Bred in what is now Slovakia, Rudolf Geschwind’s hardy climbers and park roses found devoted admirers in Scandinavia, Iceland, Canada, and New Zealand.
Geschwind roses should be planted everywhere in Slovakia, says publisher, writer, and art theorist Ivana Komanická. After all, Rudolf Geschwind bred almost all of his cultivars in Krupina, south-central Slovakia, and today they rank among the most popular roses in Scandinavia, Iceland, Pakistan, Canada, and New Zealand. Did you know all that?
Rudolf Josef Geschwind was born on 29 August 1829 in the village of Hředle near Teplice in northwestern Czechia. An ethnic German citizen of the multiethnic Austrian Empire, he moved to Upper Hungary after completing his studies, where he began working while also studying at the renowned Mining and Forestry Academy in Banská Štiavnica.
Following the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, he and his wife and two young sons were being transferred between various forestry posts across the monarchy until he gained the position of chief forester in Krupina. He lived there until his death on 30 August 1910.
The Germans, Hungarians, Czechs, and Austrians all claim him as their own. Only Slovaks have failed to celebrate him, even though the roses he bred in Krupina remain among the most beloved varieties in many countries.
