FIRST VOYAGE OF RIZAL

TO EUROPE
(GERMANY & GRAND TOUR TO EUROPE)

On February 8, 1886, Rizal arrived at Heidelberg.

Heidelberg- A historic city in Germany famous for its old university and romantic surroundings
Otto Heinrich Enoch Becker-
 Otto Becker was a renowned German ophthalmologist. In 1859 he earned his medical doctorate from the University of Vienna.
 Becker was a prolific author and an active teacher.
 He was known for his publications in ophthalmology, particularly on lens pathology; and as an inspiring teacher, with many of his
pupils later becoming leaders in the specialty.
 Rizal underwent training under Becker where he was known to be one of his best students.

RIZAL’S STAY
 Rizal lived in a boarding house with German students in order to save money.
 After sometime, he transferred to a boarding house near the University of Heidelberg.
 Rizal stayed for a while in a four-story pension house at Karlstrasse No. 16.
 He soon moved to another boarding house—a three-story apartment at Lutwigsplatz No. 12 Grebangasse in front of University of
Heidelberg.
 He also become a member of the Chess Player’s Club

Historical Marker
 To pay tribute to the National Hero, a bronze marker placed at the facade of this well preserved boarding-house reads:
DR.JOSÉ RIZAL
1861-1896
Filipino National Hero

Here, Bergheimer Strasse 20. Rizal practiced ophthalmology from February to August 1886 under Professor Dr. Otto Becker Director
of the University Eye Clinic.

Philippine Embassy
19-6-1960

University of Heidelberg
 Rizal also worked at the University Eye Hospital under the direction of Dr. Otto Becker, however was more focused on studying
rather than doing actual operations.
 Dr. José Rizal (1861-1896) attended the lectures of Dr. Becker, a distinguished German ophthalmologist, and Prof. Wilheim Kuehne,
a German physiologist known for coining the word “enzyme” at the University.
 He completed his ophthalmological studies under Professor Becker at the University Eye Clinic Heidelberg in 1886.
Historical Marker
 To pay tribute to the National Hero, a bronze marker placed at the facade of this well preserved boarding-house reads:
"In this building, former Ludwigsplatz 12, Rizal lived from Feb. 18 to June 1886. His poem 'A las Flores de Heidelberg' was written
here on April 22, 1886.
Embassy of the Philippines,
June 19, 1960."

To the Flowers of Heidelberg

 In the spring of 1886, Rizal was fascinated by the blooming flowers along the cool banks of the Neckar River
 Among them was his favorite flower - the light blue forget-me-not
 The beautiful spring flowers reminded Rizal of the blooming flowers at the garden of his home in Calamba.
 He loved the peaceful surroundings, made sketches of them
 April 22, 1886, in a mood of homesickness, he wrote a fine poem "A Las Flores de Heidelberg."

Vacation at Wilhelmsfeld
 Rizal took a three-month vacation at Wilhelmsfeld, a mountainous village at Heidelberg.
 He lived in the house of Pastor Dr. Karl Ullmer, a Lutheran minister with whom they became good friends.
 He then wrote a letter to him to express his gratitude to his hospitality.
To Pastor Karl Ullmer at Wilhelmsfeld,
June 25, 1886

“... I thank you very much once more. You may also receive, when you are abroad, the same treatment and friendship as I have found
among you; and if being a foreigner. I can do nothing for you in a foreign country. I can be of some service to you in my homeland,
where you will always find a good friend. If I do not die, of course. The joy of being understood by other people is so great that one
cannot easily forget it. You understood me too, in spite of my brown skin, which to many people is yellow, as if that were puzzling or
absurd.”

Historical Marker
 In this idyllic setting, he finished writing the last chapters of his first novel, “Noli Me Tangere,” as well as made crucial revisions on
the draft.
 To keep Rizal’s memory alive, a plaque carved in gold letters on the black marble was installed in the three-story, century-old stone
house of Pastor Ullmer on Jan. 4, 1960. The plaque reads as follows from its original German:
“Jose Rizal (1861-1896), National Hero of the Philippines, wrote the last chapters of his novel ‘Noli Me Tangere’ in this house while a
guest of Pastor Ullmer in 1886.”

