RIZAL’Z TRAVEL IN EUROPE

BARCELONA

Rizal reached Barcelona on June 16, 1882. His first impression of Barcelona was unfavorable. He
thought of it as an ugly, dirty and its residents are inhospitable. Later, he changed his
impression and liked the city. He found it as a great city, with an atmosphere of freedom and
liberalism. He also found its people were open-hearted, hospitable, and courageous. He
enjoyed promenading along Las Ramblas which was the famous street in Barcelona. Filipinos in
Barcelona were some of his classmates in Ateneo, welcomed him. They gave him a party at café
Plaza de Cataluña. After toasts, Rizal in turn gave them the latest news and gossips in the
Philippines. In Barcelona, Rizal wrote a nationalistic essay entitled “Amor Patrio” which was his
first written article on Spain’s soil. He then sent his article to Basilio Teodoro Moran, publisher
of Diariong Tagalog. Basilio was deeply impressed by the article congratulated Rizal and asked
Rizal to publish more articles. While living in Barcelona, Rizal received bad news about the
cholera outbreak ravaging Manila and the provinces. Many people died and more were dying
daily. Sad news was that his beloved Leonor Rivera was getting thinner because of the absence
of her loved one. Also, Paciano advised Rizal to continue his medical course in Madrid. Heeding
his advice, Rizal left Barcelona in the fall of 1882 and proceeded to Madrid. 

MADRID 

On November 3, 1882, Rizal enrolled in the Universidad Central de Madrid. He took up took
courses—Medicine and Philosophy and Letters. Aside from the two major courses, he also
studied painting and sculpture in the Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando; he took lessons in
French, German, and English under private instructors; and assiduously practiced fencing and
shooting in the Hall of Arms of Sanz y Carbonell. Rizal lived a simple life in Madrid and knew
that he came to Spain to study and prepare himself for the service of his fatherland. He budgets
his money and time and never wasted a peseta for gambling, wine and women. On Saturday
evening, he visits the home of Don Pablo Ortiga y Rey who lived with his son and daughter. Don
Pablo has been city mayor of Manila. Rizal then had a love affair with Consuelo Ortiga y Perez,
the daughter of Don Pablo. Rizal, being a lonely man in a foreign country and far from his natal
land, was attracted by Consuelo’s beauty and vivacity. Their love did not flourish because he
was still engaged to Leonor Rivera and a friend of Rizal is also in-love with Consuelo.

FIRST VISIT TO PARIS  

On June 1883, Rizal left Madrid to visit Paris. He stayed at the Hotel de Paris but then moved to
a cheaper hotel. Like all tourists, Rizal was charmingly titillated by the attractive scenery of Paris
such as the beautiful boulevards, the Opera House, the Place de la Concorde, the Arch of
Triumph, the Bois de Boulogne, the Madelaine Church, the Cathedral of Notre Dame, the
Column of Vendome, the Invalides, and the Versailes. Rizal closely observed the French way of
life and spending many hours at the museums. In Spain, he became close with prominent
Spanish liberal and republican Spaniards, who were mostly Masons. Rizal was impressed by the
way the Spanish Masons openly and freely criticized the government policies and lambasted
the friars. In March 1883, he joined the Masonic lodge called Acacia in Madrid. His reason for
joining was to secure Freemasonry’s aid in his fight against the friars in the Philippines. Later he
was transferred to Lodge Solidaridad where he became a Master Mason on November 15,
1890. Still later, he was awarded the diploma as Master Mason by Le Grand Orient de France in
Paris. After departure for Spain, things turned from bad to worse in Calamba. Harvests failed on
account of drought and locusts. Also the Dominican-owned hacienda increased the rentals of
the lands cultivated by the Rizal family. Due to these crises, allowances of Rizal were many
times late or sometimes never arrived, causing too much suffering to him. And on November
20, 21 and 22, 1884, Rizal was involved in student demonstrations. They were fighting for Dr.
Miguel Morayta who proclaimed that “the freedom of science and the teacher”. Such liberal
view was condemned by the Catholic bishops of Spain. On June 21, 1884 Rizal completed his
medical course in Spain. He was conferred the degree of Licentiate in Medicine by the
Universidad Central de Madrid. In the next academic year, he studied and passed al subjects
leading to the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Rizal also finished his studies in Philosophy and
Letters with excellent ratings.
•HEIDELBERG

