PHL EMBASSY, KNIGHTS OF RIZAL REMEMBER JOSE RIZAL’S BERLIN SOJOURN 07 January 2015 – On 30 December 2014, Philippine Embassy officials and representatives from the Berlin-Brandenburg Chapter of the Order of Knights of Rizal and the Ladies for Rizal braved frigid and snowy conditions to commemorate Jose Rizal’s 118th death anniversary by laying a wreath at Rizal’s former residence on 71 Jägerstrasse. Mr. Mardomel Melicor, Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., recalled that Jose Rizal spent the winter months of 1886 and 1887 here completing his classic “Noli Me Tangere.” For their part, Mr. Gerhard Müller, of the Knights of Rizal and Ladies for Rizal, noted that Jose Rizal had a deep knowledge of Germany, having lived and travelled the expanse of the Hohenzollern Empire, including Heidelberg, Wilhemsfeld, Ulm, Munich, Berlin, and Dresden. Philippine Embassy Third Secretary Ms. Azela Arumpac also recalled that Rizal was a frequent visitor at the Universität zu Berlin and the Königliche Bibliothek (Royal Library). There, he borrowed books – translating Schiller to improve his German. Rizal also read avidly books on the Philippine islands by German scholars, such as Fedor Jagor, AB Meyer, and even William von Humboldt, who wrote on the Philippine language: Tagalog. Rizal found the work of the German scholars on Philippine ethnography to be scientific, objective, and non-racist. He was accepted as a member of the Berlin Society of Anthropology, Ethnology and Pre-History after delivering an inaugural lecture on the art of Tagalog poetry and verse. In his correspondece and upon leaving Europe, Rizal communicated: “I always think of Germany and the German scholars. I always talk of German loyalty and integrity. When I hear German spoken, I am glad, as if it were my mother tongue… I will dedicate my last farewell to Germany. I owe Germany my best remembrances.” Today, there are 20,000 Filipinos in Germany, and like Rizal, have made it their second home. At the solemn flag-raising ceremony at the Embassy, Mr. Melicor emphasized the values which Rizal imbibed in Europe – tolerance, freedom, enlightened self-determination and love of country. These values are as relevant today as they were over a century ago. They helped awaken and form the conciousness of a Filipino nation, on equal footing with other nations in Asia and the world, committed to peace, amity, and progress. Many a region in the world today can look up to these values that Rizal personified and paid for so dearly with his life at the very young age of 35. For those Filipinos visiting Berlin, Rizal’s former residence at Jägerstrasse 71 is centrally located at the city center and maybe reached via a five minute walk from the U-Bahn (underground train) station Französische Strasse on the U6 line. END
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 07:46:50 +0000
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