkhardt publishing house, Bad Heilbrunn / Obb., Pp. 189–192.
  • 1988 Consciousness and Behavior. The contribution of behavioral research to the modern worldview. In: Handbuch zur Deutschen Nation , Vol. 3. Ed. B. Willms. Hohenrain-Verlag, Tübingen, Zurich, Paris, pp. 45–66.
  • 1988 About Konrad Lorenz. In: The circle around Konrad Lorenz , ed. WM Schleidt. Paul Parey Publishing House, Berlin and Hamburg, pp. 79–82.
  • 1988 On the natural history of frogs and toads. In: W. Hirschberg, Frog and Toad in Myth and Custom . Böhlau-Verlag, Vienna, Cologne, Graz, pp. 331–357.
  • 1988 About the development of a science. In: Oskar Heinroth, Konrad Lorenz, But why do cattle have this beak? , Ed. Otto Koenig. Piper series, Munich and Zurich, pp. 7–25.
  • 1989 The anthropological function of teaching. In: Schreiber, Magister, Teacher. Ed. JG Prinz v. Hohenzollern and M. Liedtke. Bad Heilbrunn / Obb., Pp. 25-29.
  • 1989 problem area school garden. In: Ecology and School. Edited by M. Liedtke u. M. Carpenter. University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, pp. 211–215.
  • 1989 The Matreier Talks for interdisciplinary cultural research. In: Matreier Talks. Walter Hirschberg 85 years. Anthology. Jugend & Volk, Vienna and Munich, p. 27 f.
  • 1990 Institute for Applied Eco-Ethology, Association for Ecology and Environmental Research. Environment No. 13, series for ecology and ethology, Vienna. 31 pp.
  • 1990 Introduction to Oskar Heinroth, contributions to biology , namely ethology and psychology of anatids . (Reproduction of the original work.) Environment No. 16, Series for Ecology and Ethology, Vienna, pp. 5–7.
  • 1992 Considerations on aggression using the example of fighting fish . In: Matreier Talks. War - Peace - Conflict (anthology for the 60th birthday of Prof. Dr. Max Liedtke). Edited by Otto Koenig. 200 p., With drawings and photos. Ueberreuter, Vienna, pp. 101–111. Ibid: On the origin of the volume , p. 9 f.

Lectures

  • 1972 humanity in danger. Ceremonial lecture at the Bamberg State Conference of the “Bund Naturschutz Bayern”. Leaves for nature and environmental protection, vol. 52, July issue, pp. 60–64.
  • 1973 The child in the big city. Lecture on the occasion of the symposium of the Vienna Youth Welfare Organization on April 12th.
  • 1974 Environment and behavior. Lecture on the occasion of the 16th Mainau Talks on April 24, 1974. Conference report, pp. 2–11.
  • 1980 man and civilization. Lecture at the symposium "Tourism between technology and environmental protection". In: Report on the civil engineering days Schladming 21./22. March 1980, pp. 46-53.
  • 1982 Color as a symbol of secular and ecclesiastical rule. Lecture Rias Radio University. In: Die Farbe, Vol. 30, pp. 13-30. Reprinted in: color - material, sign, symbol , pp. 52–68. Research and Information Series. Colloquium-Verlag, Berlin.
  • 1982 ecology and culture. Ceremonial speech at the 1982 federal conference on the occasion of the awarding of the Bodo Manstein Medal. Brochure of the “Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation Germany”, pp. 31–36.
  • 1983 division of labor. Lecture at the 1st Colloquium of the Swiss Humanities Society 1976. In: Menschliches Behavior, Ed. B. Sitter, pp. 29–35. University Press Freiburg, Switzerland.
  • 1983 costume. Lecture at the 1st Colloquium of the Swiss Humanities Society in 1976. In: Menschliches Behavior, Ed. B. Sitter, pp. 123–135. University Press, Friborg, Switzerland.

Film booklets

All film supplements: Institute for Scientific Film, Göttingen.