Rizal’s Vacation at Wilhelmsfeld

• They had a frequent afternoon walks where Rizal learned much German Religious Ideas.
• Pastor Ullmer brought Rizal to his parsonage where he would regularly chat with a friend who happened to be a Catholic
priest. By then, Rizal found the relationship of Pastor Ullmer and the pries, peculiar or unusual because of the  differences in faith
and practices between Catholics and Protestants.
• Pastor Ullmer taught Rizal German by using William Tell – a book that was anything but basic.
• The house where Rizal stay during his vacation
• There was a rumor that Rizal found an inspiration from Etta, one of Pastor Ullmer’s kids and their relationship might have
gone a tad beyond the bounds of friendship.
• Ullmer taught Rizal how to draw cartoons, making the latter one of the first Filipino cartoonists. 
• According to Dr. Fritz, there was a manuscript that was written by Rizal: We can assume that that line of thought stuck with
Rizal as he recognized that he had a mission to fulfill, aside from operating on his mother’s cataract. 

Historical Marker
 In this idyllic setting, he finished writing the last chapters of his first novel, “Noli Me Tangere,” as well as made crucial revisions on
the draft.
 To keep Rizal’s memory alive, a plaque carved in gold letters on the black marble was installed in the three-story, century-old stone
house of Pastor Ullmer on Jan. 4, 1960. The plaque reads as follows from its original German:
Jose Rizal
1861-1896
National Hero of the Philippines

He wrote the last chapters of his novel ‘Noli Me Tangere’ in this house while a guest of Pastor Ullmer in 1886.”

In May 1886, Chenggoy again wrote Rizal about the result of his friend, Sixto Lopez’s visit and observation of Leonor who was
addressed as the Question of the Orient:
“The beautiful but delicate Question of the Orient is still in Dagupan beside her parents who rave about her. Her friend Sixto
Lopez told me that he had been in that town, taking supper in their home… This young man became most enthusiastic over the
Question, whom he found each day most precious and thrifty, but according to him she is now no more to be seen with as much
finery as when we were together in their house.”

DR. FERDINAND BLUMENTRITT

 On July 31, 1886, Rizal wrote his first letter in German to Professor Ferdinand Blumentritt from Heidelbrg and
sent him a book of arithmetic written in Tagalog, and with this, a friendship between the two started.
 Blumentritt studied History at Prague University. When his correspondence with Rizal began, he was a master
teacher at Leitmeritz (today known as Litomerice in the Czech Republic) and had already published scholarly writings on Philippine
languages and ethnography.  
 In his letter, Rizal said,
"Esteemed Sir: Having heard that Your Lordship is studying our language and that you have already published some works on the
subject, I take the liberty of sending you a  valuable book written in that language by a countryman of mine" (Rizal to Blumentritt,
31 July 1886, in National Historical Institute 1992, 1: 7).
 Oftentimes Rizal would write about his search for Filipiniana and his efforts at translating German works on the
Philippines. Blumentritt would respond by sending his own ethnographic studies and also provided Rizal with letters of introduction
to a number of German scholars. Here was a budding friendship born of an intimate love for all things Philippine.
 Rizal sent the book Aritmetica by Rufino Baltazar Hernandez of Santa Cruz, Laguna published by UST Press, 1868.
lt was Blumentritt whom Rizal sent one of the earliest available copies of his novel Noli Me Tangere.
 Blumentritt soon reciprocated with a gift of two books. The two then continued to exchange letters about their
scholarly endeavors. Books, manuscripts, maps were gifted as well, one to the other.
 Through Blumentritt, Rizal was introduced to Feodor Jagor and Hans Virchow, who were both anthropologists
studying Philippine culture in Berlin

