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    While gingerbread houses are now a popular Christmas tradition, their origins may lie in the grim folktale of Hansel and Gretel. Gingerbread houses date back to the 1600s in Germany, centuries before the Brothers Grimm published their version of Hansel and Gretel in the early 19th century. The gruesome fairy tale involves children almost being cooked and eaten by a witch in a gingerbread house. Early German settlers then brought the tradition of decorating gingerbread houses to America. Today, gingerbread house building competitions are held nationally as an annual holiday event.

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    While gingerbread houses are now a popular Christmas tradition, their origins may lie in the grim folktale of Hansel and Gretel. Gingerbread houses date back to the 1600s in Germany, centuries before the Brothers Grimm published their version of Hansel and Gretel in the early 19th century. The gruesome fairy tale involves children almost being cooked and eaten by a witch in a gingerbread house. Early German settlers then brought the tradition of decorating gingerbread houses to America. Today, gingerbread house building competitions are held nationally as an annual holiday event.

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    While gingerbread houses are now a popular Christmas tradition, their origins may lie in the grim folktale of Hansel and Gretel. Gingerbread houses date back to the 1600s in Germany, centuries before the Brothers Grimm published their version of Hansel and Gretel in the early 19th century. The gruesome fairy tale involves children almost being cooked and eaten by a witch in a gingerbread house. Early German settlers then brought the tradition of decorating gingerbread houses to America. Today, gingerbread house building competitions are held nationally as an annual holiday event.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    272 views3 pages

    Elem-Gingerbread-Houses-38857-Article Only

    Uploaded by

    api-353646021
    While gingerbread houses are now a popular Christmas tradition, their origins may lie in the grim folktale of Hansel and Gretel. Gingerbread houses date back to the 1600s in Germany, centuries before the Brothers Grimm published their version of Hansel and Gretel in the early 19th century. The gruesome fairy tale involves children almost being cooked and eaten by a witch in a gingerbread house. Early German settlers then brought the tradition of decorating gingerbread houses to America. Today, gingerbread house building competitions are held nationally as an annual holiday event.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as pdf or txt
    of 3

    The un-Christmassy origin of

    gingerbread houses
    By Kat Eschner, Smithsonian.com, adapted by Newsela staff on 12.19.17
    Word Count 420
    Level MAX

    Image 1: The tradition of decorating gingerbread dates back to the Middle Ages. Photo from: Carrie Stephens via Flickr.

    Like most Christmas traditions, gingerbread houses are big business. Wilton, a popular
    confectionery-making company, reports that it created over 2 million gingerbread house kits in
    2011. Some people are more inclined to DIY; for them, domestic gurus like Martha Stewart offer
    recipes and plans for making your own sugary abode. But in spite of gingerbread house-
    decorating’s cozy holiday connotations, the roots of this tradition may lie in the folktale "Hansel
    and Gretel."

    Now, gingerbread houses didn’t start with the Brothers Grimm. They date back to the 1600s. This
    was a few centuries after the emergence of gingerbread itself, writes food historian Tori Avey.
    The tale of Hansel and Gretel may be even older than that, some historians say. It may date to a
    14th century famine. During that period, parents turned children out to fend for themselves.

    This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 1


    Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm composed and published a version of the tale in the early 19th
    century. By this time, gingerbread houses were a long-standing tradition. Somewhere along the
    way, gingerbread — and gingerbread houses — had become associated with Christmas. This
    was possibly due to historical connections between gingerbread and religious ceremonies.

    The Grimms’ widely read stories helped to popularize gingerbread houses. This left many with the
    belief that gingerbread houses started with the Grimms’ version of the tale.

    The gruesome fairy tale involves two children almost getting cooked and eaten by a witch who
    lives in a gingerbread house. Just in time, they turn the tables — and cook her. Given its
    association with this dark story, it might seem surprising that the gingerbread house is still
    connected to Christmas. But today’s family-friendly holiday has numerous roots in the grimmer
    festivities of earlier times.

    “Early German settlers brought this lebkuchenhaeusle — gingerbread house — tradition to the
    Americas,” writes Barbara Rolek for The Spruce. Today, gingerbread house-building
    competitions are an annual holiday tradition. They take place both nationally and in different parts
    of the country. Landmarks like the Washington Monument have been recreated using the spicy
    dough.

    This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 2


    The gingerbread-house-building contests in the United States today do bear some resemblance
    to medieval “gingerbread fairs.” These were hosted by some cities in England and France during
    the Middle Ages and later, writes Amanda Fiegl for Smithsonian.com. The origin of these fairs
    was simply that gingerbread was a tasty and ubiquitous medieval dessert. However, they did offer
    an opportunity to get together and enjoy a delicious treat. What could be more Christmassy than
    that?

    This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 3

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