My roots

Being born to a German father and a Spanish mother, I grew up learning science bilingually, in German and Catalan. This led to some humorous confusion. For example, the German word “All”, which means “universe”, is identical to the Catalan word for “garlic”. Before diving into my passion for science, I wanted to give a brief overview of my origins, which I feel deeply connected to. Although both German and Catalan cultures are fascinating and diverse, Catalan culture is perhaps less familiar to the general public. Thus, it is something I would like to introduce here.

The picture above shows an abandoned farmhouse on the edge of a cliff in the little village of Siurana at the edge of the Muntanyes de Prades (the "mountains of the meadows") in Catalonia. This is where my grandparents moved to after spending their childhood farming during harsh winters in the heart of the Pyrenees (you can find pictures of these grand, sculpted mountains on my Adventures page), and it is where I spent my childhood summers and winters. We have many weird traditions in Catalonia, most of which have religious roots and are over 400 years old. Here are just a few:

The present Pooping Christmas log

Every year, on December 8, we start feeding the tió (a log covered by a blanket) with oatmeal cookies and fruits. If fed every day, the tió will poop presents on Christmas eve while chanting children hit it with wet sticks. The tió to me is what Santa is for American children, only with a healthier diet and more curious means of delivering the presents.

when you gotta go,
you gotta go…

Of course, no Catalan nativity scene is complete without the traditional figure of - no, not baby Jesus - a guy squatting with his pants down: el caganer (“the pooper”). Some other interesting traditions around the winter holidays include eating 12 grapes each second during the last 12 seconds of the year for good luck - If you survive that without choking, how bad can the new year be? - and burning red underwear (worn on the night before) on the 1st of January.

The dancing egg

Every year during the Feast of Corpus Cristi, I go to Sitges or Tarragona with my family to look at the l’ou com balla (“the dancing egg”). It’s an empty egg sealed with wax “dancing” on a fountain. Although I still do not know why this is done, apparently this tradition dates back several hundreds of years. There is evidence that suggests acolytes would place an egg on the fountain of the Barcelona Cathedral's cloister during the 15th century.

The human tower

In 2010, UNESCO declared the castells, human towers built traditionally at the La Mercè festival in September, to be amongst the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Although the castell is a marvelous display of human physical ability and very impressive to witness, I probably would not want my four-year-old child at the top - or to stand too close... Fun fact: The inclusion of women in the formerly male-only discipline of castells in the 1980s allowed castells to be built lighter and stronger, enabling the construction of previously undreamed-of 9 and 10-story castells.

Funny traditions often come paired with a rich history

Here’s a quick summary:
The Catalan Counties were established in 988. Since then, Catalonia has gone through medieval feudalization (1000s), Napoleonic wars (1800s), industrialization (ca. 1830-1860), republic nationalism (ca. 1870-1920), the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera (1923-1930), civil war (1936–1939), the dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939-1975) and finally the transition to a democratic Spanish Constitution in 1978. Napoleon created the Catalan government during the French dominion (which eventually developed into the Peninsular War). During its history, Catalonia has gained and lost Statue of Autonomy several times.

Lastly, a little politics

You might have heard about the Catalan independence movement and the recent controversial independence referendum (1st of October 2017), which ended in the dismissal of the Catalan Executive Council, the dissolution of the Catalan Parliament, and the former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont fleeing to Belgium. I would like to shed light on the historical origin of this demand as it is often omitted by popular media.
During the industrialization, Catalonia became the industrial center of Spain, holding the first factories with steam engines. To this day, Catalonia remains one of the most industrialized and productive areas of Spain. After the defeat of the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War, the dictator Francisco Franco came to power. His first ten-year rule in Catalonia was particularly violent and repressive in a political, economic, social, as well as cultural sense. Any kind of public activity associated with Catalan nationalism, even the publication of books on related subjects or simply discussing them in public, was illegal. Folkloric and religious celebrations in Catalonia, as well as the use of the Catalan language in the media, were forbidden. Luckily, Catalan tradition survived, and Catalonia recovered political and cultural autonomy in 1977. Catalonia adopted a new Statute of Autonomy in 1979. However, in 2010, the Constitutional Court of Spain declared some of the articles that founded the autonomous Catalan system of Justice, the status of the Catalan language, and the symbolic declaration of Catalonia as a nation invalid. Fearing the recurrence of repression of Catalonia and Catalan culture as experienced under Franco, large sectors of Catalan society severely contested this decision, which increased the demands for independence.