03 July 2015 - On the occasion of the 154th Birthday of Philippine National Hero Jose Rizal, the Philippine Embassy in Berlin hosted kaffeetrinken and a lecture, “Following the Footsteps of Pepe” by Gerhard Müller of the Knights of Rizal on June 19.
The lecture mainly touched on Rizal’s European sojourn. He arrived in Heidelberg, Germany via train circa 1886. It was in Heidelberg where he wrote the first chapters of his novel “Noli Me Tangere”, trained in opthalmology, and wrote the poem "To the flowers of Heidelberg". When he moved to Berlin, he lived in Jägerstrasse 71. It was also at Jägerstrasse where he finished writing “Noli” and later on had it published. While in Berlin, he managed to join the German anthropological society, learned German, was a mainstay at libraries, and trained at the Charite Hospital. Before leaving, he left some of his personal belongings and collections - a barong, a Filipiniana lady dress, some Mindanao artifacts - all of which are now housed in the Ethnological Museum of Berlin. He then travelled to Dresden, Leipzig, Nueremberg, Munich, and Koblenz.
The afternoon was capped by a beautiful reading in English and Filipino of "To the flowers of Heidelberg" by Consul Adrian Cruz and Consul Rona Beth Goce. END