Garden gnome

A garden gnome is a originally made ​​of marble, sandstone, clay, today but also of plastic figure of a dwarf, which is used for furnishing gardens and living room decoration. According to estimates today are about 25 million garden gnomes alone in European gardens.

Garden gnomes there from many different materials. While the original garden gnome was made ​​of clay and painted by hand and is made ​​particularly the plastics industry with cost-effective options for wider distribution.

Classic Garden Gnomes are from the mid-19th century often modeled gardeners or medieval miners. They have a leather apron and a shovel, pickaxe, or lantern wheelbarrow and usually wear a red stocking cap, reminiscent of the ancient Phrygian Cap and resembles the hat of Santa Claus.

History

Origins and early phase

Dwarfs are found in Germanic, Greek mythology and legends and also in a number of fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. Already in ancient times rulers surrounded for entertainment like with short stature or ill- educated people. To pass whims and boredom, they were often turned back to the royal courts during the Renaissance. Particularly appreciated was about the court dwarf of the Emperor Charles IV, Jacob Ries. The cartoons of Jacques Callot, the court painter to Cosimo II at the court of Florence, were known throughout Europe and found many imitators.

The oldest preserved baroque garden gnomes are the entworfenenen by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach 28 marble sculptures of the dwarf Elgar Tens of Mirabell Palace in Salzburg, which originated 1690-1695, and created around 1700 sandstone figures at Castle Greillenstein. Baroque garden gnomes in castle gardens are to be found in the sequence, especially in the baroque gardens of residences and pins of the present-day Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Northern Italy and Slovenia. Of the many thousands of individually designed dwarfs are receiving less than 300. In the Age of Enlightenment to 1800, the dwarves of the gardens of the regent fell into disrepute.

Literary occupied are garden gnomes in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's epic poem Hermann and Dorothea (1797 ). There is suing a pharmacist, owner of a garden with " beggars of Stone " and " colored dwarfs " that no one should watch this because now everything should be different " taste, as they are called it, [ ... ] easy and smooth ". Nevertheless, the garden gnomes spread in the 19th century ( small) middle front garden, first in England, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and later in other European and non- European countries.

Already the Meissen and 1744-1750 the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory had numerous porcelain figurines made ​​in individual manufacturing for the popular dwarf galleries in noble ornamental gardens. The terracotta factories in Thuringia also produced animal heads and smaller statues to decorate about hunting lodges. In 1800, the first dwarf series created ( Pixies ) in England.

In 1847 Garden gnomes in England are mentioned again. Sir Charles Isham had terracotta figures as an enrichment of his home garden Lamport Hall in Northamptonshire. One of the original 21 dwarves named Lampy is to see still there.

1872 were in Gräfenroda in Thuringia founded two companies, August Heissner and Philipp Griebel, the garden gnomes later manufactured in mass and serial production. 1898 were first offered at the Leipzig Fair Thuringian dwarfs. After putting in the following years more and more manufacturers had engaged in the production of garden gnomes, stopped the export sales of the allegedly typical German garden decoration in the First and Second World War. In contrast, the garden gnome was not appreciated everywhere in the Nazi era. After the proclamation of the German Wine Route in the Palatinate, the then NSDAP Gauleiter Josef Bürckel imposed a ban against allegedly disrupting interferences in the landscape along the road, which also included garden gnomes.

On the English Chelsea Flower Show are garden gnomes, or " forbidden garishly painted statues. However in 2013 it is " all give an exceptional year of the garden gnome. "

Rebirth and controversies

After 1990, the garden gnome experienced a "rebirth" by creating new, provocative models. Now, for example, dwarfs with knife in the back, as exhibitionists showing the " bird", with chainsaw, with a raised middle finger, as a politician ( Schröder, cabbage, Gysi, Blum, Lafontaine, etc.) were modeled.

The media interest, which also existed well outside of Germany, saw to it that the garden gnome was completely new lovers who could not do anything with the classic dwarf. The well-known from the media dwarf designer Andreas Klein has been working for over 20 years with the history of garden gnomes and designed for the maintenance of the garden gnome every year a number of modern garden gnomes.

This worship continues today, as the remaining " dwarf industry" in Germany it regularly takes up current issues of politics and current events and addresses of new dwarfs. This often from the point: " Humor is when many have to laugh about it."

Problematic production of the dwarves was plagiarism, which came mainly from Eastern Europe. There tasteful pattern proprietary models were copied with cheap materials ( plaster instead of clay and cast resin instead of PVC plastic ) and put on the market in a big way. Individual copyright processes were indeed only won, but could not prevent the production of copies as they were much cheaper in the sale by the material price by the canceled development costs and low wages in the countries. Here, however, is an " adjustment " determined, so that the structure will regulate itself in a few years.

In many dwarf lovers of classic garden gnomes gnomes newer design in unusual poses are frowned upon (for example, with his pants down ). Also, the taking of female dwarf characters in the range is criticized, although these were by no means rare even with baroque garden gnomes. The first figure of the new dwarf women - type was allegedly Countess Roda.

A modern adaptation of the garden gnome motif is found in the figure of the Smurfs.

Are garden gnomes (eg dwarfs " middle finger " or bare rump, so-called frustration Dwarves ) set up with the intention of disturbing the neighbors sustainable peace, shall constitute a violation of honor and the neighbor may require the removal of the dwarves.

Associations

In 1981, an International Association was founded to protect the garden gnomes, based in Basel, whose concern is the spread of " dwarf Customer" ( "Nano Logie " ) and the production historically " correct" garden gnome. She has defined what a " like " - so true - garden gnome is: He is a maximum of 69 inches tall, has a stocking cap, a beard and is male.

Well towards the end of the 1990s was the Front for the Liberation of Garden Gnomes ( French: Front de Liberation of Nain de Jardins and Italy MALAG ), whose followers the characters from front gardens "liberated" and often in forests, their " natural habitat " expose.

Importance

Garden gnomes were considered partly with ironic critical undertone, as the epitome of the petty bourgeoisie, as a sign of bad taste and good example of kitsch, with a low point of the prestige end of the 1960s. Even garden gnomes be understood as ironic portrayal of the German Michels. Due to more modern dwarves and a transformed attitude toward kitsch and camp, so by the critic Susan Sontag and the work of Jeff Koons, this picture has changed to some extent.