[Culturechat] Garden Gnomes

[Vance Roy]

Many visitors to CH in the summer notice the gardens of vegetables and
flowers. Some comment on the little statues often seen in these gardens.
These little funny looking things are called "Zwerge". Exactly what their
function is is a puzzle to me. Anyway, I have a couple of my own. They range
in size from 6 inches or so to a couple of feet and are dressed in colored
garb like one would expect on a minature clown. There are an estimated
15,000,000 of these little guys across Europe, mostly in Germany and CH.

It seems that now a german company has decided to produce a female garden
gnome. I had never noticed them to be all males, but I guess until now, they
were. There is a Basel group called the International Association for the
Protection of the Garden Gnome, and these folks are fit to be tied about
this gender change in garden gnomes. They got so mad that they fined the
manufacturer, an outfit called Griebel, the sum of CHF 100. They paid up but
defended their choice to make female gnomes. Apparently, these gnomes are
decorative only. Even if you talk badly to your gnome, he will just sit
quietly and nothing serious will happen.

So, the next time your are cruising along the garden paths in Germany or CH,
tip your cap or wave at the gnomes and look for girls (gnomies that is).

Vance Roy
gigli.saw@dplanet.ch