RIZAL BECAME FRIENDS WITH BLUMENTRITT

• An intellectual friendship was born through a common love for all things Philippines.
• In Blumentritt, Rizal found a friend and a teacher. They both agreed that the Philippine problem was the rule of the friars
and they platted together for an independent independent Philippines.
• Rizal translated William Tell from German to Filipino so that Filipinos might know the story of that champion of Swiss
independence. He also translated into Filipino HansChristian Andersen’s Fairy Tales.
• Friedrich Schiller's (1759-1805) Wilhelm Tell (1804) direct from German into the Tagalog language as Guillermo Tell (1886)

ARRIVING IN LEIPZIG ON AUGUST 14, 1886.

August 6, 1886
 - It was three days before his departure and he was sad because he had come to love the land and the beautiful city. Rizal was
fortunate to be sojourning in Heidelberg when the famous University of Heidelberg held its fifth centenary celebration.
August 9, 1886
 Three days after the fifth centenary of the University of the Heidelberg, Rizal left the city. He boarded a train and visited various
cities of Germany until arriving in Leipzig on August 14, 1886.

ARRIVING IN LEIPZIG ON AUGUST 14, 1886.

• Cost of living in Leipzig is the cheapest in Europe so he stayed there for two months and a half.
• During his stay, he corrected some chapters in his second novel and also had time for exercise. He also worked as a proof-
reader in a publishing firm and earning some money.
• While in Leipzig, Rizal contemplated in enrolling Law at University of Heidelberg but his brother Paciano discouraged him
again.
• He attended some lectures in the University of Leipzig and befriended Professor Friedrich Ratzel, a famous German
historian, and Dr. Hans Meyer, German anthropologist.

October 29, 1886

 he left Leipzig for he met Dr. Adolph B. Meyer in Dresden. He stayed only two days in the city.
 He heard the Holy Mass in a Catholic church which greatly impressed him, for he wrote “Truly I have never in my life heard a Mass
whose music had greater sublimity and intonation”.

BERLIN
 At the age of 25, Rizal arrived in Berlin, Germany on the evening of November 1, 1886 and again he sought the friendship of ancient
scholars.
 Rizal booked at the Central Hotel upon his arrival in Berlin in Room 294. The hotel was totally destroyed in World War II and has
never been rebuilt.
 Rizal liked Berlin because of its atmosphere which was very scientific and the absence of race prejudice.
 He met for the first time Dr. Feodor Jagor, the author of the Travels to the Philippines, a book that Rizal admired because of its keen
observances in the Philippine setting. when he was in Ateneo, and they become warm friends.
 Dr. Jagor introduced Rizal to Dr. Rudolf Virchow, a famous German physician, anthropologist, ethnologist, reformist, and politician
and to his son, Dr. Hans Virchow, professor of Descriptive Anatomy.
 Rudolf Virchow was an eminent pathologist and politician, widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential physicians in
history
 Rizal worked in the clinic of Dr. Karl Ernest Schweigger, a famous German ophthalmologist.
 Rizal became a member of Berliner Gesellschaft for Anthropologie, Ethnologie, and Urgeschichte, founded by Dr. Virchow, upon
the recommendation of Dr. Jagor and Dr. Meyer.
 Rizal was the first Asian to be accorded with honors for being a member of the Anthropological Society, the Ethnological Society,
and the Geographical Society of Berlin.
 Later, Dr. Virchow, having recognized Rizal's genius, invited him to give a lecture before the Ethnographic Society of Berlin.
 In response, Rizal wrote a scholarly paper in German entitled Tagalische Verkunst (Tagalog Metrical Art) which elicited favorable
comments from all scientific quarters. He read before the society in April 1877.
 The paper was published by the society in the same year, and it elicited favorable comments from all scientific quarters.

