Papillon rhénan

Joseph Heintz, a rabbit breeder specializing in Japanese rabbits in the Rhineland, was at the origin of selecting the Rhineland Butterfly. In 1902, a neighboring common rabbit breeder had one of his gray spotted females bred with one of Heintz's Japanese rabbits. In the resulting litter was a black and yellow spotted rabbit, which Heintz recovered with the hope of selecting a new breed. He bred this rabbit and at the same time crossed Butterfly rabbits with Japanese rabbits. Through all these crosses, he obtained tricolor spotted rabbits, which he decided to develop as a breed. However, the description he provided to the German rabbit breeding federation was imprecise and led to many variations, as breeders had different opinions about the placement of markings on this rabbit. A more precise standard was established in 1920, the breed gradually gaining some success in Germany. It was admitted in France from 1936 onward.

The Vienna Black is a medium-sized rabbit weighing between 2.75 and 4.5 kg. It has a cylindrical body that is well-muscled. Its dorsal line is regular, its rump is rounded with the hindquarters elevated and broadened. Its ears are furred and measure 11 to 13.5 cm. A slight dewlap is tolerated in females. The eyes are dark brown. The coat is dense, not very long, with guard hairs that are barely visible. It is characterized by its contrasting black and yellow markings on a white background. The eye rims are bicolored and well-defined. Each cheek has only a single marking, and the ears are entirely colored. The dorsal stripe is bicolored and unbroken from the nape to the tail, the latter itself being bicolored on top. On the hindquarters, the markings are well-distributed and isolated.