FEB. 01, 1886 - Rizal left Paris for Germany after acquiring enough experience in the clinic of Dr.
Weckert. FEB. 03, 1886 - Rizal arrived in Heidelberg, a historic city in Germany famous for its old
university and romantic surroundings. He lived in a boarding house with some German law students but
after a few days, he transferred to boarding house which was near University of Heidelberg. Chess
Player's Club- a club wherein the students made Rizal as a member because of being a good chess
player. Dr. Otto Becker- distinguished German ophthalmologist where Rizal worked--- University Eye
Hospital At weekends he visited the scenic spots around Heidelberg which includes the Heidelberg
Castle, the romantic Nectar Rivera, thw theater, and the old churches April 22, 1886 - Rizal wrote a fine
poem " A Las Flores de Heidelberg" (To the Flowers of Heidelberg)

WILHEMFELD
a mountainous village near Heidelberg where Rizal spent 3 months summer vacation Dr. Kant Ullmer - a
kind Protestant pastor where Rizal stayed, who became his good friend and admirer June 25, 1886 -
Rizal ended his sojourn at Pastor Ullmer's home July 31, 1886 - Rizal wrote his first letter in German
(which he had improved after his stay with the Ullmers) to Professor Blumentritt, Director of the Ateneo
of Leitmeritz, Austria Aritmetica (Arithmetic) - Rizal sent this book he mentioned and was published in
two languages - Spanish and Tagalog- by the University of Santo Tomas Press in 1868, the author was
Rufino Baltazar Hernandez, a native of Santa Cruz, Laguna

LEIPZIG

August 9, 1886 - Rizal left Heidelberg August 14, 1886 - boarded by a train. Rizal arrived in Leipzig He
attended some lectures in the University of Leipzig and befriended Professor Friedrich Ratzel, a famous
German historian, and Dr. Hans Meyer, German anthropologist. -In Leipzig, translated Schiller's William
Tell from German into Tagalog so that Filipino might know the story of that champion of Swiss
Independence - Rizal found out that the cost of living in Leipzig was cheapest in Europe so that he stayed
2 months and a half - Because of his knowledge of German, Spanish, and other European languages,
Rizal worked as a proof-reader in a publisher's firm.

DRESDEN

October 29, 1886 - Rizal left Leipzig for Dresden where he met Dr. Adolph B. Meyer, a director of the
Anthropological and Ethnological Museum. He stayed only two days in the city. -Rizal heard Mass in a
Catholic church; evidently, this Mass impressed him very much, for he wrote on his diary: "Truly I have
never in my life heard a Mass whose music had greater sublimity and intonation." Morning of November
01, 1886 - Rizal left Dresden by train reaching Berlin in the evening

BERLIN
DRESDEN

Rizal in Dresden,Germany

October 29, 1886Rizal arrived at Dresden at 8:20 in the morning.October 30 ,1886He visited the Palacio
Japonais and many otherinteresting places in Dresden.

October 31, 1886In Dresden, he met Dr. A.B. Mayer, naturalist of theDresden University. He was shown
interesting thingstaken from the Palaos Islands and from tombsin thePhilippines.

November 1 ,1886He left Dresden this morning for Berlin. In the station,he was nearly cheated by the
taxi driver.
PRAGUE

Rizal’s [bust] return to Prague was the brainchild of Czech National Bank Vice-Governor Vladimír Tomšík,
who teamed up with Czech Ambassador to the Philippines Jaroslav Olša, jr., with an aim to
commemorate Rizal´s visit to Prague in 1887. He [Rizal] then traveled around Europe alongside his friend
Máximo Viola. Before coming to Prague they spent four days in Litoměřice (Leitmeritz) where they met
Rizal’s closest collaborator, mentor and friend, Ferdinand Blumentritt. Afterwards, Rizal and Viola spent
a few days in the Czech capital touring the city, meeting scientists, such as botanist Heinrich Willkomm,
with whom Rizal later on collaborated during his exile in Dapitan. While in Prague, they stayed in Hotel
Modrá hvězda (Blue Star), which was later demolished to give space for a new building of a national
bank headquarters.

