Lawmaker buys house in Germany where Rizal wrote ‘Noli’
Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste has purchased a house in Germany where national hero Jose Rizal stayed to finish his novel, “Noli Me Tangere,” the lawmaker’s office said on Sunday.
According to Leviste’s office in a Facebook post, the lawmaker bought the house in Wilhelmsfeld, Germany, to preserve the property and promote Philippine history.
“The objective in acquiring and preserving this house is to protect a historic site where ideas that helped spark the Philippine Revolution and shape the Filipino nation were formed,” Leviste’s office said in Filipino.
It was in 1886 when Rizal stayed in Wilhelmsfeld while studying ophthalmology at the University of Heidelberg, upon the invitation of a friend, Pastor Karl Ullmer.
Apart from Noli Me Tangere, Rizal also wrote the poem “A las flores de Heidelberg,” expressing his longing for the Philippines while in Germany.
The house had been home to the town’s pastors since 1886, but later fell into disuse during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The property was brought to the attention of Leviste’s mother, Sen. Loren Legarda, who in turn recommended that her son acquire it without using government funds and convert it into a museum open to Filipino and foreign visitors.
Leviste held a signing ceremony for the house last week, according to his office, together with Dr. Franz Hack Ullmer, great-grandson of Pastor Ullmer; representatives of the Protestant church that owned the house; Dr. Tobias Dangel, mayor of Wilhelmsfeld; and Mr. Herbert Ehses, German chapter commander of the Knights of Rizal.
His office said Ullmer even presented Leviste a table resembling the one on which Rizal wrote his landmark first novel, along with other items from the Ullmer family’s Rizal collection.
“Mayor Dangel and Dr. Ullmer also showed Congressman Leandro several places in Wilhelmsfeld that honor Rizal, including a Rizal statue at Rizal Park. The street where the house stands has also been named Jose Rizal Strasse,” Leviste’s office said.
“They proudly noted, together with Mr. Ehses, that even in Germany there are members of the Knights of Rizal who value and uphold Philippine history,” it added.
