- Wilhelm Knechtel
Wilhelm Knechtel ( _es. Guillermo Knechtel;
August 13 ,1837 ,Pihl –October 22 ,1924 ,Bucharest ) was anethnic German Austrian-Romania ngardener andbotanist .Biography
Born in the
Czech lands , aroundNový Bor , Knechtel worked inPrague , then entered into the service of Archduke Maximilian in 1860 at Miramare Castle inTrieste ,Italy . When the Archduke was crowned emperor ofMexico , Wilhelm accompanied him and designed various gardens inMexico City , including the roof garden inChapultepec Castle .After Maximilian's incarceration in June 1867, he briefly served in
Lacroma (a small island in theAdriatic Sea ), before going into the service of "Domnitor ", later KingCarol I of Romania , as Director of Gardens and Professor of Botany at theBucharest School of Agriculture . He was knighted "Cavaler al Ordinului Coroanei României" (Knight of the Order of the Romanian Crown) by Carol I of Romania onJanuary 17 ,1883 .Besides his botanical work, Knechtel was also a professor of German, Czech,
Latin , Italian, Spanish and Romanian.He was buried in the Lutheran Cemetery in Bucharest.
Bibliography
*"Handschriftliche Aufzeichnungen meiner persönlichen Eindrücke und Erlebnisse in Mexiko in den Jahren 1864-1867 / Memorias del jardinero de Maximiliano de México" ("Written notes of my personal impressions and experiences in Mexico in the years between 1864-1867 / Memoires of the gardener to Maximilian of Mexico"). Translation by Susanne Igler, Prologue by Amparo Gómez Tepexicuapan, Edition by Jean-Gerard Sidaner. To be published in
Mexico City by The National Museum of History, Castillo de Chapultepec, Mexico (2000/2001). German original published in approx. 1905 by Karl Bellmann (Prague).
*Gómez Tepexicuapan, Amparo: „Los jardines de Chapultepec en el siglo XIX“. in: "Arqueología mexicana" Vol. x, 57 (Sept.-Oct. 2002). S. 48-53. [http://www.revivechapultepec.org.mx/chapultepec_esp/pdf/doc_08.pdf]
*Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes. "Traducción al español del jardinero de Maximiliano". in: "La Cultura, Sala de Prensa". 15.01.2001. [http://www.cnca.gob.mx/cnca/nuevo/2001/diarias/ene/150101/alcazar.html]
*Igler, Susanne. "'México es el México que yo invento' -La percepción europea de México en la época de la Intervención Francesa: las "Memorias manuscritas" del jardinero imperial Wilhelm Knechtel". ("Actas del III Congreso InternacionalAlexander von Humboldt "). [ [http://www.gaviero.de/PUB_IGLER.htm Susanne Igler - Publikationen ] at www.gaviero.de]Notes
External links
* [http://knegtel.fortunecity.com/engels/pafg126.htm "Descendants of the Family Knechtel"]
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