Gingerbread house

Records of honey cakes can be traced to ancient Rome. According to French legend, gingerbread was brought to Europe in 992 by the Armenian monk, later saint, Gregory of Nicopolis (Gregory Makar). He lived for seven years in Bondaroy, France, near the town of Pithiviers, where he taught priests and other Christians to make gingerbread. Gregory died in 999. Gingerbread, in its modern form, descends from Medieval European culinary traditions. Gingerbread was also shaped into different forms by monks in Franconia, Germany in the 13th century. Lebkuchen bakers are recorded as early as 1296 in Ulm and 1395 in Nuremberg, Germany. Nuremberg was recognized as the "Gingerbread Capital of the World" when, in the 17th century, the guild started to employ master bakers and skilled workers to create complicated works of art from gingerbread. Medieval bakers used carved boards to create elaborate designs. During the 13th century, the custom spread across Europe. It was taken to Sweden in the 13th century by German immigrants; there are references from Vadstena Abbey of Swedish nuns baking gingerbread to ease indigestion in 1444. The traditional sweetener is honey, used by the guild in Nuremberg. Spices used are ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and cardamom. Gingerbread figurines date back to the 15th century, and figural biscuit-making was practised in the 16th century. The first documented instance of figure-shaped gingerbread biscuits is from the court of Elizabeth I of England, who had gingerbread figures made in the likeness of some of her important guests. ==History of gingerbread shaping==

s, and market souvenirs in Croatia The gingerbread bakers were gathered into professional baker guilds. In many European countries, gingerbread bakers were a distinct component of the bakers' guild. Gingerbread baking developed into an acknowledged profession. In the 17th century, only professional gingerbread bakers were permitted to bake gingerbread except at Christmas and Easter, when anyone was allowed to bake it. Gingerbread was also worn as a talisman in battle or as protection against evil spirits. According to other food historians, the Grimm brothers were speaking about something that already existed. ==Modern times==

made of gingerbread and white chocolate In modern times, the tradition has continued in certain places in Europe. In Germany, Christmas markets sell decorated gingerbread before Christmas. Lebkuchenhaus or Pfefferkuchenhaus are the German terms for a gingerbread house. Making gingerbread houses is a Christmas tradition in many families. They are typically made before Christmas using pieces of baked gingerbread dough assembled with melted sugar. The roof 'tiles' can consist of frosting or candy. The gingerbread house yard is usually decorated with icing to represent snow. A gingerbread house does not have to be an actual house, although it is the most common. It can be anything from a castle to a small cabin, or another kind of building, such as a church, an art museum, or a sports stadium. In most cases, royal icing is used as an adhesive to secure the main parts of the house, as it can be made quickly and forms a secure bond when set. In Sweden, gingerbread houses are prepared on Saint Lucy's Day. Since 1991, the people of Bergen, Norway, have built a city of gingerbread houses each year before Christmas. Named Pepperkakebyen (Norwegian for "the gingerbread village"), it is claimed to be the world's largest such city. Every child under the age of 12 can make their own house at no cost with the help of their parents. In 2009, the gingerbread city was destroyed in an act of vandalism. A group of building design, construction, and sales professionals in Washington, D.C., also collaborate on a themed "Gingertown" every year. In the United States, the National Gingerbread House Competition began in 1992 at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina. In San Francisco, the Fairmont and St. Francis hotels display rival gingerbread houses during the Christmas season. ==Guinness World records==

, 2009 (It was made of flour, margarine, sugar, Golden syrup, each of cinnamon, cloves, ginger and baking powder.) In 2013, a group in Bryan, Texas, US, broke the Guinness World Record set the previous year for the largest gingerbread house, with a edible-walled house in aid of a hospital trauma centre. As of 2025, this record was since broken by a 44,838 cubic foot gingerbread house modeled after Home Alone. The executive sous-chef at the New York Marriott Marquis hotel, Jon Lovitch, broke the record for the largest gingerbread village with 135 residential and 22 commercial buildings, and cable cars and a train also made of gingerbread. It was displayed at the New York Hall of Science. Another contender from Bergen, Norway made a gingerbread town called Pepperkakebyen. ==Gallery==

File:La maison en pain d'épices.jpg|Gingerbread house with candy Image:Gingerbread house with clock.jpg|A gingerbread house with clock and candy decorations File:Gingerbread House 2025.jpg|Christmas gingerbread house kit File:Gingerbread house with double doors.jpg|Gingerbread house with double doors Image:Gingerbread house with steps and trees.jpg|Gingerbread house with steps and trees File:Gingerbread house with path.jpg|Gingerbread house with path File:Gingerbread house with lighting.jpg|Gingerbread house with lighting File:Gingerbread house decorated with candy.jpg|Gingerbread house with snowman File:Gingerbread boat.jpg|Gingerbread ship File:Mézeskalács ház - Buda, 2014.12.26 (1).JPG| Gingerbread house as a Christmas Eve decoration File:Gingerbread houses at Dundee Gardens.jpg| Gingerbread houses with Christmas tree File:Hyatt Regency Reston gingerbread village with model trains (2).jpg|Gingerbread village with model trains File:Gingerbread House Christmas 2016 Starbucks Grosvenor House London United Kingdom.jpg|Gingerbread house and Elizabeth Tower in London, United Kingdom ==See also==