  • 1961 Phacochoerus aethiopicus africanus (Suidae), game of the young animals. E 202/1959.
  • 1961 Testudo graeca (Testudinidae), request to mate (abnormal choice of object). E 203/1959.
  • 1961 Crossoptilon auritum (Phasianidae), show food (parents with chicks). E 286/1958.
  • 1961 Caretta caretta (Cheloniidae), feeding in young animals. E 287/1960.
  • 1961 Elephantulus rozeti (Macroscelidae), trunk movements. E 288/1959.
  • 1962 Amphiprion xanthurus (Pomacentridae), conquest of territory. E 294/1959.
  • 1962 Amphiprion percula (Pomacentridae), behavior towards giant actinies III. E 293/1959.
  • 1962 Amphiprion xanthurus (Pomacentridae), behavior towards the giant actinie I. E 295/1959.
  • 1962 Amphiprion ephippium (Pomacentridae), behavior towards the giant actinie 1. E 291/1959.
  • 1966 Ixobrychus minutus (Ardeidae), brooders and huders. E 276/1962.
  • 1966 Ixobrychus minutus (Ardeidae), spatial orientation when acquiring prey. E 278/1962.
  • 1966 Premnas biaculaetus (Pomacentridae), behavior towards the giant actinie I. E 290/1959.
  • 1970 Otis tarda (Otididae), youth development. (Together with L. Lukschanderl.) E 289/1960.
  • 1970 Otis tarda (Otididae), hatching. (Together with L. Lukschanderl.) E 313/1960.
  • 1970 Otis tarda (Otididae), behavior in severe winter. (Together with L. Lukschanderl.) E 957/1966.
  • 1972 Gnathonemus petersi (Mormyridae), trunk movements while searching for food. (Together with A. Schmied). E 617/1964.
  • 1972 Netta rufina (Anatidae), feeding in pair behavior. E 605/1964.
  • 1978 Central Europe, Tyrol - mask carving in a large family (behavioral studies). E 1452.
  • 1978 Central Europe, Tyrol - Giant masks while plowing the leaves (behavioral studies). E 1453.
  • 1978 Central Europe, Tyrol - children doing chews (behavioral studies). E 1454.
  • 1979 Central Europe, Tyrol - Klaubaufstieg in Prägraten (behavioral studies). E 1456.
  • 1979 Central Europe, Tyrol - Klaubaufstieg in Virgen (behavioral studies). E 1455.
  • 1980 Central Europe, Lower Saxony - use of sled dogs in the mudflats near Wremen. (Together with E. Lokaj). E 2515.
  • 1980 Jynx torquilla (Picidae) - defense behavior. E 2546.
  • 1980 Central Europe, Upper Austria - dogs are used to transport wood with sledges in Aigen-Schlägl. (Together with E. Lokaj.) E 2623.
  • 1982 Dromaius novaehollandiae (Dromaiidae), Baden. E 2579.
  • 1982 Casuarius casuarius (Casuariidae), Baden. E 2644.

