A German Gesture

Updated on: Saturday, January 28, 2012

Merck, a global pharmaceutical and chemical company has always had a cultural connect with India through Rabindranath Tagore. Dr Karl-Ludwig Kley, chairman of the executive board and general partner of Merck KGaA and Jon Baumhauer, chairman of executive board of E Merck KG and chairman of the family board, elucidated upon Merck’s Indo-German cultural initiatives and the Merck-Tagore relationship at a discussion held recently at the Oberoi Grand.

The association between Merck and Tagore goes back to Elisabeth Wolff-Merck, who translated Tagore’s play ‘Chitra’ into German while her husband Kurt Wolff started publishing Tagore’s works. Baumhauer, their grandson said, “My maternal grandfather, Kurt Wolff had just embarked upon a career as a publisher when his friend from London recommended Tagore to him. It was then when he heard about Tagore’s early publications in 1913 and translated Tagore’s initial poems to German.”

It is to honour this longstanding association with Tagore that Merck Ltd India has sponsored the Merck-Tagore Award, granted by the Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan India to recognise contributions towards the promotion of cultural exchange between Germany and India. The award is being organised in memory of Tagore, to honour his life and works.  It will be granted for the first time during the event marking the Tagore Year of the Goethe-Institut Kolkata in March 2012. Thereafter, it will be granted every two years on May 7.

Dr Martin Kämpchen, novelist and translator of Tagore’s works from Bengali to German, has been chosen as the first recipient of the Merck-Tagore Award. The jury comprised a representative from Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan India, the German Federal Foreign Office and Merck Ltd, India. The award holds a value of Rs 500,000 and can be extended to a person of any nationality.
 
Dr Kley said, “We are privileged to institute this award in the memory of the first Asian Nobel Laureate in order to promote cultural appreciation between the two countries. Our interest and contribution to cultural and liberal arts could be best illustrated through our sponsorship of a full-fledged professional orchestra, the Deutsche Philharmonie Merck.”

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