VIENNA

Dr. Jose Rizal had visited Vienna and other cities in Austria 1887. In Vienna, he stayed at the Metropole
Hotel, which was located at Morzinplatz, close to the present site of the Philippine Embassy. Rizal
considered Vienna the ‘Queen of the Danube’ because of its beautiful buildings, religious images, and
culture.

Dr. Rizal also had a great friendship with an Austrian professor, Ferdinand Blumentritt, with whom he
corresponded until his death. Professor Blumentritt introduced Dr. Rizal to many of the leading
intellectuals in Vienna

Dr. Rizal made a brief visit in Vienna on 20-24 May 1887 and stayed at the Metropole Hotel which used
to stand at the site where the historical marker is installed.
It was in Austria where Dr. Rizal had a historic meeting with the Austrian scholar, Prof. Ferdinand
Blumentritt, who gave him the encouragement to finish his two novels which fueled the Philippine
Revolution of 1896 that consequently resulted in the independence of the Philippines from Spain.

The unveiling ceremony was followed by wreath-laying at the same site. Thereafter, a brief programme
and cocktails were held at the Philippine National Bank Representative Office in Vienna.

Mr. Rudolf Hundstorser, First Chairman of the City Council of Vienna, represented the City Government
of Vienna, was among the guests who attended the event, including officials of Vienna's Cultural Office
and the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Philippine honorary consuls, heads of the Filipino
community organizations as well as members of the Filipino community.

LINTZ
On May 24, Rizal and Viola left Vienna on a river boat to see the beautiful sights of the Danube Rivera.
As they both travel with boat, Rizal observed the different sights like the barges loaded with products,
the flowers and plants growing along the river banks, the boats with families living on them, and the
quaint villages on the riversides. They also noticed that the passengers were using paper napkins during
meals.

Rheinfall
Rizal in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, José Rizal together with Maximo Viola, visited Schaffhausen in June 2-
3 1887. They billeted themselves in Hotel Müller, just across the city's main train station. It was actually
their grand tour of Europe before José Rizal's first homecoming to the Philippines. But why did they
included Schaffhausen in their itinerary? What was the reason of their stop to the city? Rizal had this
strange attraction to bodies of water. He immortalized the Pasig river in his writings. From the Pacific to
the Elbe there was always something in bodies of water that stirred the romantic spirit in him. This
travels with Viola is a good reference. Dresden to Leitmeritz is in the path of the river Elbe. what totally
gave him away is this stop in Scahffhausen. There were no friends and personalities to visit there. No
events to see and no places of high interest......except; the mighty "Rheinfall" (the Rhein Waterfalls)

The "Rheinfall" is Europe's largest waterfalls, it is located on the Upper Rhine river in the municipality of
Neuhausen Am Rheinfall (part of canton Schaffhausen). About 20 minutes drive by bus in the center of
Schaffhausen. Maximo Viola wrote in his travel memoir with Rizal in Europe on their stop to the
Rheinfall in 1887: "It was the grandest cascade in Europe; we forded the river in front of the same
cataract in a small boat which vibrated very much on account of the surge produced by the great
quantity of water in its vertiginous and noisy fall. We bought some souvenirs of our visit to that beautiful
cascade and then proceeded to Schaffhausen."

Geneva
Rizal and Viola arrived at Geneva and boarded at Rue due Rhone 3, Pension Bel-Air. Here Rizal
expressed his feeling against the exhibition of the Igorots in Madrid side by side with the animals
and plants. In a letter to Blumentritt, he wished the Igorots would die immediately to avoid further
sufferings.

Italy
Rizal went to Italy. He visited Turin, Milan, Venice and Florence. On June 27, 1887, he reached
Rome. He was thrilled by the sights and memories of the Eternal City—Rome. On June 29th, Rizal
visited for the first time the Vatican, the “City of the Popes” and the capital Christendom. He was
impressed by the magnificent edifices, particularly of St. Peter’s Church which was also his feast day
during that time. Every night, after sightseeing the whole day, Rizal returned to his hotel, very tired.
“I am tired as a dog,” he wrote to Blumentritt, “but I will sleep as a god”. After a week of staying in
Rome, he prepared to return to the Philippines. He had already written to his father that he was
coming home.

Rizal in Vienna

Rizal in Lintz

Rizal in Rheinfall

Rizal in Geneva
 Rizal in Italy

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