Legarda in Wilhelmsfeld: Rizal’s vision remains ours to build

WILHELMSFELD, GERMANY – Speaking from Wilhelmsfeld, where José Rizal once longed for home and completed the novel that awakened a nation’s thirst for independence and self-determination, Senator Loren Legarda called on Filipinos to carry forward the national hero’s unfinished vision of freedom and dignity.

At Rizal Park during the commemoration of Rizal’s 165th Birth Anniversary, Legarda said Rizal should be remembered not as a figure of mourning, but as a living force whose ideals of freedom, dignity continue to guide the Filipino people.

Legarda noted that Wilhelmsfeld holds a unique place in Philippine history. It was here, in 1886, that Rizal lived as a guest of Pastor Karl Ullmer, studied in nearby Heidelberg, and completed Noli Me Tangere, the novel that would awaken the Filipino national consciousness.

“So why mark his birthday in Wilhelmsfeld? Because this is where he found shelter,” Legarda said. “We did not come to Wilhelmsfeld just to speak about Dr. Jose Rizal from a distance. We came to stand on the ground that opened its doors to a young Filipino far from home and gave him a place to belong.”

Legarda thanked the people of Wilhelmsfeld and Heidelberg, the Ullmer family, and the Knights of Rizal for keeping Rizal’s memory alive in Germany through the Rizal Historic Trail, commemorative programs, and generations of care for the places that shaped his life and work.

She emphasized that the story of Rizal’s stay in Wilhelmsfeld demonstrates how a simple act of kindness and welcome of a German family can leave a lasting mark on a nation’s history.

“A small German town that welcomed a young Filipino far from home became part of the story of a nation,” Legarda said, noting that Rizal’s work in Wilhelmsfeld would eventually inspire generations of Filipinos in their struggle for freedom and self-determination.

The Senator likewise underscored that nation-building is never accomplished in isolation. While Rizal’s aspirations were firmly rooted in his love for the Philippines, his life also showed the importance of dialogue among peoples, cultural exchange, and international friendship.

“For more than a decade, I have tried to bring Rizal home to his own people, by way of Germany,” Legarda said as she recounted efforts to retrace Rizal’s footsteps and give honor to his legacy.

Legarda’s 2019 visit to the town of Wilhelmsfeld gave rise to the 2021 documentary “Finding Rizal in a Time of Barriers,” tracing Rizal’s path across Germany and Europe, and to the “Rizal in Wilhelmsfeld” exhibit, opened on Rizal’s 160th birth anniversary at the Museo ni Jose Rizal in Fort Santiago alongside the unveiling of the German translation of “Mi Ultimo Adios.” In March 2026, at Legarda’s encouragement, her son, Batangas District I Representative Leandro Legarda Leviste, purchased, using private funds, the Protestant vicarage where Rizal wrote the last chapters of Noli Me Tangere, with plans to convert it into a museum and cultural center. The Rizal Historic Trail is the most recent step in her effort to preserve Rizal’s memory and the places tied to him.

“When I first visited Wilhelmsfeld and met Dr. Fritz Hack Ullmer, I left with a wish that the house where Rizal wrote his novel would one day be preserved for the people he loved,” she said. “To this town and to the Ullmer family, who have kept Rizal’s story alive across generations, the Filipino people are very grateful.”

Legarda has likewise supported the digital exhibit “Connecting and Collecting: Rizal’s Ethnographic Objects in Germany,” which presents the 21 Philippine objects Rizal donated to the German ethnologist Dr. Adolf Bastian, founding director of the Berlin Ethnological Museum. She also supported Dr. Stephanie Marie Coo’s research into Philippine material culture preserved in German archives, published as “Journey of Culture Through Objects: The Philippine Collection at the Linden Museum in Stuttgart” and the book, “Seams of Sedition: Sartorial Symbols in Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere.”

She secured the 2019 reopening of the Philippine Consulate General in Frankfurt; established Philippine Studies programs at Ruhr University Bochum, the University of Hamburg, and Humboldt University of Berlin; and brought the “Hibla ng Lahing Filipino” textile exhibition to Frankfurt in 2018. She also brought the Philippines back to the Frankfurt Book Fair, a decade-long campaign that culminated in the Philippines as Guest of Honour in 2025, under the theme “The imagination peoples the air,” a line from Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere.

Legarda emphasized that Rizal’s significance lies not only in what he accomplished during his lifetime but in the continuing responsibility of succeeding generations to carry forward the ideals he championed.

“Dr. Jose Rizal, 165 years from the day you were born, we are here to remember you not as a man we mourn. You are a man whose vision is still ours to build,” she said.

“As the Knights of Rizal say, Non Omnis Moriar. Not all of you have died, and in our homeland, in Wilhelmsfeld, and in every mind still awakened by your words, you live on,” Legarda concluded. (30)

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Legarda sa Wilhelmsfeld: Ang adhikain ni Rizal ay patuloy nating isakatuparan

WILHELMSFELD, GERMANY – Mula sa Wilhelmsfeld, kung saan minsang nangulila si José Rizal sa kanyang bayan at tinapos ang nobelang gumising sa pagkauhaw ng sambayanan sa kalayaan at sariling pagpapasya, nanawagan si Senadora Loren Legarda sa mga Pilipino na ipagpatuloy ang hindi pa natatapos na adhikain ng pambansang bayani para sa kalayaan at dangal.

Sa Rizal Park, sa paggunita ng ika-165 kaarawan ni Rizal, sinabi ni Legarda na dapat alalahanin si Rizal hindi bilang isang pigura ng pagluluksa, kundi bilang buhay na puwersa na patuloy na gumagabay sa sambayanang Pilipino sa kanyang mga adhikain ng kalayaan at dangal.

