1) Rizal spent 4 months in Berlin as an assistant ophthalmologist, attending lectures at the University of Berlin at night to further his studies of sciences and languages. 2) While in Berlin, Rizal published his novel Noli Me Tangere in 1887 with the help of his funds from his previous work as an assistant ophthalmologist in Paris. 3) Rizal struggled financially in Berlin, often eating only one meal a day, pawning his diamond ring, and washing his own threadbare clothes. This was Rizal's darkest winter.