Awards

A former, listed water tower in Ottakring, which has been converted into a bird observation station and has been called Otto-Koenig-Warte since 2003.
  • 1937 gold medal from the Austrian Animal Welfare Association
  • 1940 bronze medal of the Photographic Society in Vienna
  • 1948 recognition diploma from the Photographic Society in Vienna
  • 1951 Medal of Honor of the Federal Capital Vienna
  • 1954 Award of the Theodor Körner Foundation Fund
  • 1955 Corresponding member of the German Ornithological Society: “In recognition of the excellent performance in the fields of behavioral science and ecology”. (Certificate)
  • 1956 Silver Medal of the Photographic Society in Vienna: "For special achievements in the field of photography".
  • 1956 Award of the Theodor Körner Foundation Fund
  • 1958 Corresponding member of the Vienna Working Group for Depth Psychology (certificate)
  • 1958 Award of the Theodor Körner Foundation Fund
  • 1962 Title Professor, awarded by the Federal Ministry of Science and Research (certificate)
  • 1971 Silver Medal of the Photographic Society in Vienna: "For special achievements in the field of photography 1946 - 1971".
  • 1975 Gold Medal for Services to the State of Vienna : “In recognition of its important scientific and popular education achievements”.
  • 1976 Austrian Nature Conservation Prize : “For special services to education and information in the field of environmental science and nature conservation”. (Medal)
  • 1977 Josef Schöffel Award of the Lower Austrian Provincial Government. "In recognition of the excellent efforts to awaken and deepen the understanding of the local nature, especially the forest, in the population"
  • 1978 Decoration of Honor for Art and Science of the International Pro Concordatia Order (Certificate and Order)
  • 1979 Honorary member of the Austrian Tin Club (certificate)
  • 1980 Honorary member of the Biological Working Group Styria: "For his services to the construction of the Biological Station Bruck / Mur - Weitental." (Certificate)
  • 1982 Wreath of honor from the Federation of Tyrolean Rifle Companies: "For extraordinary services to the advancement of Tyrolean shooting companies"
  • 1982 Federal Nature Conservation Prize 1982 (Bodo Manstein Medal) of the Federal Environment and Nature Conservation Germany: "" For outstanding services in linking nature conservation and cultural ethology.
  • 1984 Decoration of Honor in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria (1952)
  • 1986 Commander's Cross of the Province of Burgenland
  • 1986 Member of the Commission for Environmental Protection in the Armed Forces, appointed by the Federal Minister for National Defense (certificate)
  • 1988 Decoration of Honor for Science and Art of the Austrian Albert Schweitzer Society (certificate and medal)
  • 1989 Decoration of honor of the market town of Matrei, Ositirol (certificate and medal)
  • 1989 Decoration of Honor of the SN Religious Order of Saint Tatjana (certificate and medal)
  • 1989 Gold Medal of Honor from the Lower Austrian State Hunting Association
  • 1990 Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art 1st Class "Litteris et Artibus"
  • 1990 Medal of Merit from "The International Association of Lions Clubs"
  • 1990 Maximilian Cross of the Association of Tyrolean Rifle Companies
  • 1992 Gold Medal of Merit from the Association of Tyrolean Rifle Companies
  • 1992 Gold Medal for Services to the Province of Lower Austria
  • February 11, 2003 Name of the Otto-Koenig-Warte , an old water tower on Johann-Staud-Gasse in Vienna- Ottakring , which was converted for bird watching