RIZAL WENT TO BERLIN FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

1. To increase his knowledge in ophthalmology
2. To broaden his studies of sciences and languages
3. To observe political and economic conditions of Germany
4. To associate with famous German scientist and scholars
5. To publish his novel (Noli Me Tangere published in Berlin 1887)
6. To publish his novel (Noli Me Tangere published in Berlin 1887)

HISTORICAL MARKER
In This House
Lived And Worked
In 1887
Jose Rizal
Hero Of The Liberation Struggle Of The Philippine People
Here He Completed His Work
Noli Me Tangere

PLACE WHERE DR. RIZAL RESIDED IN BERLIN

• The house was built in 1882. It is part of the protected historic buildings area northern Mauernstraße.
• It is part of the protected historic buildings area northern Mauernstraße.

A METHOLOGICAL AND FRUGAL LIFE IN BERLIN

 Rizal lived in Berlin for almost six months (Nov. 1, 1886 to May 11, 1887) . They were “months of intense study, of rich
experiences and frugal ways, of idealistic dreams and actual encounters with people of diverse cultures.”
 Life in Berlin was not easy for Rizal.
 By day, he worked as an assistant in the clinic of Dr. Schweigger, eminent German ophthalmologist. At night, he attended lectures
in the University of Berlin.
 He spent his leisure moments touring the countryside around Berlin, observing keenly the customs, dresses, homes and
occupations of the peasants.
 He kept himself physically fit by daily exercises and speaking German, French and Italian.
 Rizal lived in Berlin for almost six months (Nov. 1, 1886 to May 11, 1887) .

RIZAL ADMIRED THE GERMAN CUSTOMS WHICH HE OBSERVED WELL.

 Example of German customs he observed:
 Self-introduction to strangers in a social gathering. In Germany when a man attends a social function, he introduces himself and
shakes the hands of everyone in the room.
 According to the German code of etiquette, it is bad manner for a guest to remain aloof, and wait for his host or hostess to make
the proper introduction.
 Rizal also has high regard and admiration for German womanhood.

 The Café Bauer frequented by Rizal where he read newspaper and chatted with friendly Berliners located at the corner of
Friedrichtrabe and Unter den Linden.
 The Unter den Linden boulevard as seen during Rizal’s time. Rizal had frequented the Unter den Linden because there were
several coffee houses in this wide avenue where h could read newspapers.

RIZAL’S DARKEST WINTER

 The winter of 1886 in Berlin was his darkest winter.
 During this winter, he lived in poverty because no money arrived from Calamba, where Paciano tried to raise money but crops
have failed due to locusts and the sugar market collapsed
 Rizal was flat broke.
 The diamond ring which his sister, Saturnina, gave him was in the pawnshop. He could not pay his landlord.
 He had to scrimp, eating only one meal a day consisted of bread and water or some cheap vegetable soup.
 Rizal starved in Berlin and shivered with wintry cold. His health broke down due to lack of proper nourishment.
 He begun to cough, and he feared that he was going to be sick with tuberculosis.
 It was painful episode for Rizal for he was hungry, sick and despondent in a strange city.

RIZAL STARTED THE FINAL REVISIONS OF THE NOLI AND HE WAS ALMOST FINISHED BY DECEMBER
• 1884 – he began writing the novel
• 1885
o -Paris he continued writing the other half of the novel
o -Germany he finished the last forth
He was desperate as he did not have penny to publish it.

MAXIMO VIOLA
• Savior of Noli
• Rizal’s friend and a son of a rich family in San Miguel, Bulacan, he arrived in Berlin at the height of Rizal despondency and
loaned him the needed funds to publish the novel.
• Viola was shocked that he saw Rizal living in poverty and sickly due to lack of proper nourishment.
• Hope sprang in Rizal’s heart:
• “It revived me. It gave me new hope. I went to the station to receive him and spoke to him about my work. He said he
might be able to help me.”
• Viola saved the Noli me Tangere by offering to shoulder the novel’s printing cost.

