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From where spawned garden gnomes?
Question
#107189. Asked by star_gazer. (Jul 18 09 7:34 PM)
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BRY2K
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Most experts agree that the ancestors of the modern day garden gnome emerged at the end of the 19th century at one of the three major European centers for the terracotta industry, which in addition to Thuringia, also included the Czech town of Usti nad Labem and present-day Drawno, Poland.
Until now, the oldest document pointing to the birthplace of the garden gnome was an 1893 article from the Illustrirte Welt, which seemed to hint that gnome culture had its roots in Thuringia.
The recently discovered ad predates the article, suggesting that gnomes actually originated further eastward.
 http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,1953927,00.html
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star_gazer
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The first garden gnomes were introduced to the United Kingdom in 1847 by Sir Charles Isham, when he brought 21 terracotta figures back from a trip to Germany and placed them around the gardens of his home, Lamport Hall in Northamptonshire. Only one of the original batch of gnomes survives: Lampy as he is known, is on display at Lamport Hall, and is insured for one million pounds.
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_gnome
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zbeckabee
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The first garden gnomes were made in Gräfenroda, a town known for its ceramics in Thuringia, Germany in the mid-1800s. Philip Griebel made terracotta animals as decorations, and produced gnomes based on local myths as a way for people to enjoy the stories of the gnomes' willingness to help in the garden at night. The garden gnome quickly spread across Germany and into France and England, and wherever gardening was a serious hobby.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnome#Garden_gnomes
The birthplace of the garden gnome has been identified as a small German town named Graefenroda. In the late 19th century, craftsmen in Graefenroda created small clay figurines representing animals and characters from folklore. Two men are recognized as producing the first garden gnome figurines in Graefenroda around 1872: Philipp Griebel and August Heissner. Their early garden gnomes were referred to as "der Gartenzwerg" and were soon appearing in gardens throughout Europe. The popularity of these German garden gnomes continued for several decades.
http://www.ehow.com/about_5106065_history-garden-gnomes.html
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Baloo55th
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Why are female gnomes so rare? There's one in the jungle at Chez Baloo, but I've only ever seen one other.
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Baloo55th
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Mine keeps fairly out of sight, but is beardless.
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