Web links

Commons : Otto Koenig (ethologist)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kurt Mündl: Beginning with humans , pp. 42–44, 1991, Jugend und Volk , ISBN 978-3-224-17652-2
  2. ↑ Kurt Mündl: Start with people. , P. 29
  3. ↑ Archive Otto Koenig, Klosterneuburg
  4. ↑ School history collection of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
  5. ^ Certificate of Otto Koenig from the 3rd grade of the Bundesrealgymnasium Vienna II, school year 1928/29 in the school history collection of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
  6. ↑ Kurt Mündl: Start with people. P. 38
  7. ↑ Archive Otto Koenig, Klosterneuburg
  8. ↑ Kurt Mündl: Start with people. P. 31
  9. ↑ Kurt Mündl: Start with people. P. 41
  10. ↑ Archive Otto Koenig, Klosterneuburg
  11. ↑ Kurt Mündl: Start with people. P. 39
  12. ↑ Communication from the University of Vienna dated February 11, 2013 (UA 2012 / 249-02)
  13. ↑ Kurt Mündl: Start with people. P. 53
  14. ↑ 33 years of Wilhelminenberg. From the heron colonies of the Neusiedlersee to cultural ethology. Exhibition catalog. Vienna Secession. 1979, p. 10.
  15. ↑ Archive Otto Koenig, Klosterneuburg; Berger, Kurt (1984): Otto Koenig 70 years - description of a life path. S. 11. In: Matreier Talks. Otto Koenig 70 years. Cultural studies contributions to behavioral research. Vienna. Pp. 11-16.
  16. ↑ Kurt Mündl: Start with people. P. 43
  17. ↑ Kurt Mündl: Start with people. P. 43
  18. ↑ Archive Otto Koenig, Klosterneuburg
  19. ↑ Kurt Mündl: Start with people. P. 65
  20. ^ A b Koenig, Otto (1983): Foundation of the biological station Wilhelminenberg. S. 34. In: Koenig, Otto (ed.): Behavioral research in Austria. Konrad Lorenz 80 years. Pp. 34-37
  21. ↑ Archive Otto Koenig, Klosterneuburg.
  22. ↑ Communication from the University of Vienna dated February 11, 2013 (UA 2012 / 249-02)
  23. ↑ Kurt Mündl: Start with people. P. 96
  24. ↑ Kurt Mündl: Start with people. P. 92
  25. ^ Koenig, Otto (1983): Konrad Lorenz after the war. P. 64f. In: Koenig, Otto (ed.): Behavioral research in Austria. Konrad Lorenz 80 years. Pp. 61-66.
  26. ↑ Berger, Kurt (1984): Otto Koenig 70 Years - Description of a Way of Life. In: Matreier Talks. Otto Koenig 70 years. Cultural studies contributions to behavioral research. Vienna. P. 13
  27. ^ Salat, Jana (2006): Otto Koenig 1914-1992. Biography. Association for Ecology and Environmental Research. Vienna. P. 67 (Internet edition: p. 51).
  28. ^ Verlag Gottschammel and Hammer. Vienna
  29. ↑ Kurt Mündl: Start with people. P. 82
  30. ^ In: Niederdonau. - nature and culture. H. 25. pp. 5-63.
  31. ↑ Kurt Mündl: Start with people. P. 83
  32. ↑ 33 years of Wilhelminenberg. From the heron colonies of the Neusiedlersee to cultural ethology. Exhibition catalog. Vienna Secession. 1979, p. 10
  33. ↑ Berger, Kurt (1984): Otto Koenig 70 Years - Description of a Way of Life. P. 15. In: Matreier Talks. Otto Koenig 70 years. Cultural studies contributions to behavioral research. Vienna. Pp. 11-16. 33 years of Wilhelminenberg. From the heron colonies of the Neusiedlersee to cultural ethology. Exhibition catalog. Vienna Secession. 1979, pp. 10f., 14f
  34. ↑ Kurt Mündl: Start with people. P. 86
  35. ↑ Koenig, Otto (ed.): Behavioral research in Austria. Konrad Lorenz 80 years. Vienna: Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt (pp. 66–69); Wolfgang M. Schleidt: The value of the beautiful and curiosity (p. 39f.); Eberhard Trumler: Thought back (p. 37f.).
  36. ↑ Kurt Mündl: Start with people. P. 87
  37. ↑ 33 years of Wilhelminenberg. From the heron colonies of the Neusiedlersee to cultural ethology. Exhibition catalog. Vienna Secession. 1979, p. 88
  38. ↑ 33 years of Wilhelminenberg. From the heron colonies of the Neusiedlersee to cultural ethology. Exhibition catalog. Vienna Secession. 1979, p. 88
  39. ↑ Archive Otto Koenig, Klosterneuburg
  40. ↑ z. E.g. Koenig, Lilli (1957): Reproduction and youth development of the dormouse. Printed in: 33 years Wilhelminenberg. From the heron colonies of the Neusiedlersee to cultural ethology. Exhibition catalog. Vienna Secession. 1979, pp. 117-121.
