Minister of Culture Meets Founder of Papua Museum Germany for Cultural Diplomacy

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Indonesian Culture Minister Fadli Zon received a visit from Werner Weiglein, a German observer and lover of Indonesian culture, as a step to strengthen Indonesia's cultural diplomacy network at the global level.

The meeting at the Ministry of Culture office in Jakarta symbolizes that Indonesia's cultural network is not only built by the government, but also by Indonesia's friends abroad who consistently maintain and preserve the Indonesian narrative.

Minister Fadli Zon thanked Werner Weiglein for his commitment during the discussion. For decades, Werner has been a strong supporter of the diversity of Indonesian culture in Europe.

"He catalogued this collection and compiled it into a comprehensive narrative," said Minister Fadli in a press statement received on Wednesday, February 25, 2026, as quoted by Antara.

The Papua Museum, which is in Gelnhausen, Germany, was established and managed by Werner Weiglein. The museum is thought to be essential for sharing Indonesia's cultural legacy with the rest of the world because it has a remarkable collection of Papuan ethnography.

Since the 1970s, Werner Weiglein has collected various cultural objects. In the 1980s, he undertook numerous trips and expeditions to various regions in Indonesia, including Sulawesi and Papua.

Werner's affinity for Indonesia extends beyond culture. He is also recorded as one of the foreign climbers who has reached Carstensz Peak in the Jayawijaya Mountains most frequently, with a total of 36 summits.

This record illustrates a relationship that goes beyond academics and into Papuan landscape, it is also emotional and personal experiences. For him, Indonesia is not merely an object of research, but a space of lived experience.

The rich culture he came across and the details of his journey were then chronicled in his writings. "Expeditionen durch Indonesien," co-authored with Herwig Zahorka, describes these encounters. The book provides an in-depth account of Indonesia's social and cultural variety along with personal pictures.

Werner provides a thorough narrative along with the documentation. Readers from all over the world are invited by this book to view Indonesia not only as an exotic tourist destination, but also as a culture with amazing diversity and wealth, from a close and introspective viewpoint.

"We can do more than this, and all the photographs in this book are my own," Werner explained. ***