Die wunderbare Welt der Pilze

Why do ink caps produce ink? How does the fly agaric get its spots? Why does the truffle have its fragrance? Even seemingly innocuous questions offer surprising insights into the wonderful world of fungi—a world characterized by cooperation and partnership. For three years, the experienced nature filmmaker Karlheinz Baumann, together with author Volker Arzt, searched for fungi. In the forests of Australia and America. In the shimmering heat of the desert and the icy Arctic. And, of course, in the woods right outside his door. Wherever Baumann found them, thanks to his exceptional camerawork, the tranquil, peaceful world of fungi vanishes. They literally shoot up from the ground; they energetically unfurl their caps or attack plants and animals. Baumann takes us underground, where fungi, as "thread-like beings," lead a convoluted and sinister existence. He leads us into the heart of decaying trees to witness the march of wood-decay fungi. And he shares with us a secret recipe made from birch boletes. Mushrooms are not plants; they cannot feed on solar energy. They rely entirely on chemicals and produce an arsenal of highly active substances to extract nutrients and minerals from a wide variety of soils. Some of their chemical products are poisonous to us, others have healing or intoxicating effects. Still others provide flavor and aroma. It's understandable that mushrooms are an integral part of human cultural history: Even Ötzi the Iceman wore a mushroom on a leather cord around his neck. As a drug? As a talisman? There is much to suggest that it was part of Ötzi's home medicine cabinet—a tried-and-tested remedy for stomach aches. An unassuming cereal fungus, on the other hand, poisoned millions of people: withered limbs; hallucinations; and ultimately, a painful death. The Isenheim Altarpiece in Colmar still tells the story of this scourge of the Middle Ages. It was considered a punishment from God until, centuries later, the ergot fungus was identified as the culprit. Fungi are masters of chemistry. And they are masters of cooperation. They collaborate with microscopic algae, becoming resilient hybrid organisms that can withstand even arctic cold and scorching heat. They become lichens: 90 percent of a lichen organism consists of fungal threads, 10 percent of algae. The interplay works remarkably well. Even more significant is their cooperation with the most powerful plants on Earth. Fungi engage in subterranean trade with trees. It benefits both: The fungal threads provide water and minerals and receive sugars from the tree roots. A symbiosis that has been working successfully for 400 million years. And not only with trees—90 percent of all plants benefit from the marvelous world of fungi in this way.