Jose Rizal honored in Calamba-Germany sister city pact

Philippine national hero Dr. Jose Rizal was honored as Calamba City in Laguna and Wilhelmsfeld in Germany became sister cities. Calamba is the hometown of Rizal while Wilhelmsfeld was the place where he wrote his first book, the "Noli Me Tangere," a news release of the Department of Foreign (DFA) Affairs said. The Philippine Embassy in Germany reported that the two cities signed a "Sister City agreement" on October 7. Those who signed the agreement were Calamba Mayor Joaquin Chipeco Jr. and Wilhelmsfeld Mayor Hans Zellner. Laguna Rep. Justin Marc Chipeco also witnessed the signing of the agreement. Philippine Ambassador to Germany Maria Cleofe Natividad said the agreement was part of the activities marking Rizal's 150th birth anniversary this year. Those who organized the event were the Philippine Embassy and Philippine Honorary Consul General to Baden-Württemberg Dr. Gerhard Zeidler. Natividad said the agreement will lead to more "formal ties and cooperation on areas of mutual interest for both cities, their respective peoples, and also for the betterment of cultural understanding between the Philippines and Germany." Other activities Aside from the signing of the agreement, the other activities included the awarding of student winners of an essay-writing competition on the Filipino national hero. Manju Ludwig, a history professor at the South Asian Institute of the University of Heidelberg, also delivered lectures on the life and works of Rizal. Dr. Frtitz Hack, a descendant of Rev. Pastor Karl Ulmer, in whose family residence Rizal stayed in Willhelmsfeld, also delivered a lecture. Natividad noted it was in Wilhelmsfeld where Rizal learned much about the German culture, values, language and other German-inspired democratic ideals that inspired him to write his books, poems and other works. She said that apart from "Noli" and "El Filibusterismo," not too many Filipinos know that Rizal wrote his third book entitled "Guillermo Tell," a Tagalog translation of German poet and playwright Friedrich Schiller's story "William Tell." Meanwhile, Philippine officials also paid a visit to the office of Mayor Lord Dr. Eckart Würzner of the city of Heidelberg, where Rizal took his medical studies at the School of Ophthalmology of the University of Heidelberg in Bergheim. Rizal was born on June 19, 1861 in Calamba Laguna. He was executed by firing squad on December 30, 1896 after he was found guilty of rebellion, sedition, and forming an illegal association against the Spanish colonizers of the Philippines. - VVP, GMA News