Legarda graces the opening ceremony of Rizal Historic Trail in Germany, marking the daily walk that shaped a hero

WILHELMSFELD, GERMANY — Senator Loren Legarda walked the path once taken by Dr. Jose Rizal in Germany, saying that the footsteps of our national hero remain part of the country’s living memory. She reminded that greatness often begins in simple acts, and that retracing Rizal’s daily walk between Wilhelmsfeld and Heidelberg is a way of carrying forward the conscience of the Filipino people.

 The Rizal Historic Trail was formally opened on June 20, 2026 (CEST) in Wilhelmsfeld, a day after the nation marked the 165th birth anniversary of Rizal. Organized by the Gemeinde Wilhelmsfeld and the Knights of Rizal Wilhelmsfeld–Heidelberg Chapter, the program began at Hinterbergweg hiking parking lot in Wilhelmsfeld, where national anthems were played and officials welcomed participants before the guided hike along the route that Rizal once took to the Heidelberg University Eye Clinic, where he pursued advanced studies in ophthalmology.

 For Legarda, who has visited Wilhelmsfeld many times, the trail begins at a house she knows well. “I remember the quiet of it, the vicarage where Dr. Jose Rizal stayed with Pastor Ullmer and his family, the garden he and Eta tended at dawn, the home where a young man from Calamba was treated less like a boarder and more like a son,” she said. “When you stand in that house, the distance between 1886 and today grows very thin.”

 Legarda noted Rizal’s heroism began in the rhythm of his daily walk. “The trail you have marked is simply his commute, the same path he walked to work and back, day after day. That is where the heroism began. In an ordinary walk, repeated every morning, by a man before the world knew his greatness,” she said.

 Legarda has also worked to secure the trail’s future. She ensured support was coursed through the Philippine Consulate General in Frankfurt for the Rizal Historic Trail, and this year, under the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), she also ensured that support is provided for the trail markers. 

 “A path without signs is forgotten. A path with them becomes memory you can stand on,” she said.

 After the trail hike, Legarda also graced the induction of new members of the Knights of Rizal at the EvangelischeKirche Wilhelmsfeld, attended by local leaders and members of the Philippine community in Germany.

 The trail opening is the latest in more than a decade of work Legarda has directed toward Rizal’s journey and the wider Filipino cultural presence in Germany. In March 2026, at Legarda’s encouragement, her son, Representative Leandro Legarda Leviste purchased the Ullmer vicarage where Rizal wrote the last chapters of Noli Me Tangere, using private funds and placing the house in Filipino ownership, with plans to convert it into a museum and cultural center. The acquisition realized a goal Legarda had pursued since touring the town in 2019, a visit that also gave rise to the 2021 documentary Finding Rizal in a Time of Barriers, which traces 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. 

 She has likewise worked to recover and document Rizal’s legacy held in German collections. Legarda 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; it was first shown at the Philippine Stand during the 2025 Frankfurt Book Fair before the National Museum formally launched it in December 2025. 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 her book “Seams of Sedition: Sartorial Symbols in Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere.

 The four-term senator’s institutional footprint in Germany runs just as deep. She drove the reopening of the Philippine Consulate General in Frankfurt in 2019; established Philippine Studies programs at German universities including Ruhr University Bochum, University of Hamburg, and Humboldt University of Berlin; and brought the Hibla ng Lahing Filipino textile exhibition to Frankfurt in 2018. Above all, she led the country’s long return to the Frankfurt Book Fair after a 14-year absence, a decade-long effort that culminated in the Philippines serving as Guest of Honour in 2025 under the theme “The imagination peoples the air,” a line drawn from Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere.

 Legarda closed her message by saying that the trail is a bridge between past and present. Walking it, she said, is a way of carrying Rizal’s vision forward, so that generations to come will know whose steps they follow and why they matter to the Filipino nation. (30)

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Legarda ginunita ang araw-araw na paglalakad na humubog sa isang bayani sa pagbubukas ng Rizal Historic Trail sa Germany

WILHELMSFELD, GERMANY — Sa pagbubukas ng Rizal Historic Trail, tinahak ni Senadora Loren Legarda ang landas na minsang dinaanan ni Dr. Jose Rizal. Ayon sa kanya, nananatiling buhay sa alaala ng bansa ang mga yapak ng pambansang bayani. Ipinaalala rin niya na ang kadakilaan ay nagsisimula sa mga payak na hakbang, at ang muling pagtahak sa araw-araw na ruta ni Rizal mula Wilhelmsfeld patungong Heidelberg ay paraan ng pagdadala ng diwa ng sambayanang Pilipino.