  41. ↑ Liedtke, Max (1996): In memoriam Professor Lilli Koenig (1918-1994). In: Liedtke, Max (ed.): Cultural ethological aspects of technology development. austria media service. Graz. Pp. 316-319.
  42. ↑ Berger, Kurt (1984): Otto Koenig 70 Years - Description of a Way of Life. S. 11. In: Matreier Talks. Otto Koenig 70 years. Cultural studies contributions to behavioral research. Vienna. Pp. 11-16.
  43. ^ Tesarek, Anton (1929): The book of the red falcons. Vienna. 3rd ed., Pp. 38-41.
  44. ^ Announcements of the Austrian Scout Association 3/25. March 1950; 36/1. October 1953; 65/1. February 1957.
  45. ^ Koenig, Otto (1983): Influences of the youth movement. In: Koenig, Otto (ed.): Behavioral research in Austria. Konrad Lorenz 80 years. Pp. 41-51.
  46. ↑ Berger, Kurt (1984): Otto Koenig 70 Years - Description of a Way of Life. S. 11. In: Matreier Talks. Otto Koenig 70 years. Cultural studies contributions to behavioral research. Vienna. Pp. 11-16.
  47. ↑ Berger, Kurt (1984): Otto Koenig 70 Years - Description of a Way of Life. S. 11. In: Matreier Talks. Otto Koenig 70 years. Cultural studies contributions to behavioral research. Vienna. Pp. 11-16.
  48. ↑ Otto Koenig (1961): The book from Lake Neusiedl. Morawa & Co Vienna, p. 16.
  49. ↑ Berger, Kurt (1984): Otto Koenig 70 Years - Description of a Way of Life. S. 11. In: Matreier Talks. Otto Koenig 70 years. Cultural studies contributions to behavioral research. Vienna. P. 13.
  50. ↑ Otto Koenig (1961): Das Buch vom Neusiedler See, Morawa & Co Vienna, p. 36.
  51. ↑ Otto Koenig (1964): Guide around the Neusiedler See. Youth & People Vienna. Pp. 13-17.
  52. ↑ Berger, Kurt (1984): Otto Koenig 70 Years - Description of a Way of Life. S. 11. In: Matreier Talks. Otto Koenig 70 years. Cultural studies contributions to behavioral research. Vienna. P. 13.
  53. ↑ 1979: Exhibition catalog 33 years Wilhelminenberg. From the heron colonies of the Neusiedlersee to cultural ethology. Otto Koenig: New ways to research the heron colonies of the Neusiedler See, p. 96. Forschungsgemeinschaft Wilhelminenberg, Hrsg. Tusch-Druck Wien
  54. ↑ Heinz Löffler (1974): The Neusiedlersee. Natural history of a steppe lake. P. 155. Molden Vienna-Munich-Zurich
  55. ↑ Berger, Kurt (1984): Otto Koenig 70 Years - Description of a Way of Life. S. 11. In: Matreier Talks. Otto Koenig 70 years. Cultural studies contributions to behavioral research. Vienna. P. 15.
  56. ↑ Bibliography Otto Koenig. In: Matreier Talks. Otto Koenig 70 years. Cultural studies contributions to behavioral research. Vienna. P. 74
  57. ↑ 1979: Exhibition catalog 33 years Wilhelminenberg. From the heron colonies of the Neusiedlersee to cultural ethology. Otto Koenig: About the function of the mask, p. 203, Otto Koenig: Klaubauf, Krampus, Nikolaus, p. 209. Forschungsgemeinschaft Wilhelminenberg, ed. Tusch-Druck Wien
  58. ↑ Otto Koenig (1981): Cultural ethological consideration of Klaubaufiegen, in: Matreier Talks, Mask - Mode - Kleingruppe. Institute for Comparative Behavioral Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Ed. Jugend & Volk, Vienna - Munich. P. 52.
  59. ↑ 1981, Otto Koenig: Science and popular education. Ways of popularization. Pedagogy and Present Series, No. 502. pp. 57–61. Jugend & Volk, Vienna-Munich
  60. ^ Association for Ecology and Environmental Research: Otto Koenig, 1914–1992, biography. From: voeu.co.at , accessed December 23, 2015
  61. ^ Memories of Burgis Heller, an assistant to Otto Koenig at the time. By email in February 2013
  62. ^ Lorenz, Konrad (1974): Analogy as a Source of Knowledge. In: Science . Volume 185, pp. 229-234
  63. ^ Koenig, Otto (1970): Culture and behavior research. Introduction to cultural ethology. Munich
  64. ^ Koenig, Otto (1970): Culture and behavior research. Introduction to cultural ethology. Munich. P. 17
  65. ↑ Liedtke, Max (ed.) (1994): Kulturethologie.- About the basics of cultural developments. Munich
personal data
SURNAME Koenig, Otto
ALTERNATIVE NAMES King, Otto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian behavioral scientist, zoologist and publicist
DATE OF BIRTH October 23, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna , Austria
DATE OF DEATH 5th December 1992
Place of death Klosterneuburg , Austria