Friendship with Rizal

Blumentritt even at a young age, shows a eager curiosity in Spanish culture and the Spanish colonial world, that is
why his schoolmates called him "the Spaniard."
From Blumentritt's aunt, he started to learn the Spanish Language and he wrote his first article about the
Philippines in 1879. The article was entitled Die Chinesen auf den Philippines -(The Chinese in the Philippines) .
Then another famous work was published in Petermann's Mittheilungen in 1882 and it was entitled Versuch einer
Ethnographie der Philippinen (An Attempt of an Ethnography of the Philippines). In this book, he included maps of
the Philippines made by Ferdinand Blumentritt in which he corrected some mistakes.
With his great interest in the Philippines, he devoted his time in studying the Filipino culture and language while he
was still a professor. He was known to be the chief expert in Tagalog language. According to a letter of Friedrich
Blumentritt (son Ferdinand), their family Philippine collection consisted of a library of more than 800 titles, a 17
400 notes and sources referring to the scientific work of Blumentritt, 1721 scientific and political letters from
Blumentritt's friends, more than 100 manuscripts, 123 letters from Rizal to Blumentritt and more than 100 old
maps.
In July 13 1886, Jose Rizal wrote his first letter to Ferdinand Blumentritt from Heidelberg and sent him a book of
arithmetic written in Tagalog. And with this, a gracious communication and friendship between the two men
started. They usually addressed one another as "Mein Bruder" (My brother).
In one of his letters, Blumentritt addressed to Rizal "A thousand thanks for your excellent book ... to begin with,
accept my heartfelt congratulation for your beautiful moral novel, which appeals to me in an extraordinary manner.
As we German's say, you put all your heart into the writing of your book and for this reason, your book speaks to
the heart ..." and he added, "If you continue in this manner, then for your people, you can become one of the great
men, who will exert a decisive influence upon the development of their spiritual life."
After the publication of Noli Me Tangere, May 13 17, 1887, Rizal traveled to Leitmeritz with Maximo S. Viola who
was entertained for several days by the Blumentritt family. This was the first and last time Rizal and Blumentritt
would meet in person. However, they continued to write each other regularly up until Rizal's death in 1896.
Blumentritt translated Rizal's Noli me Tangere into German since he worked at Berlin Printing Press. After asking
Rizal, he immediately translated Noli Me Tangere, but unfortunately no copy of the said German translation had
been found. Blumentritt also served as one of the liberator of Noli Me Tangere when he heard that with the
interventions of the friars, Noli Me Tangere would be officially banned in the Philippines. He prepared his defense
and started attacking the detractors who stated malicious and false statements about Noli Me Tangere. He
published almost 30 pages of strong variety of arguments and controversies published in Iberica printing press of
Francisco Fossas in Barcelona entitled Noli me tangere of Rizal - as judged by Professor F. Blumentritt. Rizal
introduced Blumentritt as a man who believed in the fight of Filipinos for education.
Even in conflicts, Rizal and Blumentritt never lost their common sense. Blumentritt reminded him about the story
of Archimedes, he quoted "The peninsular oxen are now trembling too because they discovered in the Noli me
tangere and the Solidaridad (the newspaper of the Filipinos in exile in Madrid), that the Indios are not only their
equals, but that the latters' sons are noble, more intelligent, more educated, more learned than their academicians
..."
With all the controversies received by his book, Noli Me Tangere, Rizal was displeased with the negative issues
and controversial arguments blown against his book. Blumentritt on the other hand, explained the side of Rizal on
why he wrote his novel Noli Me Tangere. According to him, Rizal wanted to denounce the abuse of power,
dejected handling of political prisoners, the ruthless and unkind treatment and the intensive act of behavior,
especially in terms of punishment of the power hungry friars.
Blumentritt kept helping Rizal to cover up with controversies just a real friend, a brother and a person with human
values and concern for Filipinos had no hesitation to represent and state his political views of Rizal and his writing.
"The financial interests of certain Spanish circles are threatened by the novel,"said Blumentritt. He elucidates the
detestation and rant and rave of the group which moved to put an end not only to the book but to the author as
well just like what happened to Rizal and his novel, Noli Me Tangere.
"If I should express my opinion about the Noli me tangere, then I would frankly admit that I consider it the greatest
literary work ever written by a Filipino, or about the Philippines at all. And I am happy to know that I am not the
only one who is of this view. Furthermore, I am stating that there is no book in Philippine literature in which love of
country has been expressed as fervently. It is written with the life blood of a patriot, who harbors no hatred
whatsoever for Spain, rather, just a justified repugnance for anyone who abuses, egoistically and scandalously,
the power granted him by the state or the church. That majority of those whom Rizal judged in his book are
Spaniards must be ascribed to the condition that all government offices, the best parishes and the majority of the
church positions are occupied by Spaniards. No one with a common sense can insist that Rizal conceals this fact,
thus making himself an accomplice to the crime." Acclaimed by Blumentritt.
On the day before his execution, along with his farewells to his parents and siblings, Rizal wrote his final letter to
Blumentritt, who allegedly wept upon receiving it, the last letter from Fort Santiago on 29 December 1896.