Barcelona, Einstein City
Barcelona has received the Einstein City distinction, given by the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRI) to the municipalities which welcomed the scientist in 1923, to commemorate Albert Einstein’s visit to our city to promote a modern scientific community in Catalonia.
Einstein arrived in Barcelona on 22 February 1923, to give various lectures on the theory of relativity. He spent eight days in Catalonia and also visited Poblet, L’Espluga de Francolí, Terrassa and Sant Cugat del Vallès.
To mark the occasion, the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRI) have created the Einstein in Catalonia website, which allows users to relive Einstein’s time here day by day: what he said, what he did and the public attention it generated. The website details the itinerary of the Nobel laureate through an interactive map giving access to images such as the one on the front page, with Albert Einstein saying farewell at the Estació de França (author unknown, 1923, AFB). Users can also find news items from newspapers at the time, as well as other contemporary documents relating to historical research into the event.
Adopting an informative tone, the website brings Einstein and his scientific knowledge closer to a younger public and describes the context for the German scientist’s visit to Catalonia. The site also offers an agenda of activities relating to the centenary of the event, to be organised all around Catalonia over the course of the year.
Together with AstroBarcelona, and in collaboration with DivulCat, the FCRI are organising a round table entitled “Einstein in Catalonia, a singular event” on 30 March. The session will see a group of experts respond to various questions to satisfy the curiosity of those attending.
