My 150-year-old Gingerbread House!

Why do people make gingerbread houses at Christmas?
Hi I am Ann Reardon, How to Cook That is my youtube channel it is filled with crazy sweet creations and food science videos made just for you. In this episode I am making a gingerbread house from scratch the design is inspired by a picture in a 150 year old cookbook. And exploring the true origin of gingerbread houses. The history books are not as clear as i'd expected. Join me for creative cakes, chocolate & desserts, new video every Friday.

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[HowToCookThat]

Below is some excellent research done for us by Claudia; a food historian, specialized in nineteenth century Germany, at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
Thank you Claudia.


Parameters:

Joe Perry has produced an excellent study of the invention of Christmas in Germany which shows thatmany practices, decorations and foods we identify as Christmassy in the twentieth century are far younger than we might think.[1] Hobsbawm and Ranger call the period c.1870-1920 the era of the Invention of Tradition—a very apt name which describes an era of increased nationalization in Europe’s empires, where older customs were rebranded and solidified, or made up from scratch.[2] That includes national cuisines and festivities, which as Lesnizcak shows and I confirm in my own work, did not exist in Germany until around 1900.[3]

So—broadly, the scholarship agrees that any local customs that predated the 1870s, e.g. in the Medieval period, usually grew out of available foodstuffs and were more likely aimed at survival among the peasantry, while monasteries formed very privileged food-stuff exchange networks in fruits, sweets and meats along with courts, and spent a lot of time hoarding, preserving, and consuming goods very creatively to bypass the many recognized fasting days of the calendar year.

Hypothesising:

I would not expect the appearance of “Knusperhäuschen” (literally translated as “Crunchy snack houses”) or “Lebkuchenhäuschen” (lit.: “Bread of Life houses”) or their synonyms “Pfefferkuchenhaus” (Pepper-cake house) and “Honigkuchenhaus” (Honey-cake house) before c.1880. Because central Europe is so regionally varied and split into various states with slightly different regional dialects, there are a range of terms here!

Then there is the economics of it and the social dimension. Sugar prices drop throughout the eighteenth century, so, sugar prices would not have been the main restriction from c.1800 onwards. Spices were very expensive until the twentieth century, but in high usage among middle-class houses for food preservation before refrigeration. Spice usage did not drop in Germany until, again, around 1900. In terms of construction, the most complex grandes pièces come about after Antonine Carême c.1800 and are not popularized in central Europe until c.1850 through authors like Johann Rottenhöfer, the Master Chef to the King of Bavaria. Then, there is the audience of the houses: Germany has local elites all over their small towns which are often quite literate and make up about one third of the population, but, they usually do not have the spare time to construct houses until after 1860, when the general industry changes to such an extent, as to introduce female domesticity larger scale. Among urban elites thereafter, some families (c.5%-20%) would have had the means, knowledge, and access to construct houses.

Alright—Sources!

Testing the Hypothesis:

“Honigkuchen” seems to be a literal translation of Old Testament “honey cakes” which women baked as part of worship and persists in that meaning until the mid-nineteenth century.[4] “Lebkuchen” (lit.Bread of Life) as a baked good is a medieval good and matches the Hobsbawm and Ranger medieval “custom” part of the gingerbread story, rather than the newer invented “tradition” of the modern period; Lebkuchen dates back at the very least to the 1520s, and likely, goes back even further.[5] Central Europeans used “Pfefferkuchen” for medicinal purposes in the 1600s, [6] and commonly made this dough to produce a range of dolls, shapes and smaller cookies in molds, sometimes, seemingly potentially for sacred celebratory purposes, because their molds contained carvings, which resemble Christian Coptic Orthodox contemporary sacred bread molds, and medieval host molds, which often contained a biblical reference to bread.[7] If you have ever seen a “Pfefferkuchenherz” or Peppercakeheart on a German fair today, you can see a very late and heavily adapted modern survivor of this practice.


Writers used the terms “Pfefferkuchen” and “Lebkuchen” interchangeably as a version of “pain d’epices” (spiced bread) by the 1700.[8] Because spices were often the whole point of an early modern meal, and other foodstuffs used as a vehicle to transport this medicinal good into the body, this is highly intuitive and matches findings elsewhere. The earliest use of the term “Pfefferkuchenhaus” (Peppercake + house) appears in a romantic poem from 1834, and bears no relation to the Grimms or something edible, but instead appears in a list with princes, dragons and fairies.[9] Central Europe went through a climatic crisis and severe period of structural poverty in this period, so dreams of plenty would be common and often made the cut in literature of the period.


