Nadir, Rose attend Schomburgk birthday bash in Germany
Stabroek News
June 27, 2004
Guyana was represented at a three-day celebration of Robert Schomburgk's two hundredth birth anniversary in Germany by Minister of Trade, Tourism and Commerce Manzoor Nadir and Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Dr James Rose.
The two left for Schomburgk's home town, Freyburg, in the company of Ben ter Welle of the Guyana-German Natural Resources Management Project, to take part in festivities which coincided with the observances marking the anniversary in Guyana itself.
The highlight of the celebrations occurred on June 5, Schomburgk's birthday, in an annexe to Freyburg's City Hall, used for cultural purposes. Here, there were performances by a male voice, mixed and children's choirs, and presentations by both the Germans and the Guyanese.
Mayor Bertling of Freyburg, and Permanent Secretary in the Saxony-Anhalt Ministry of Culture Wolfgang Bohm, spoke on behalf of the Germans, the latter saying that he hoped theevent would cause ties to be established between Saxony-Anhalt and Guyana.
ter Welle told Stabroek News that Dr Rose gave the keynote address on behalf of Guyana, telling his audience that there were a number of reasons why Schomburgk was a very important person for this country, and that for any one of them separately he would still have been important.
Dr Rose referred to Schomburgk's surveys of the boundaries, said ter Welle, and the work he did with his brother in the field of natural history. There was also his interest in the Amerindian population, and his advocacy on their behalf to the British colonial authorities.
Following his address, Dr Rose presented Mayor Bertling with a plaque on behalf of the University of Guyana, while ter Welle gave Mayor Bertling a large gold medal depicting the coat of arms on behalf of the Guyana government.
The German exhibition, coinciding with the one held in the Umana Yana in Georgetown, was opened, and Dr Ineke Pfaf-Rheinberger, who was responsible for mounting it gave a brief background. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Germany provided the exhibits. At the end of the proceedings, according to ter Welle, the guests were treated to a 21-gun salute for Schomburgk given by members of a shooting club which uses 150-year-old guns. Schomburgk was made their patron after he gave a handsome donation to the association for expenses to cover 'sporting.'
The town of Freyburg, in the region of Saxony-Anhalt, is situated in wine-growing country, and has a history dating back eight hundred years. Like all tourists to the town, the Guyanese delegation was invited to a wine-tasting exercise, so they could sample the wines produced in Freyburg, while the Guyanese delegation offered their German hosts a taste of Guyanese rum in exchange. They also visited the largest champagne producer in the world, and Freyburg's major employer.
Other excursions took them to various tourist sites, including an early mediaeval castle at Naumburg.
A German delegation will be here for the launching of a book about Schomburgk in November this year.