The History of Gingerbread Houses

While gingerbread itself dates back to Greece around 2400 BC, decorated gingerbread houses can trace their origins back to Germany in the early 1800s. Shortly after the Grimm brothers published their fairytale about Hansel and Gretel, German bakers began crafting small, decorated houses from soft, spiced, and slightly sweet gingerbread biscuits known as lebkuchen. The bakers were specifically inspired by a line from the story that reads: “When they came nearer they saw that the house was built of bread, and roofed with cakes, and the window was of transparent sugar.” (In later versions, the bread was changed to gingerbread.) Figure-shaped gingerbread is widely thought to have emerged from the court of Queen Elizabeth I, who had biscuits made in the likenesses of her high-profile guests. As time went on, gingerbread houses and figures became highly popular across Europe, where they were given as gifts and used as window decorations for religious holidays and other special occasions. Gingerbread eventually made its way to the United States. Soon, decorating gingerbread figures and making gingerbread houses became beloved traditions for many families. Notably, these activities also became popular at Christmas markets held all around the world and remain so today. There are even contests for the largest gingerbread house; the record is currently held by the Traditions Club in Texas; the members created a life-size gingerbread house in 2013 that measured 60 feet long, 42 feet wide, and 10 feet high! The record for the largest gingerbread village is held by a New York chef named Jon Lovitch. Yet for most people today, decorating gingerbread houses is simply a way of having fun and getting creative with family and friends, particularly during the Christmas season, and it is a tradition that many families repeat year after year.