Binuksan ang trail noong Hunyo 20, 2026 (CEST), isang araw matapos gunitain ang ika-165 kaarawan ni Rizal. Inorganisa ng Gemeinde Wilhelmsfeld at Knights of Rizal Wilhelmsfeld–Heidelberg Chapter, nagsimula ang programa sa Hinterbergweg hiking parking lot kung saan tinugtog ang mga pambansang awit at sinalubong ng mga opisyal ang mga kalahok bago ang gabay na paglalakad patungong Heidelberg University Eye Clinic, ang lugar kung saan nag-aral si Rizal ng optalmolohiya.

“Naalala ko ang katahimikan doon, ang bahay‑parokya kung saan nanirahan si Dr. Jose Rizal kasama si Pastor Ullmer at ang kanyang pamilya, ang hardin na siya at si Eta ay sama‑samang inalagaan tuwing umaga, ang tahanang kung saan ang isang binata mula Calamba ay tinrato hindi bilang isang umuupa kundi bilang isang anak,” ani Legarda. “Kapag nakatayo ka sa bahay na iyon, tila nagiging manipis ang pagitan ng 1886 at ngayon,” dagdag niya.

Binigyang-diin ng senadora na nagsimula ang kabayanihan ni Rizal sa kanyang araw-araw na paglalakad. “Ang trail na inyong minarkahan ay simpleng ruta ng kanyang pagpasok, ang parehong landas na kanyang tinatahak papunta sa trabaho at pabalik, araw-araw. Doon nagsimula ang kabayanihan. Sa isang karaniwang paglalakad, inuulit tuwing umaga, ng isang tao bago pa man nakilala ang kanyang kadakilaan,” wika niya.

Tiniyak din ni Legarda ang suporta para sa kinabukasan ng trail. Pinangasiwaan niya ang tulong na ipinadaan sa Philippine Consulate General sa Frankfurt, at ngayong taon, sa ilalim ng National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), tiniyak niyang may suporta para sa mga trail marker. “Ang landas na walang palatandaan ay madaling makalimutan. Ang landas na may palatandaan ay nagiging alaala na maaari mong tayuan,” ani Legarda.

Matapos ang paglalakad, dumalo rin si Legarda sa panunumpa ng mga bagong kasapi ng Knights of Rizal sa Evangelische Kirche Wilhelmsfeld, na dinaluhan ng mga lokal na pinuno at mga miyembro ng komunidad ng Pilipino sa Germany.

Ang pagbubukas ng trail ay bahagi ng mahigit isang dekada ng gawain ni Legarda hinggil sa paglalakbay ni Rizal at sa mas malawak na presensyang pangkultura ng mga Pilipino sa Germany. Noong Marso 2026, sa kanyang pagsuporta, binili ng kanyang anak na si Kongresista Leandro Legarda Leviste ang Ullmer vicarage kung saan isinulat ni Rizal ang huling mga kabanata ng “Noli Me Tangere,” gamit ang pribadong pondo at inilagay ang bahay sa pagmamay-ari ng mga Pilipino, na may planong gawing museo at sentrong pangkultura. Suportado rin ni Legarda ang digital exhibit na “Connecting and Collecting: Rizal’s Ethnographic Objects in Germany,” na nagpapakita ng 21 bagay mula Pilipinas na ibinigay ni Rizal sa German ethnologist na si Dr. Adolf Bastian, unang direktor ng Berlin Ethnological Museum. Unang ipinakita ito sa Philippine Stand sa 2025 Frankfurt Book Fair bago pormal na inilunsad ng National Museum noong Disyembre 2025. Suportado rin niya ang pananaliksik ni Dr. Stephanie Marie Coo hinggil sa kulturang materyal ng Pilipinas na nakapreserba sa mga arkibo ng Germany, na inilathala bilang “Journey of Culture Through Objects: The Philippine Collection at the Linden Museum in Stuttgart” at ang kanyang aklat na “Seams of Sedition: Sartorial Symbols in Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere.”

Pinangunahan din ng senadora ang muling pagbubukas ng Philippine Consulate General sa Frankfurt noong 2019; nagtatag ng mga programang Philippine Studies sa mga unibersidad sa Germany kabilang ang Ruhr University Bochum, University of Hamburg, at Humboldt University of Berlin; at dinala ang Hibla ng Lahing Filipino textile exhibition sa Frankfurt noong 2018. Higit sa lahat, pinamunuan niya ang pagbabalik ng bansa sa Frankfurt Book Fair matapos ang 14 na taong pagkawala, isang dekada ng pagsisikap na nagbunga sa Pilipinas bilang Guest of Honour noong 2025 sa ilalim ng temang “The imagination peoples the air,” isang linya mula sa Noli Me Tangere ni Rizal.

Tinapos ni Legarda ang kanyang mensahe sa pagsasabing ang trail ay tulay sa pagitan ng nakaraan at kasalukuyan. Ang pagtahak dito, aniya, ay paraan ng pagdadala ng bisyon ni Rizal tungo sa hinaharap, upang ang mga susunod na salinlahi ay malaman kung kaninong mga yapak ang kanilang sinusundan at bakit ito mahalaga sa sambayanang Pilipino. (30)