Where did lawn gnomes originate?

Question

speaks for itself, and why were they chosen to be that way!!!

Answer 1

Well, lawn gnomes are little figures in your garden.  

Answer 2

"The classic garden gnome has been around since the seventeenth century.  They originated in Germany in 1840, where they were known as “der Gartzenwerg”.  The first recorded residence of a garden gnome was at the estate of Sir Charles Isham, first Baronet of Lamport Hall.  Garden gnomes were not simply kitschy little statues back then.  Rather they were guardians that brought good luck to the house and garden.

Lawn gnomes did not gain any sort of widespread popularity until 1872.  But when World War I came along, the factories that built the clay gnomes were taken over for military purposes.  It wasn’t until the 1960s that cheaper, easier to mass-produce plastic gnomes went on the market and became popular again."

http://www.louisvillecleaning.com/lawnca...

http://wwwjackbenimble.blogspot.com/2005...

"A gnome is a mythical creature characterized by its extremely small size and subterranean lifestyle...The word gnome is derived from  genomos "earth-dweller"...

The first garden gnomes were made in Gräfenroda, a town known for its ceramics in Thuringia, Germany in the mid-1800s. Phillip Griebel made terracotta animals as decorations, and produced gnomes based on local myths as a way for people to enjoy the stories of the gnomes'

willingness to help in the garden at night."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnome

The face of the jolly modern day garden gnome is said to resemble Reinhard Griebel,  the potter who produced the gnomes in Graefenroda, Germany:

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/22688

Gnomes...were  seen as small (one foot or smaller) fairy-like creatures, related to goblins and brownies and generally benevolent spirits of the earth. The concept of gnomes draw from Scandinavian sources.

http://divineline.livejournal.com/

" In Britain garden gnomes are called Nains, in Sweden they are known as Nissen, and in Hawaii they are called Menehuenes. According to common lore, Garden gnomes originated in Scandinavia and later migrated, preferring hilly meadows and rocky woodlands. Telling melancholy tales and growing a thriving garden are said to be the garden gnomes favorite activities."

http://www.bonsaigardener.org/Garden_Gno...

"Most experts agree that the ancestors of the modern day garden gnome emerged at the end of the 19th century at one of the three major European centers for the terracotta industry, which in addition to Thuringia, also included the Czech town of Usti nad Labem and present-day Drawno, Poland.

In the course of normal research activity, a garden gnome expert happened upon an 1886 edition of the Deutsche Illustrirte Zeitung containing an advertisement from a company in Neuwedell, a town that was once in German Pomerania but is now part of Poland, where it is known as Drawno. The ad showed colorful garden gnomes for sale"

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144...