Following the trail of Rizal in Germany after more than a century

In August 1886, Rizal travelled to various parts of Germany starting from Heidelberg where he was studying. The places he visited were and still are favorite tourist attractions. Berlin, Heidelberg, and Cologne for example, are always crowded with tourists from all over the world.

At various times during my graduate studies and later scientific work in Germany, I had the chance to visit many places including most of those visited by Rizal. So I have personal knowledge of the places included in this photo documentation.

I took many of the new photos while the majority of the old photos (from the time of Rizal) are from the website of the Knights of Rizal. Some photos were downloaded from the internet and whenever possible the sources are acknowledged.

This presentation is divided into three parts: Part I for the route Heidelberg-Mannheim-Frankfurt-Rüdesheim-Bonn-Cologne. Part II for Fulda-Weimar-Halle-Leipzig. Part III for Dresden-Potsdam-Berlin.

I hope this will help Filipino students appreciate more the life and works of Dr. Jose Rizal.

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Part I: Heidelberg-Mannheim-Frankfurt-Rüdesheim-Bonn-Cologne

Heidelberg is famous for at least two things: its university and its beautiful scenery. The University of Heidelberg founded in 1386, is one of the world’s oldest and most influential universities. Many world-renown social and natural scientists have studied or taught here. Heidelberg's natural beauty is considered as the symbol of German Romanticism. It is no wonder that while studying in Heidelberg, Rizal wrote a beautiful poem “To the flowers of Heidelberg”.

Here's my favorite part of that poem:

"Carry, carry, flowers of Rhine,
Love to every love of mine,
Peace to my country and her fertile loam,
Virtue to her women, courage to her men,
Salute those darling once again,
Who formed the sacred circle of our home."

"And when you reach that shore,
Each kiss I press upon you now,
Deposit on the pinions of the wind,
And those I love and honor and adore
Will feel my kisses carried to their brow."


During one of our visits to Heidelberg some years ago, Dr. Buboy Dargantes, Dr. Bert Guarte and I went to the garden of the castle which we thought could have inspired Rizal to write his poem.

The first photo below (left) shows Heidelberg around the time of Rizal.

Mannheim is a major industrial city located 20 km from Heidelberg. Carl Benz' first car was manufactured in his workshop in Mannheim and was first shown to the public in 1886 the year Rizal was in Heidelberg.

In the early 1990s, I lived for six months in this city (I stayed in a student dormitory in Käfertal) while I was studying the German language at the Goethe Institute-Mannheim University in preparation for my graduate studies in Giessen and Stuttgart. At the time, I made many weekend visits to the nearby Heidelberg.

My favorite places in Mannheim are the Wasserturm and the Luisen Park. The first photo below (left) shows the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) during the time of Rizal.

Frankfurt on the Main River (German: Frankfurt am Main) is the financial and commercial capital of Germany. It is also the usual point of entry for millions of travellers who come to central Europe each year. Frankfurt is the birthplace of J.W. von Goethe, one of the greatest men of letters that have ever lived. More than two centuries ago, Frankfurt was the coronation site for the kings and emperors of the Holy Roman Empire.

Photo above (left) shows a section of the city during Rizal's time

Marksburg Castle is located above the town of Braubach. It is one of the many (close to 30) medieval castles along the Rhine River and is one of the principal sites of the UNESCO World Heritage Rhine Gorge. The castle was built to protect the town of Braubach and to reinforce the customs facilities. It was built about 1117 and explicitly first mentioned in 1231. In 1283 Count Eberhard of Katzenelnbogen bought it and through the 14th and 15th century the high noble Counts rebuilt the castle constantly (Wikipedia).

Rüdesheim is a charming small medieval town located at the entrance to the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. It is surrounded by vineyards and is one of the most popular places along the Rhine River. The entire region is famous for its white wines and they are available almost everywhere in Rudesheim.

Bonn is the birthplace of Beethoven. The city is located near Cologne and was an important place of residence of the electors and archbishops of Cologne. After the Second World War until 1999, it was the capital of West Germany.

The elector’s residence has housed the university since 1818.

Photos above show the market square during Rizal's time (left) and now (right)




Cologne (German: Köln) is an industrial city along the Rhine River. It has elegant churches and colourful riverside houses. The city is the origin of the Cologne or Eau de Cologne perfume. In 1709, Giovanni Maria Farina (1685-1766) an Italian perfumer, launched his new product in Cologne. He named his new perfume Cologne to honor his new hometown.

Santacruzan in Taipei

During my scientific research work at National Taiwan University in Taipei about three years ago, I had the opportunity to witness the very colorful and lively “Santacruzan” organized by the St. Christopher Church of Taipei. Santacruzan is a traditional religious beauty pagent held in many parts of the Philippines during the month of May.

I estimate that no less than 2,000 Filipinos working in Taiwan and many Taiwanese-Filipinos living in Taipei participated in the activity. It was a unique experience for me not only because the celebration was held in another country but also because the parish priest at the time, Father Romy, was a college classmate of mine. It was a nice surprise for me to meet him in Taipei many years after we graduated from college (after college, he went to Rome to study for the priesthood while I went somewhere else for graduate studies).

During the activity, I met several kababayans from different parts of Eastern Samar. Some of them told me that they were enjoying their jobs in Taipei but a few complained of homesickness although their jobs were not difficult. I asked them if they knew how many Estehanons were working in Taiwan but nobody knew about it.

Learning from an old book about the Philippines

Some days ago, I went to the library of Leopoldina, the world's oldest academy of science (founded in 1652) and now the national science academy of Germany, located one block away from the institute where I am presently conducting research here in Halle (see photo). I got a nice surprise when I chanced upon an old book titled "Die Philippinen" (The Philippines) written by a German geography professor Albert Kolb who conducted field works throughout the Philippines in the 1930s.

The book describes the characteristics, culture, and livelihood of the Filipino people and discussed in detail the natural resources of the country. Some of the interesting information about Samar island that I found in that classic book concerns population and forest cover.

In 1903, the island had a total population of 266,000 and a population density of 20 persons per square kilometer (km2). This increased to 379,000 in 1918 and a population density of 28 persons per km2. Before the second world war (i.e. 1939), the population further increased to 546,000 or a population density of 40 persons per km2. This means a doubling of population density in 36 years. If we compare this with the new statistics from 2005, a dramatic increase in the island's population occurred after about 70 years. The total population of Samar island in 2005 was 1, 650,022 which means a population density of 121 persons per km2.

Another interesting information in Kolb's book is about forest cover. During the 1930s when he made his travels around Samar much of the island was still covered with lush forest. Only about 7 % of the island's total land area was used for agriculture and the rest (93 %) was covered with forest.I checked various internet sources and have found data from reliable sources showing that the island still had 86% forest cover after the war (1952) which dropped dramatically to 33% in 1987. I estimate that the present forest cover of the island is between 20 to 30%.