Gingerbread houses are part of German folklore. Seasonal food traditions from Germany include gingerbread or Lebkuchen. Thanks to the dedicated work of the scholars Grimm, the beloved gingerbread house becomes popular in the 19th century.
By c. 2700 BCE, ginger (Zingiber officinale) root is cultivated in India and China. Confucius (551 - 479 BCE) is said to eat ginger daily. From India, traders introduce the spice c. 1st century BCE to the Middle East and Mediterranean.
It's a key item of the spice trade, along with cinnamon, cardamon, peppers, nutmeg and cloves. A thousand years later, the spicy root arrives in Europe. Possible sources include returning Crusaders or a traveling French monk.
One tale tells of a chest of ginger root carried by a fourth Wise Man or Magus as a gift for the Christ child. He never makes it to the main event. Taken ill, he's cared for by a rabbi, to whom he gives the ginger.
According to legend, students of the rabbi are already making houses of bread, to eat with hope of a new Messiah. The Magus suggests adding ginger to give the bread zest. Like cinnamon, ginger is a natural preservative of food.
According to the Talmud moist ginger is among the few curative foods not having negative side effects on the body. It's considered an effective treatment for ailments including nausea, migraines and rheumatism.
Gingerbread ingredients include ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and molasses. A tasty treat, gingerbread is popular in the Middle Ages due to increased commerce with Eastern nations. Gingerbread bakers are recorded in Ulm by 1296, and by 1395 in Nuremberg.
During Munich Oktoberfest, it' traditional to buy large heart-shaped gingerbread cookies, often with a ribbon, for a sweetheart. The cookies are decorated with romantic expressions like "Ich liebe dich" (I love you).
By the 1600s, Nuremburg is known as the gingerbread capital of the world. Gingerbread makers belong to specific guilds. Making and molding of gingerbread is an art form.
The German word Lebkuchen comes from earlier Laibkuchen or loaf cake. Another term for gingerbread is Pfefferkuchen literally "pepper cake". Gingerbread is a favored delicacy at medieval European festivals and fairs, with some specifically dedicated to gingerbread.
In Nordic and Baltic countries, the most popular form of ginger confection is the pepperkaker (Norwegian), pepparkakor (Swedish). They are brittle biscuits like ginger snaps, associated with the extended Christmas period.
In Norway and Sweden, pepparkakor are also glammed up and used as festive window decorations. Traditionally they use baker's ammonia as a leavening agent.
In the 1800s, Wilhelm and Jakob Grimm collect fairy tales or folk tales throughout the land and put them into anthologies. The house of the wicked witch in the favorite story of Hansel und Gretel tweaks the imaginations of bakers.
Germany has a building boom of gingerbread houses, and it never stops. Included in 1812 among the stories collected by the Grimms, the story of Hansel & Gretel comes from the Baltic region c. 1315.
The Grimm Brothers are largely responsible for the preservation of German folklore and mythology. Why are gingerbread houses connected with Christmas? Largely because the compilation including Hansel und Gretel is released Dec 20, just in time for Christmas.
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