Project description / Year 2029

Tolerance and friendship for children worldwide in the name of Lessing

The goal is to provide short, child-friendly cartoons with Lessing's Ring Parable in many languages. Thank you very much for your potential support!

“Nathan the Wise” by Lessing (1779) is one of the most influential works in German philosophy (theatre) regarding tolerance / freedom of religion. The main part of “Nathan” is the so-called Ring Parable, a story about the equality of three rings (as symbols for Judaism, Christianity, Islam) with a focus on moral values, rather than the truth of a single religion. You will find more information in draft script.


The Lessing Year 2029

2029 will be a special year.

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing celebrates his 300th birthday.

And his “Nathan the Wise” will be 250 years old:


(First edition of “Nathan the Wise”, 1779, private collection Robert Matthees / Hamburg)

I was deeply impressed by “Nathan” at the time.
I think I was 16 or 17 years old when I got to read it.

And that's how many people feel! They are already nearly adults when they are presented with Nathan (if ever).

I want to change that. My daughter, for example, is just 9 years old and religions are often a big topic in her 4th grade class. Because here in Hamburg, people of all faiths and world views come together, much more mixed and colourful than Lessing could have dreamed of for Jerusalem in his “Nathan”.

The challenges remain the same. She told me how two classmates argued for during the school break in the 3rd grade: Aliya (name changed) said that Mohammed was the first human. Sofia (name changed), on the other hand, knew for sure that the first human was Jesus. My daughter joined in with thoughts about Lucy and evolution. What a wonderful, childhood confusion! And yet such strong opinions with plenty of potential for conflict.


What am I planning?

On nathan.world you will find small cartoons (7-8 minutes) with a child-friendly version of Lessing's Ring Parable in many languages. For the launch, I am aiming for versions in at least 20 languages. The primary target audience is 8-10 years old.

At this age, moral concepts can already be articulated well and are still open to new ideas (cf. e.g. Damon & Hart, 1982; Nunner-Winkler, 1996).

To consolidate and anchor the topic, the children are invited at the end of the cartoon to draw their idea of such a ring, a ring that perhaps sits invisibly on their fingers and has the mysterious power to do good in the world through them. They can share these children's pictures with the whole world on nathan.world.


(drawn & crafted by Arin, Hamburg, 9 years old)


What is the current state?

You can find the current draft text / script here.

  • The internet domain nathan.world has been purchased (and nathan-the-wise.com registered)
  • A first version of the text / script has been tested with some children in Germany, feedback has been incorporated
  • For the tests, only the text was read out and the children were shown an AI-generated Nathan cartoon character (particularly interesting as feedback are the children's reactions and questions, difficult words that may need further explanation, and of course the painted pictures)
  • Further tests are currently being planned in other countries to explore the interculturality of the project


(Draft Nathan cartoon character)


Next Steps

  • Finalise illustrator
  • Further optimisation of the text towards a final version
  • Create translations
  • Evaluate colouring templates if necessary
  • Very nice to have: Identify well-known children's book authors in different countries who are willing to check translations of the short text and fine-tune it or to get voice recordings (useful for later press relations)
  • Acquire voice talents in the target languages
  • Video production
  • Create additional material / background information for teachers
  • Provide further information for adults, e.g. references to full Nathan translations in the local language
  • Digitisation of a first edition of “Nathan the Wise” (1779)
  • Website design and development (nathan.world in the the style and feeling of a mobile app)
  • Outreach / establishing contacts with multipliers, especially in the education sector
  • Compose press releases
  • Go live and further spread the project on 1 January 2029 (big Lessing year!)
  • Ideally, the first drawings from different countries will already be available for the launch so that an already slightly filled world map can be displayed as a gallery

Target languages for the launch

  1. (High) Arabic (native speaker available)
  2. Bulgarian (native speaker available)
  3. Chinese (native speaker available)
  4. Czech (native speaker is available)
  5. Danish (native speaker available)
  6. Dutch (native speaker is available)
  7. English (native speaker is available)
  8. Filipino
  9. Finnish
  10. Flemish (native speaker available)
  11. French (native speaker is available)
  12. German (native speaker is available)
  13. Greek (mother tongue is available)
  14. Hebrew (mother tongue is available)
  15. Italian (native speaker is available)
  16. Japanese (native speaker is available)
  17. Kurmanci / Kurdish (native speaker is available)
  18. Norwegian
  19. Persian (native speaker available)
  20. Polish (native speaker available)
  21. Portuguese (native speaker available)
  22. Romanian (native speaker is available)
  23. Russian (native speaker is available)
  24. Swedish (native speaker is available)
  25. Serbian (native speaker is available)
  26. Spanish (native speaker is available)
  27. Turkish (native speaker is available)
  28. Ukrainian (native speaker is available)

Localised versions / requirements

  1. The minimum requirement for a language version is the online presentation of the translated text with illustrations
  2. The aim is to present it as an animated video with recorded voice plus an audio version
  3. The next step could be a more complete, child-friendly version of “Nathan the Wise” that contains more than just the story's centrepiece (Ring Parable)

My experience in this area (among others)

  • Studied philosophy in Mainz, various further trainings in communication (e.g. with Richard Bandler in London) and management (e.g. Executive Leadership at Saïd Business School / Oxford University)
  • Leadership positions in ecommerce, especially regarding the design and management of digital products
  • At the age of 18, I wrote and digitally published a comprehensive biography of the philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder (2003), for which I still receive many emails every year from students who give lectures about him
  • In 2023, I created a website about the Nobel Peace Prize winner and Hamburg anti-fascist Carl von Ossietzky
  • Many lectures and keynotes

Looking for

  • Further native speakers, also for African languages
  • Multipliers, especially in the education sector / internationally
  • Teachers at primary schools who help with testing
  • Your special skill? PR? Social?
  • Do you want to help?

Please get in touch
Robert Matthees <roma@nathan.world>

Many thanks for your commitment!