Falconry is a thousand-year-old form of hunting that came to Arabia and Europe from Central Asia. Today it is part of the intangible cultural heritage of UNESCO. You can get an idea of this art of working with birds of prey, for example, in the Waldreichs Castle in the Waldviertel community of Pölla (district of Zwettl).
Monika Hiebeler has been working with birds of prey for 35 years, 25 of them at the Rosenburg, where she learned this art before becoming self-employed. It is an art that takes a long time to learn and a great deal of sensitivity, as Hiebeler emphasizes: “Whether it’s a giant sea eagle, a falcon or a vulture, every bird of prey is different and you have to respond to that. You can only learn that if you have a connection to the birds. And you need a so-called ‘teaching prince’, someone who oversees it. Only then can you do it with a clear conscience, you shouldn’t try it alone.”
The Art of Returning
The air show is offered twice a day at Waldreichs Castle. The show is peppered with surprise effects for the young audience, including the birds of prey soaring close overhead. The fact that they always return to their falconers is the art that the bred birds learn from an early age, explains Hiebeler: “I start training when the animal starts to fly. He doesn’t fly 200 kilometers straight away. This will be expanded in small steps. It’s like in nature. I must study the nature of the bird and act accordingly.”
Hiebeler designed a museum worth seeing in the castle – from the beginnings of falconry in Central Asia to the heyday of European nobility. Hunting is part of falconry, and Hiebeler also hunts with her birds of prey: “That’s why I also own a hunting license. The bird is a kind of weapon used to kill game. The bird also kills, but the falconer often helps to make it go faster.”
“Humans and birds are partners”
Hiebeler passed on her passion to her daughter Doris, who also breeds birds of prey in the family’s private home in St. Leonhard am Hornerwald (Krems district). Daughter Doris specialized in breeding golden eagles, mostly by means of artificial insemination. “The young animal then sees you as a partner. If it’s a female, then it lays an egg for you, if it’s a male, then he also expects you to lay an egg for him now,” says Doris Hiebeler.
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“Lower Austria today”, 17.7.2022
The Hiebelers have a total of seventy animals. But the birds of prey don’t all stay, because there are also international buyers: “It’s often an exchange with zoos, but falconers from all over the world also buy the animals.” Instead of cats or dogs, eagles and falcons frolic in the Hiebeler’s garden. “A bit exotic, yes, but nice,” says Doris Hiebeler.