Itinampok ni Legarda na may natatanging lugar ang Wilhelmsfeld sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas. Dito, noong 1886, nanirahan si Rizal bilang panauhin ni Pastor Karl Ullmer, nag-aral sa kalapit na Heidelberg, at tinapos ang Noli Me Tangere—ang nobelang gumising sa pambansang kamalayan ng mga Pilipino.

“So why mark his birthday in Wilhelmsfeld? Because this is where he found shelter,” ani Legarda. “We did not come to Wilhelmsfeld just to speak about Dr. Jose Rizal from a distance. We came to stand on the ground that opened its doors to a young Filipino far from home and gave him a place to belong.”

Nagpasalamat si Legarda sa mga mamamayan ng Wilhelmsfeld at Heidelberg, sa pamilya Ullmer, at sa Knights of Rizal sa pagpapanatiling buhay ng alaala ni Rizal sa Alemanya sa pamamagitan ng Rizal Historic Trail, mga programa ng paggunita, at sa pangmatagalang pag-aalaga sa mga lugar na humubog sa kanyang buhay at mga gawa.

Ipinunto niya na ang kuwento ng pananatili ni Rizal sa Wilhelmsfeld ay nagpapakita kung paanong ang isang simpleng gawa ng kabutihan at pagtanggap ng isang pamilyang Aleman ay nag-iwan ng pangmatagalang marka sa kasaysayan ng isang bansa.

“A small German town that welcomed a young Filipino far from home became part of the story of a nation,” dagdag ni Legarda, na binanggit na ang mga ginawa ni Rizal sa Wilhelmsfeld ay kalaunan ay magbibigay-inspirasyon sa mga henerasyon ng Pilipino sa kanilang pakikibaka para sa kalayaan at sariling pagpapasya.

Binanggit din ng Senadora na ang pagtataguyod ng bansa ay hindi kailanman natatamo nang nag-iisa. Bagaman nakaugat ang mga adhikain ni Rizal sa kanyang pagmamahal sa Pilipinas, ipinakita rin ng kanyang buhay ang kahalagahan ng diyalogo ng mga bayan, palitan ng kultura, at pandaigdigang pagkakaibigan.

“For more than a decade, I have tried to bring Rizal home to his own people, by way of Germany,” pagbabalik-tanaw ni Legarda.

Ang pagbisita ni Legarda sa Wilhelmsfeld noong 2019 ay nagbunga ng dokumentaryong Finding Rizal in a Time of Barriers noong 2021, na tumunton sa landas ni Rizal sa Alemanya at Europa, at ng Rizal in Wilhelmsfeld exhibit na binuksan sa ika-160 kaarawan ni Rizal sa Museo ni Jose Rizal sa Fort Santiago, kasabay ng paglulunsad ng salin sa Aleman ng Mi Ultimo Adios. Noong Marso 2026, sa kanyang pagsuporta, binili ng kanyang anak na si Batangas District I Representative Leandro Legarda Leviste, gamit ang pribadong pondo, ang Protestanteng bahay‑parokya kung saan isinulat ni Rizal ang huling mga kabanata ng Noli Me Tangere, na balak gawing museo at sentrong pangkultura. Ang Rizal Historic Trail ang pinakabagong hakbang sa kanyang pagsisikap na ingatan ang alaala ni Rizal at ang mga lugar na kaugnay sa kanya.

“When I first visited Wilhelmsfeld and met Dr. Fritz Hack Ullmer, I left with a wish that the house where Rizal wrote his novel would one day be preserved for the people he loved,” ani Legarda. “To this town and to the Ullmer family, who have kept Rizal’s story alive across generations, the Filipino people are very grateful.”

Suportado rin ni Legarda ang digital exhibit na Connecting and Collecting: Rizal’s Ethnographic Objects in Germany, na nagpapakita ng 21 bagay mula sa Pilipinas na ibinigay ni Rizal sa Aleman na etnolohistang si Dr. Adolf Bastian, unang direktor ng Berlin Ethnological Museum. Suportado rin niya ang pananaliksik ni Dr. Stephanie Marie Coo hinggil sa kulturang materyal ng Pilipinas na nakatala sa mga arkibong Aleman, na inilathala bilang Journey of Culture Through Objects: The Philippine Collection at the Linden Museum in Stuttgart at ang aklat na Seams of Sedition: Sartorial Symbols in Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere.

Pinangunahan niya ang muling pagbubukas ng Philippine Consulate General sa Frankfurt noong 2019; pagtatatag ng mga programang Philippine Studies sa Ruhr University Bochum, University of Hamburg, at Humboldt University of Berlin; at pagdadala ng Hibla ng Lahing Filipino textile exhibition sa Frankfurt noong 2018. Ibinalik din niya ang Pilipinas sa Frankfurt Book Fair, isang dekada ng kampanya na nagbunga ng pagiging Guest of Honour ng Pilipinas noong 2025, sa temang The imagination peoples the air, isang linya mula sa Noli Me Tangere ni Rizal.

Binigyang-diin ni Legarda na ang kahalagahan ni Rizal ay hindi lamang sa kanyang mga nagawa noong siya’y nabubuhay, kundi sa patuloy na pananagutan ng mga susunod na henerasyon na ipagpatuloy ang mga adhikain na kanyang ipinaglaban.

“Dr. Jose Rizal, 165 years from the day you were born, we are here to remember you not as a man we mourn. You are a man whose vision is still ours to build,” ani Legarda.

“As the Knights of Rizal say, Non Omnis Moriar. Not all of you have died, and in our homeland, in Wilhelmsfeld, and in every mind still awakened by your words, you live on,” pagtatapos ni Legarda. (30)