Ipad swipe led to bengaluru’s gardens

BENGALURU: It’s hard to imagine our city without the hand of Gustav Hermann Krumbiegel, the man who made Bengaluru the Garden City. For the German, this city was home, even though he had worked all over the world – from Hamburg and London to Baroda and Ooty. Hired in 1908 by Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar, Krubiegel took over from John Cameron (the man behind the Lalbagh glass house) at the Lalbagh Gardens as an economic botanist and superintendent.Being a German, he was regarded as a possible enemy during World War II, but even his imprisonment at an internment camp in Bengaluru did little to make a dent in his affection for the city. He stayed on till his death in 1956.
His great granddaughter Alyia Phelps-Gardiner Krumbiegel was in the city last week. The 55-year-old London-based interior designer spoke to STOI about her illustrious progenitor, and the love that Bengalureans have for him
Were you aware of your great grandfather’s past work in Bengaluru?
Absolutely not. My grandmother, Hilda Krumbiegel, who is GH Krumbiegel’s first daughter was born in Baroda and spent her younger days in Bengaluru. She didn’t tell me much about him. She only said that her father was a gardener in the South Indian city and she missed the place very much. Sadly, I came to know about his legacy and works through the internet during a casual swipe of my iPad at home in 2015.
Why was your grandmother so silent about her father?
She was very upset about the fact the family was asked to leave Bengaluru after independence and they had to relocate to Fulham in England. She felt like an outsider there as she was born in India and spent most of her time in Bengaluru working along with her father. I remember her telling me that she was the one who typed all his official letters including the ones concerning Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, which I later discovered.
Do you have any letters or old documents of Krumbiegel?
I have managed to save a few letters he wrote to officials of Lalbagh along with their envelopes. With some inputs from the letter I got in touch with Mr Narayana Swamy (city historian who researched the life and works of Krumbiegel), and met him at the Krumbiegel Show in Dresden (in Germany) in 2016. Our family still has an old portrait of my great-grandfather which we cherish.
The Maharaja of Mysore honoured Krumbiegel with many awards. Do they still survive?
Sadly, no. All I have is the golden bracelet gifted to my grandmother Hilda by the Maharaja on her 18th birthday. I still wear it as she gave it to me on her deathbed.
How do you feel about your first visit to the garden city?
Oh I’m overwhelmed by the Bengalureans love for Krumbiegel even today and stunned at what my great grandfather has achieved and saddened that we didn’t know about the history for years. I visited his grave immediately after arriving in the city. It was a great feeling.
Do you plan to carry on Krumbiegel’s vision?
I will be documenting all his horticultural work and take it back home to tell my family, especially my three grandchildren. Today, there aren’t any members of the family interested in horticulture. We know that GH Krumbiegel had seven brothers and a sister. Sadly, I couldn’t trace any of them. Maybe one of their children have his gift.
Will you be coming to Bengaluru again?
Definitely, I’m planning to come to Bengaluru every year with the rest of my family and help do something for the city’s green cover which my forefather built for its denizens. I will be part of the Lalbagh flower show this time and hope to be part of more such events in the future.