FEBRUARY 21 1887, NOLI METANGERE WAS FINISHED AND FINALLY READY FOR PRINTING
 The reading of Harriet Beecher Stowes “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, which portrays the brutalities of American slave-owners and the
pathetic conditions of the unfortunate Negro slaves inspired Rizal to prepare a novel for the Philippines.
 Rizal made some adjustments in the novel to economize in its printing. He deleted the chapter entitled “Elias and Salome” which
was supposedly the Chapter 25, following the chapter, “In the Woods.”
 The title Noli Me Tangere is a Latin phrase which means “Touch me not”. It is originally conceived by Rizal, for he admitted taking it
from the Bible
 Rizal dedicated his Noli Me Tangere to the Philippines—“To My Fatherland”
 the cover of Noli Me Tangere was designed by Rizal. It is a ketch of explicit symbols. A woman’s head atop a Maria Clara bodice
represents the nation and the women, victims of the social cancer.
 The novel Noli Me Tangere contains 63 chapters and an epilogue
 MARCH 21 1887, NOLI ME TANGERE CAME OFF THE PRESS
Rizal immediately sent the first copies of the novel to his intimate friends:
• Ferdinand Blumentrit
• Antonio Ma. Regidor
• Graciano Lopez Jaena
• Mariano Ponce
• Felix Ressurection Hidalgo

MARCH 21 1887
• Rizal wrote to Blumentrit:
• “ I am sending you a book, it is my first book. It is the first impartial and bold book on the life of the Tagalogs.
The Filipinos will find it the history of the last ten years. The government and the friars will probably attack the work, refuting my
arguments. I hope i can answer the concepts which have been fabricated to malign us”

MARCH 29, 1887

 Rizal, in token of his appreciation and gratitude, gave Viola the galley proofs of the Noli carefully rolled around the pen that he used
in writing it and a complimentary copy, with the following inscription: “To my dear friend, Maximo Viola, the first to read and
appreciate my work—Jose Rizal”
 A year later, Rizal wrote to hid good friend and former classmate Fernando Canon:
“ I did not believe the Noli Me Tangere would ever be published when I was in Berlin, broken-hearted, weakened, and
discouraged from hunger and depriviation. I was on the point of throwing my work into the fire as a thing accursed and fit only to
die.”

RIZAL GRAND TOUR TO EUROPE

• After the publication of Noli, Rizal planned to visit the important places in Europe.
• Rizal received his money from Paciano worth 1,000 pesos. He immediately paid viola the sum of 300 pesos from his kind
loan.
• At dawn of May 11, 1887, Rizal and Viola left Berlin by train.
• Spring was in the air and Europe is blooming with flowers. Their destination was Dresden, “One of the best cities in
Germany”. 
• Their visit coincided with the regional floral exposition.
• They visited Dr. Adolph B. Meyer, who was overjoyed to see them
• While strolling at the scene of the Floral Exposition, they met Dr. Jagor. Dr. Jagor advised them to wire Blumentritt of their
coming because the old professor was of a nervous disposition and he might suffer a shock at their sudden visit.

LEITMERITZ

•  At 1:30 p.m. of May 13, 1887, the train with Rizal and Viola on board arrived at the railroad station of Leitmeritz,
Bohemia. Professor Blumentritt waited for them in the station after he received the wire.
• He was carrying a pencil sketch of Rizal which the letter had previously sent him, so that he could identify his Filipino friend.
• Blumentritt helped the two get a room at Hotel Krebs.
• They stayed there from May 13-16, 1887.
• Blumentritt helped the two get a room at Hotel Krebs.
• They stayed there from May 13-16, 1887.
• On May 16, at 9:45 A.M., Rizal and Viola left Leitmeritz by train. 
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 During his tour in Europe, Rizal received sad news from his friends in Madrid of the deplorable conditions of primitive Igorots who
were exhibited in this expositions.
o He was infuriated about the news that a group of Igorots was brought to Madrid for the Exposición de las Islas Filipinas, held in the
city’s Zoological Garden.