Friederike Irina Bruning Wiki, Height, Age, Husband, Children, Family, Biography & More

Friederike Irina Bruning is a German (living in India) animal rights activist. In 1996, she founded the Radha Surabhi Goshala in Uttar Pradesh. She is a German citizen who lives in Radha Kund in Mathura (Vrindavan), India since she was 28 years old while taking care of the cows in need.

Wiki/Biography

Friederike Irina Bruning was born in 1958 (age 63 years; as of 2021) in Berlin, Germany.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 6″

Hair Colour: Brown

Eye Colour: Dark Brown

Family

Parents & Siblings

Her father lives in Germany, and he is retired from German Embassy (foreign services) in India. Her mother was a painter and an artist. She was the single child of her parents.

Formative Years

In 1978, Friederike Irina Bruning came to India as a tourist at the age of 20 after completing her studies in Berlin, Germany. In search of actual life purpose and solace, she decided to go to Radha Kund in Uttar Pradesh. There Friederike Irina Bruning went to the Guru Srila Tinkudi Gosvami’s religious exertion. Soon, she purchased a cow at the request of her neighbour and started reading books on cows. Books on cows gave her the motive to serve and take care of the needy stray cows and animals. In 1996, Friederike Irina started Radha Surabhi Gaushala Niketan in Radhakund. Her cowshed is built in approximately 3,300 square yards of area. The sick, injured, starved and unable to move cows are healed and feed by this cowshed. These cows are provided with good nutritive food and health care facilities so that they can regain their health. Approximately 1800 sick cows can be accommodated and nursed by almost 90 workers in this cowshed. This cowshed has special arrangements and a separate enclosure for blind and severely injured cows.

Beliefs and Ideology

When she was 28 years old, she came to India, and since then living in India. She fell so much in love with India and its traditions and culture that she decided to stay forever in India. In an interview, she explained the incident when she decided not to go back to Germany after her short stay in India,

This country is known for its age-old culture and traditions and I believed that you need a Guru to move forward in the right direction and so I was searching for one in Mathura’s Radha Kund.”

Her lifestyle is deeply influenced by the preachings of Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads. Traditions and temples mentioned in Bhagavad Gita and Upnishads changed her way of living. Friederike Irina Bruning believes that Indian people are lucky as the knowledge of the Indian traditions and mythology is taught to them since childhood without having to search for it. She explained in an interview how the text in the Bhagavad Gita influenced her life beliefs,

Great gurus have resided in India, their teachings, Upanishads, traditions, the temples built here, everything is incredible about this country. People should consider themselves lucky to have access to this knowledge even as small children without having to search for it.”

According to her, the conscious power provided to humans by God is the greatest power. In a conversation with a media house, she stated that the human race could be better if greed and selfishness were averted by them. She declared,

People are carried away by greed and selfishness most of the time and it makes us human to have compassion and empathy, otherwise, we are not more than animals. Selflessly helping people is the only way to move forward in life, I believe it is God’s work.”

Food Habit

Friederike Irina Bruning follows a vegetarian diet. She believes that any food form that is heavy and gross are not good for health. She further considers that food has a major impact on the lives of human beings. She explained in an interview about the animal sacrifices in Indian tradition and non-vegetarian food consumption,

Anything that contains a trace of violence, fear and hatred are bad for health, so I don’t believe in killing animals to satisfy our hunger. I believe food has a huge impact on our lives. There are known to be three categories in food: sattva (pure and light), rajas ( active and passionate ) and tamas (heavy, gross and violent) – meat falls into tamas and I think we are what we eat.”

Friederike Irina gave up eating non-vegetarian food as it falls under the tamas category.

Awards, Honours, Achievements

In 2019, she was awarded the Padma Shri by President Ram Nath Kovind on Republic Day.

Controversy

Friederike Irina’s visa extension was denied in May 2019 by the government of India. As a result, she threatened to return her Padma Shri to the government of India. Due to some technical problems, her student visa was denied to be extended that halted her to convert her student visa into an employment visa. Later, she publicly expressed regret for her actions and she expressed her gratitude to the then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for investigating the cause personally.

Facts/Trivia

• For establishing a cowshed in Mathura named Surabhi Gauseva Niketan, Friederike Irina earned a title of adoration, Sudevi Mataji.

• In a conversation with a media house, a worker at the cowshed disclosed that they poured holy Ganga’s water in the mouth of the dying cows. He explained,
  

  We chant Ramnam (Lord Rama’s name) in the cowshed. We also pour drops of the holy Ganga’s water in the mouth of dying cows. We try to cure sick cows to the best of our ability.”