Wilhelm Knechtel

Wilhelm Knechtel (Guillermo Knechtel; 13 August 1837, in Pihel – 22 October 1924, in Bucharest) was an ethnic German Austrian-Romanian gardener and botanist.

Biography
Born in Bohemia in a village now belonging to Nový Bor, Knechtel worked in Prague, then entered into the service of Archduke Maximilian in 1860 at Miramare Castle in Trieste, Italy. When the Archduke was crowned Emperor of Mexico, Wilhelm accompanied him and designed various gardens in Mexico City, including the roof garden in Chapultepec Castle.

After Maximilian's incarceration in June 1867, he briefly served in Lacroma (a small island in the Adriatic Sea), before going into the service of Domnitor, later King Carol I of Romania, as Director of Gardens and Professor of Botany at the Bucharest School of Agriculture. He was knighted Cavaler al Ordinului Coroanei României (Knight of the Order of the Romanian Crown) by Carol I on 17 January 1883.

Besides his botanical work, Knechtel also served as a professor of German, Czech, Latin, Italian, Spanish and Romanian.

After his death, Knechtel was buried in the Lutheran cemetery in Bucharest.