Germany – home of the gnome
For more than a century, the garden gnome has colonised Germany's gardens and windowsills. It's a symbol of German diligence and order, and a part of the Teutonic folk myth that inspired the musician Wagner and Albrecht Durer, the painter, but also part of a darker underworld.
Experts estimate that some 25 million ceramic gnomes can be found in German living rooms and flower beds. However, as in most other parts of the world, the common or garden gnome is despised by many as a kitsch desecration of the landscape. The gnome has also been subverted, or maybe perverted, one can find pornographic gnomes, one-eared Van Gogh gnomes and Scream gnomes inspired by the work of Edward Munch.
In law-abiding Germany, surprisingly, gnome vandalism is rampant and yet, simultaneously, law enforcers are regularly called on to take action against bare-bottomed or genitally exposed gnomes seen in front gardens. Gnome theft, too, is spreading. A Berlin woman known as the ‘Dwarf Mother’ recently had fifty of her gnomes stolen, although apparently she has several hundred more to console her. It's possible they were taken to France, where the Garden Gnome Liberation Front abducts supposedly enslaved gnomes and releases them back into their natural habitat.
But the garden gnome has some strong backers fighting on his behalf, led by Fritz Friedmann of the International Society for the Protection of Garden Gnomes. Friedmann has fought for the humane treatment of the garden gnome since 1980, demanding a ban on lawn mowers and crusading against urinating cats and dogs. He also opposes the exploitation of gnomes in condom advertisements, saying his mission is to restore the clean image of the gnomes, which is a monument to the frugal, clean-living, domestic virtues of the average German.
German gnome photograph by Dustpuppy, used under a creative commons attribution licence.
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