Wednesday, 22 February 2012

Carnival in Tilburg: peeing in a jar

Carnival: one of those yearly traditions nobody really knows where it originates from. In Holland, only the southern part of the country celebrates this tradition and still nobody really  knows why. What many people do know is how to celebrate it. Get dressed as pirate, monkey or whatsoever. On the date of writing, carnival is almost over and for me this is always a time of reflection. It was my first time in Tilburg and I began to wonder why everybody calls it “Kruikenstad” (In English: city of jars). You, at least if you are a citizen of Kruikenstad, are called a “Kruikezeiker”. In English this means somebody who pees in a jar. But now, after the festivities, it is time to change the alcohol and ignorance for some more knowledge about why we are called like that!


On the picture you can see a statue which is dedicated to the name “Kruikezeiker”. This statue is located in the Nieuwlandstraat in Tilburg. Maybe you have walked pass it already.

Traditionally, there were a lot of textile factories in the city. The process of creating  textile and especially wool involves cleaning it. The people of Tilburg used urine to wash the wool. They filled a big bath and filled it with one third of urine and the other two third with water. And because normal people can’t just pee whenever they want and definitely not a bath full, the “Kruikezeikers” saved their urine in jars. Can you image? As basement full with urine?  People could even sell their own piss!

Of course, after this process, the urine was washed out. However, there is one exception: the color blue. Urine was once used to dye clothing blue. So be warned, the next time you buy some nice blue jeans, because maybe your neighbor just helped you to turn it into that color.

No, don’t worry, the last time they used urine to dye clothing was on October 11th 1689.

2 comments:

  1. all these international exchange students at Tilburg University is also the perfect opportunity for Dutch students who are interested in studying at one of our partner universities to meet people from the country they are interested in, and ask those questions they can’t ask anyone else. incassobureau inschakelen (2x)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I got to see this statue during euroweek in tilburg in 2006. great host city

    ReplyDelete