DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
P R E S S  R E L E A S E
www.dfa.gov.ph                                                                             2330 Roxas Blvd., Pasay City, Philippines                                                                        Tel. No. 834-4000 
SFA-AGR-589-07                                                                                                                                                       23 June 2007

PHILIPPINE EMBASSY TRACKS PHILIPPINE COLLECTIONS IN GERMAN MUSEUMS


(Left to right)  Dr. Klaus-Peter Kästner, Deputy Director of the Dresden Museum of Ethnology, Dipl. Ethn. Petra Martin, and Ambassador Albert. (Standing) Ms. Esther Sallee

23 July 2007—Philippine Ambassador to Berlin , Delia Domingo-Albert reported to the Deparrtment of Foreign Affairs that she visited the Dresden Museum of Ethnology upon the invitation of the museum´s Deputy Director Dr. Klaus-Peter Kästner and ethnologist Ms. Petra Martin, the museum´s custodian of the Southeast Asian artifacts.  The Museum archives 1,000 Philippine artifacts from the 19th century.  

A large part of the Philippine collection belongs to Dr. Alexander Schadenberg, a German biologist and pharmacist and co-founder of Botica Boie who settled in the Philippines in the second half of the 19th century. He helped in the manufacture of natural drugs in the Philippines .  

An important portion of the Museum’s Philippine collection were gifts from Dr. Jose Rizal to the Museum.  These gifts were sent to the Museum Director during Rizal’s exile in Dapitan.  

Ambassador Albert proposed to the Museum Deputy Director the possibility of exhibiting the Philippine artifacts to increase German public awareness of Philippine-German relations, which antedate the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1955.  The planned exhibit is part of the Embassy’s work program for 2008 in pursuing actively its public diplomacy thrusts. END

/jay

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