Ansprachen

Visit  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps
to the Ethnological Museum

( Berlin-Dahlem, 10 June 2009)

Address of thanks of the Apostolic Nuncio
 

Honorable Dr. Hermann Parzinger, President of the Foundation of the Prussian Cultural Forum,
Your Excellency, Dr. Hermann Freiherr von Richthofen, President of the Administrative Council of the Friends of the Ethnological Museum,
Your Excellencies and dear Colleagues,

at the invitation of Professor and Dr. Parzinger, under the auspices of Dr. Freiherr von Richthofen we enjoy this special visit of the Berlin Ethnological Museum  which entails treasures of all our countries, and gives us the possibility not only to discover  historical treasures of the life of our ancestors in our own country of birth, but also – and this is the privilege of an ethnological museum – to share them with others, and particularly today among ourselves, colleagues of the Diplomatic Corps in Berlin.

I wholeheartedly thank Prof. Parzinger for giving us the opportunity not only to know more and better about the role of ethnology in our diplomatic mission, of which our cultural attachés are taking care on our behalf, but also to discover how much German researchers, like the brothers Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt contributed to save, to study and foster knowledge on ethnological history of our own peoples. A museum is not a static presentation of works, but a place of living confrontation between today visitors and the past, so that we may look forward with more confidence towards the future, because of the wisdom of humanity, being convinced that mankind is growing up in humanity together with the development of the world. A say of poet Ovidius – which was the leitmotiv of the periodical of my college in Fribourg – says this: laudamus veteres, sed nostris utimur annis, it means, we praise our ancestors, but we abide by our time. Every museum let me think to such a wise statement, because the present life has its roots in the past, and more and better we know our roots, more and better shall we develop our today’s life and prepare a brilliant future for our posterity. Human life is so built, that every generation brings it stone to the building of the world, of a better world. This is certainly true for science, and the Humboldt University – perhaps the most living part of the Humboldt-Forum – is proof that scientific research of every kind builds on acquired knowledge, for which the Library is the main source. The inter-activity of men’s domains of knowledge and of growth is an invitation for inter-activity of today’s centers of culture, as is the case with the Humboldt-Forum here in Berlin.

An ethnological Museum like this one is also a proof of the capacity of men and women to use their brain to enter into dialogue with others, and first of all with their environment, with the earth; but also a proof of their search, to know always better their own origin, the force behind visible things, their hope of having another life after death, because, as the Bible says “the face of this world passes away” (1 Cor 7,34). I may personally never visit an ethnological Museum without being invited to think about the value of life, the wisdom of man to enhance life, to defend himself against any danger, to let his earthly condition be enjoyable, etc... For instance the jewels created everywhere in the world give proof not so much of the vanity of men and women to appear nicer in their outlook, but of their ability to put at their service earthly goods, like gold, precious stones and other material. In so doing, they fulfill the order of the Creator to Adam and Eva to dominate on every being on the earth (cf. Gen. 1, 26-28). I even dare to say that an ethnological Museum is a convincing lesson of life; exactly the contrary of what people usually think. To make it a living Museum needs only to see men and women behind and acting with the exposed things of any kind.

Therefore, Honorable Dr. Parzinger, our gratitude to yourself, to your collaborators, to the director and attendants of this rich Berlin Ethnological Museum, for offering us today such a living lesson of our own history in the history of our ancestors.

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