The first in-depth discussion of the “Bread of Life House” or “Lebkuchenhaus” which synthesizes its fragmentary history appears in a book by Rochholz published c.1872 now held at Harvard.[10] The author of the book places the invention of Lebkuchen to the thirteenth century and tells the story of various medieval miracles achieved with the “Bread of Life”, which beautifully combines medieval sacral healing beliefs with the medicinal holism of Hippocrates and Galen which guided European medicine for millennia. This is precisely the kind of invention of tradition which Hobsbawm and Ranger discuss: you take a range of fragments, and fuse them into an invented tradition. Fascinatingly, Rochholz does not discuss Christmas at all. Instead, he discusses how difficult gingerbreadhouses are to make, which makes families lean on specialized bakers to produce them.


Simultaneously, the earliest uses of the term “Knusperhäuschen” appears in a critic’s discussion of the Grimm fairytale in 1864, [11] and seems to have been solidified within the tale in an operatic adaptation of Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck.[12] The opera was first performed in on December 23rd of 1893, leading to an association to Christmas thereafter. The Grimm’s version of the tale held no association to Christmas.[13]


By the 1880s, urban Christmas expositions display a range of foodstuffs now associated more strongly to Christmas: sweets, fruit-breads, chocolate, baked goods, and Nuremberg Lebkuchen.[14] By 1902, the association stuck, and “Lebkuchen” appear as a “typical” Christmas item in advertisements.


The solidification of the “house” structure does not appear to stick in Germany until after the 1950s. Central Europe saw a lot of war between 1914 and 1945, and depression between the two wars. It is possible that the consumption of German media in North America among expats, migrants, and others Americans actually combined the three elements—house structure, gingerbread dough, and Christmas festivity—into one by the 1890s.[15] Much like Octoberfest, which was not popular beyond Bavaria and had not quite taken on its contemporary format, until after 1945 and US occupation of the German south. Historian David Blackbourn points out that central Europeans were very chameleonic, and quickly adapted into societies worldwide after migrating there.[16]

Conclusion:

My initial hypothesis of the 1880s was right and wrong in a very revealing manner. I had underestimated the importance of migration—three million central Europeans migrated to the Americas from the 1850s onwards and enjoyed somewhat more constancy there than their counterparts did in Europe. Central Europeans did invent the tradition of gingerbread with Christmas by 1900, matching broad patterns which historians have identified so far. But the house structure seems to have been a later, if not US-based phenomenon, then a post-war one. So, even though central Europe may have produced all the pieces, they may have been joined trans-Atlantically by the 1890s and come to form part of a more American-dominated marketing machinery in the Age of Americanization.[17]

I hope that is not too much of a let-down!

Congratulations on everything you have achieved—your channel is exceptional and a range of my students love it as well.

All the best,
Claudia

[xyungeloest]

So as a German: Firstly Gingerbread is called Lebkuchen or Pfefferkuchen here, wich means „pepper cake“, so it has always been called cake (just like you call it bread“
Stories of buildings made of caked (or pepper cake) can be found around the 1500s. Some traditions have your godparents gift you a cake house and even the mythical world „Schlaraffenland“ is made of cake houses (there is a painting from the 1500s showing a early version of gingerbread houses). But Hansel and Gretel really did popularise it, not by the written story alone, but by the pictures it inspired (since most people couldn’t read back than anyways)

Hope this helps somewhat

[WhyForLewis]

That is an AMAZING gingerbread house, I could stare at it all day. 🤩I was searching online and I found a site, it says that in Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure (1896), Jude who had grown up in his aunt’s baking business, takes to building gingerbread houses – called Christminster cakes – complete with ‘traceried windows, and cloisters." It also says Gingerbread houses were believed to have started in Germany around the 16th and 18th century. I also read a news article that in the centuries following Queen Elizabeth the first started making gingerbread figures for her guests, shaped gingerbread became popular across Europe, with figures and models used as window decorations, or given as gifts on religious holidays or birthdays. So that probably is the reason it is now something done at Christmas. 🎅

[sunnynight]

As others mentioned, there was a shoemaker Hans Sachs from Nuremberg who also wrote poems and stories. In one of his poems from 1530, he wrote about the 'Land of Cockaigne'/ the 'Land of milk and honey'

There, he writes:
"That is three miles beyond Christmas" (the land of milk and honey lies there)
[...]
"There he has food and drink at hand;
the houses are covered with flatbreads,
with gingerbread doors and window shutters."

