Klaus Doring

One of the most important experiences of Philippine national hero Jose Rizal in Leipzig (East Germany) was a meeting with Dr. Hans Meyer, who was the Director of the Bibliographic Institute. Meyer had travelled many times to the Philippines and was able to show Rizal a copy of his book on the Igorots.

Rizal also met Professor Friedrich Ratzel, an geographer and historian. With Meyer and Ratzel Rizal visited the Leipzig Museum, the historical places and industrial establishments (Quotation from Hermogenes E. Bacareza, “Jose Rizal in Germany - Southeast Asia and the Germans”, published in 1977, page 142).

I was surprised to learn, that Rizal even translated Friedrich Schiller’s William Tell. In his letter to Blumentritt dated October 2, 1886, Rizal wrote,

“My countrymnen asked for a Tagalog translation of Schiller’s work. You can easily imagine how difficult I shall find the task, as the modes of expression are very different in German. First, I have to study and examine a phrase for along time, then I try to find a corresponding expression in Tagalog, carefully avoiding paraphrases and Germanisms. I console myself with the thought that I have the honour of presenting the great Friedrich Schiller to the Philippines in Tagalog”. (Quotation from “The Rizal-Blumentritt Correspondence”, centennial edition, Vol. II, Part I, published 1961 in Manila, page 14).

(To be continued!)

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