RP consuls from Germany to visit Rizal Shrine in Laguna

Philippine Ambassador to Berlin Delia Domingo-Albert will lead a delegation composed of Philippine Honorary Consuls and members of the Philippine Embassy Economic Advisory Group from Germany that will visit Calamba, Laguna on 21 April 2008. The visit coincides with the 7th anniversary of Calamba’s cityhood. It will also provide the opportunity to highlight the Embassy’s partnership project between Calamba, the birthplace of Philippine national hero Dr. Jose Rizal, and Wilhelmsfeld, a municipality in the region of Baden-Wuerttemberg in western Germany where Rizal finished the final chapters of “Noli Me Tangere". The partnership is part of the Embassy’s cultural diplomacy project, “Dr. Jose Rizal’s Life and Works: A Catalyst for Enhancing Philippine-German Relations in the 21st Century". The proposed partnership between Calamba and Wilhelmsfeld is envisioned to pursue a program of cooperation that will strengthen relations between the Philippines and Germany. Calamba is expected to adopt a resolution that will provide the program of cooperation for the partnership. In Calamba, the Philippine Honorary Consuls will meet Mayor Joaquin Chipeco, Jr. and city officials, visit the Rizal Shrine and witness the city’s commemorative activities. The delegation will also visit some German companies located in Calamba’s economic zone. A milestone in the cultural relations between the Philippines and Germany is the restoration of the film “Noli Me Tangere" by the German Federal Archive. The film directed by Gerardo de Leon in 1963 was presented to Former President Corazon Aquino by the German Ambassador and the Goethe Institut in Manila in 1989. To propagate the works of Rizal in Germany, the first chapter of the Knights of Rizal (KOR) was established in Bonn in 1977. It became the forerunner of KOR chapters in the major cities of Europe which includes Vienna, Madrid, London, Brussels, and Antwerp. Other KOR chapters in Germany were established in Cologne, Heidelberg-Wilhelmsfeld, Offenbach, Freiburg, Berlin and Hamburg. The Ladies for Rizal has also been established in Germany with chapters in Bonn, Cologne, Heidelberg-Wilhelmsfeld, Hamburg and Berlin/Potsdam. Rizal left many indelible marks in Germany as he visited many towns and cities, notably, Heidelberg, Wilhelmsfeld and Berlin. In Heidelberg, a university town and intellectual center, Rizal worked in the eye clinic of Dr. Otto Becker from February to August 1886. Heidelberg inspired Rizal, as he penned the immortal “Ode to the Flowers of Heidelberg", expressing his fascination of the Neckar River and his suffering of homesickness. Along the Neckar River, a “Rizal Ufer" (Rizal Embankment) has been named after him. In Wilhelmsfeld, a life-size bronze statue of Rizal stands in a small park named after the national hero which serves as the focal point of festivities in Germany to commemorate his birth anniversary. The statue is a creation of Prof. Anastacio Caedo, a Filipino sculptor and a Knights of Rizal member in the Philippines. Rizal stayed in Berlin from November 1886 to November 1887 where he completed the publication of his novel, “Noli Me Tangere". The novel has now been translated into German to generate awareness of Rizal among the German reading public. Rizal’s second novel, “El Filibusterismo" will be also translated in German.