Katalonien und Deutschland: ein Überblick über die kulturgeschichtlichen Wechselbeziehungen

Abstract

In the cultural relationships between Germany and Spain, the contribution of the Catalan countries is usually covered for by the culture of the Castilian Spanish language which has long been predominant. And yet over the course of five hundred years there has been a partly very active exchange between the old Catalan cultural area and the German-speaking countries in Central Europe. The works of Ramon Llull, Arnau de Vilanova, Joan Lluís Vives, Anselm Turmeda and Ramon Sibiuda have been widely circulated here. The very useful Vocabulary for learning Catalan German and the German Catalan (1502) is a valuable testimony to the first linguistic relations. From the first years of the 19th century, scientific work on Catalan subjects – history, language and literature, cultural anthropology – took a considerable turn. Lullian studies have been the subject of special dedication and continue to be so to this day. It was not until the end of the last century that interest in modern Catalan literature grew (translations by Jacint Verdaguer or Víctor Balaguer). In German Romantic literature, Montserrat plays a surprising role. From the Renaissance onwards, German literature and music (Richard Wagner) garner a great deal of attraction. Since the last years of the twentieth century, modern Catalan literature has increasingly been considered. The Catalan Weeks in Berlin and Karlsruhe have, in recent years, managed to draw public attention to Catalan culture.