Penguin Random House | Berlin, 12/10/2021

DAV Cooperates With Naturschutzinitiative e.V.

Der Audio Verlag (DAV), one of Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe’s audiobook publishers, is cooperating with the Naturschutzinitiative e.V. nature conservation association. The cooperation carries the slogan “Hearing and Experiencing Nature”. Supported by the Naturschutzinitiative e.V. nature conservation association, Der Audio Verlag has published the audiobook “Tannen”. It is the newest addition to the DAV “Naturkunden” series.

Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe’s audiobook publisher DAV and the Naturschutzinitiative e.V. nature conservation association have agreed on a cooperation for the audiobook reading of “Tannen” by Wilhelm Bode and are planning to continue their cooperation for more titles. It carries the slogan “Hearing and Experiencing Nature”. The “Tannen” (Fir trees) audiobook is the newest publication in the thus far eight-part audiobook series “Naturkunden”, which actor and narrator Frank Arnold read in an unabridged version directed by Torsten Feuerstein. The readings are based on the books of the series with the same name published by Matthes & Seitz Verlag and are accentuated with thematically suitable animal sounds and audio, mainly with the support of the animal voice archive of the Museum of Natural History in Berlin.

Katrin Machulik, Program Director Adult Audiobooks at DAV, is pleased about having Naturschutzinitiative e.V. as a partner for the series: “Our common interest is a love of nature and the desire to highlight the diversity and beauty of flora and fauna, and to preserve and protect them.” Catrin Heinze, Deputy Director of the Naturschutzinitiative e.V. Office, adds: “The charming audiobooks enthuse with their harmonious and fascinating ability to bring the wealth and preciousness of nature closer to listeners. At the same time, buying this wonderful ‘Naturkunden’ audiobook series supports our nature conservation work. We look forward to the future cooperation with DAV and are grateful for the wonderful collaboration.”

The “Naturkunden” series, with books about hemp, donkeys, wolves, etc., is all about animals and plants, mushrooms and people, foreign and familiar nature. According to the publishers, the books are not just scientific but also pursue “the passionate exploration of the world”. In the newest book, “Tannen”, Wilhelm Bode tells the surprising cultural history of fir trees, the supposedly most familiar of trees, and traces the consequential displacement of fir trees from the German mixed species mountain forests: superelevated in the Romantic period to World Tree and replaced with spruce trees by industrial forestry, fir trees today have become trees of hope because they can handle dry summers in their natural multi-generational habitat of mixed deciduous forests. Bode’s portrait shows that a functioning coexistence of humankind and nature requires that humans ensure a vital ecosystem. The audiobook complements the text with original forest recordings of the Baden-Baden municipal forest, called the “original Black Forest fir tree murmur” by the publisher. Director Torsten Feuerstein and composter and sound tracer Rainer Oleak drove into the Baden-Baden municipal forest and, guided by the Baden-Baden forestry office, went to the old fir trees to record the nocturnal and early morning murmur for the audiobook.