Karel Albert Rudolf Bosscha

Karel Albert Rudolf Bosscha (1865-1928)

We must have been familiar when we hear the word "Bosscha". Our mind will directly think about the sky observatory located in Lembang, North Bandung. However, I don't think we are familiar to Bosscha himself and surely just some people who know him.

Bosscha was a Dutch-born millionaire who cared about the welfare of the indigenous people as well as cared of science, especially astronomy. Boscha whose full name Karel Albert Rudolf Bosscha was born on May 15th in 1865 in Den Haag, Netherlands, and died on November 26th 1928 in Malabar, Bandung, West Java. He arrived in Indonesia around 1887 in the age of 22, and a few years later exactly in 1896 he undertook the management of Malabar Estate near Pangalengan and developed Malabar tea plantation.

Malabar tea plantation, Pangalengan

Besides being known as the administrator of the Malabar tea plantation, Bosscha, according to the records of PTPN VIII, also known to many contribute ideas, energy, and funds for social interests and development of the city of Bandung, as Bosscha Observatory in Lembang, the Salvation Army on Jalan Jawa, a school for deaf, Telefoon Maatschappij voor en Preanger in Jalan Tegallega, Bandung (now PT INTI) and the Nederlands-Indische Jaarbeurs (now office of Kologdam).

Bosscha became the Tea Specialist Bureau chairman in 1910, chairman of the Agriculture Experiment in 1917, and became a member of the board of trustees for Technische Hoogeschool (now ITB, Institut Teknologi Bandung) until 1928. He also founded the het Nederlandsch-Indisch Kanker Instituut (Cancer Center in Bandung) and the first to introduce hectares and kilometers unit to replace traditional unit "pal" and "bahu". He built a Malabar guesthouse in 1894 where he lived for four years before he built a township for the tea picker workers. Followed by building Vervoloog (now SD Malabar 2) in 1901 and Tanara and Malabar tea factory. Then he also developed the hydro power plant (PLTA) of Citamaga and Cilaki and some lakes (situ) as the water reservoirs. For the social services that he gave, he was appointed as an honorary citizen of Bandung, and now his name is also remembered as the name of a street in North Bandung.

Unfortunately, Bosscha himself could not enjoy all his big works. Since the construction of the sky observatory in Lembang in 1922 and was inaugurated on January 1st 1923 by the Governor General Mr. D. Fock, Bosscha could never visit the observatory due to his illness caused by falling from his favorite white horse and on November 26th 1928, Bosscha died. During his lifetime Bosscha never got married.

Because of his passion and love for Malabar tea plantation, he requested his body to be buried in the woods around the tea plantations of Malabar, the place he used to visit every time he was tired after working. It's about 48 kilometers to the south from central Bandung, we can see his grave in the shade of the trees in the Malabar tea plantation.