In 1567 Pieter Bruegels painted the land of milk and honey and there seems to be a house in the background that is made out of gingerbread and decorated with sweets on the roof.

Apparently gingerbread was made around Christmas because of the things you said about the monks, because the spices were so heavy and more suited for winter and because they were so expensive it was something really special, so very well suited for Christmas time :)

I hope that might help😊

[Susan-efqy]

Hi Ann, German here. I did some research and what i found was that the origin of gingerbread houses isn't really known for sure. Some think they have their origins in the story of "Hänsel an Gretel", just like you said. But there are records of paintings and descriptions of houses that are (at least partially) made out of gingerbread going back to the medieval times. For example the Painting "Schlaraffenland" (the "Schlaraffenland" is a utopian fantasy land with limitless food) from Pieter Bruegels was painted in 1567 is quite popular here. And even prior to that in 1530 Hans Sachs wrote about the "Schlaraffenland" and mentioned houses that are covered with flatbread and gingerbread.

love your videos! And the house you made is beautiful. <3

[carissamessina]

Ann, for the love of God, read stories and release them for us to listen to! Holy crap your story telling is amazing! I’m trying to get ready for work listening to you tell this story. Your voice is calming as well, Christmas morning! This is so cool! Entertaining and educational!

[lozenger]

Ann, do you ever watch Tasting History with Max Miller? I feel like you two would make a fabulous collaboration. I loved this video. Your gingerbread creations are always magnificent and thank you so much for explaining how your house wasn't quite perfect. That honesty makes you my favourite.

[mysterylovescompany]

That's the most beautiful gingerbread house I've ever seen. And that base was very ambitious.

[ThePhantomFanatic]

I know it’s Christmas when Ann is making a gingerbread house and every year more extravagant than the last ❤

[marilena]

This is an amazing gingerbread house. You have outdone yourself! Though I am in Germany, I have no knowledge of when it started, but I recommend you contact the creator of the channel tasting history. Max Miller, here on youtube. as the name says he’s basically all about finding the origin of old recipes and re-creating, the oldest one, the historical one. And he already has a video on gingerbread just not houses yet. Frankly, since you are two of my most favourite content creators, I would be absolutely psyched if you could even do a collaboration on this but I’m sure he’ll be happy to help even if it’s just with information.

[Galacta]

I love these historical baking videos so much, they’re like a history lesson, science experiment and baking tutorial all in one <3

[lawdeedaw]

Wow! Spectactular (of course)! But here's what I love most about it. Sometimes, I see people make things online (never on 5-Minute Crafts, of course) and I think, "Hmmm. I could probably do that." Then I feel lazy for never getting around to it. Here, I got to watch the making of a masterpiece, and the knowledge that there is NO WAY I could do anything even approximating it allowed me to enjoy the watching free of ambition!

[byronchandler]

Ann, your gingerbread house is just absolutely beautiful, and so is your curly hair. I find it strange Christmas is celebrated in summer in Australia.

[nilebluespoprocks]

It's never the Christmas season without the annual gingerbread house. Happiest of Christmases to the Reardon fam and everyone in the world 🌲❄️☃️

[charlotteskudder]

WOW that has to be the best gingerbread house ever made. Absolutely AMAZING, Ann. It would be interesting to know how long that took you. Thank you for all the hard work you put in to your videos, Merry Christmas

[curioushoodie]

This is like ASMR but watching video of baking process along with the origin stories. Relaxing and informative! I LOVE IT! Please do keep it up, Ann!!

Edit to add: Using legos to make a staircase mould is genius!! And the vines are incredible! really brings it to life! I love that you respect the origin to ask for German audience’s research and didn’t just stop at English texts. Everything you do makes my heart sing ❤

[sherbetfarts]

Omg watching you put this gingerbread house together was magic, it turned out so beautifully!

[DragTeaServed]

Now all I want is gingerbread! If only I had Ann's skill and patience 😆 Thanks Ann for another informative video!

[nadiaarchuleta]

Wow, what a gorgeous confection! I once made a gingerbread house following a recipe in a German cookbook. That gingerbread was about an inch thick -- MUCH thicker than any other recipe I've seen. The resulting house was also a simple, four-walled structure. Thank you so much for sharing your artistic work!

[embee]

I love the gingerbread episodes, Ann. ❤ Beautiful work as always!

I'm looking forward to seeing what sort of sleuthing outcomes show up!