The John Rabe Communication Centre is an information centre and museum in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

, which was founded by

Thomas Rabe Thomas N. Rabe (born February 18, 1951, in Heidelberg) is a German professor for gynaecology and obstetrics at the University Hospital Heidelberg. He is author of several scientific publications and reference books. Biography Rabe earned his m ...

with the ambition of the documentation of the life of

John Rabe John Heinrich Detlef Rabe (23 November 1882 – 5 January 1950) was a de-nazified NSDAP member, diplomat and businessman best known for his efforts to stop war crimes during the Japanese Nanjing Massacre and protect Chinese civilians. Th ...

. With the help of the diaries of John Rabe it will set a base for the communication of international understanding, particularly between

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Background

The information centre and museum was founded in 2002 in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, Germany by

and his wife. In 1937 in

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

, John Rabe saved the lives of 250,000 Chinese people of the civilian population from an attack of the imperial Japanese army.

Ambition

The museum will document the events of Nanjing, especially the experiences of John Rabe. The institution serves various peace projects as a stage.

John Rabe Award

Since 2009 the John Rabe Communication Centre annually awards the Peace Prize of John Rabe (John Rabe Award) to people who have worked in a special way on their own history, for international understanding and peace in the relationship with China. The first winner was the Japanese actor

Teruyuki Kagawa is a Japanese actor, kabuki actor (as ), and boxing commentator. Unlike most other Kabuki actors in his family (such as his father Ichikawa En'ō II and his cousin Ichikawa Ennosuke IV) who play both male and female roles, he is a ''tachiyaku' ...

: "The actor will be honoured, for having demonstrated the courage and the civil courage, for playing the role of HIH-Prince Asaka as a Japanese actor in the 2009 film ''

''. This showed that the recognition of historical truth to the peoples of China and Japan is more important than ever." The John Rabe Award 2010 was awarded at 8 November 2010 in the Chinese Culture Centre Berlin to the former director of the

John Rabe House The John Rabe House (), located at Xiaofenqiao No. 1 (小粉桥1号) in Nanjing, China, was where John Rabe stayed during the Nanjing Massacre and protected more than 600 Chinese refugees in this house, and within its garden, from Japanese persec ...

in Nanjing, Tang Daoluan as well as the

Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service ''Gedenkdienst'' is a concept in Austria aimed at young people to face and take responsibility for the darkest chapters of the country's history while being financially supported by Austrian government. Founded in Austria in 1992 by Andreas M ...

-founder

Andreas Maislinger Andreas Maislinger (born 26 February 1955 in Sankt Georgen bei Salzburg, St. Georgen near Salzburg, Austria) is an Austrian political scientist and wiktionary:Founder, founder and former chairman of the Austrian Service Abroad. He also is the fou ...

. As in 2009 the Award was courtesy of the Austrian company

Swarovski Swarovski (, ) is an Austrian producer of glass based in Wattens, Tyrol. It was founded in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski. The company is split into three major industry areas: the Swarovski Crystal Business, which primarily produces crystal glas ...

. ;Recipients * 2009

* 2010 Tang Daoluan and

* 2013 Richard Trappl (University of Vienna) and Gerd Kaminski (Institute for China and Southeast Asia research)

References

{{reflist

External links

John Rabe-Kommunikationszentrum: Beschreibung von Thomas Rabe

16. März 2010. Buildings and structures in Heidelberg Museums in Baden-Württemberg Tourist attractions in Heidelberg Rabe, John