Pleated Christmas hearts ( da, Julehjerte) are

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

, Norwegian, and north

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

crafts, commonly used as

Christmas ornament Christmas ornaments, baubles, "Christmas bulbs" or "Christmas bubbles" are decoration items, usually to decorate Christmas trees. These decorations may be woven, blown (glass or plastic), molded (ceramic or metal), carved from wood or expande ...

History

The exact age and origin of the tradition of making paper hearts is unknown, but the oldest known pleated Christmas hearts were made by the Danish author

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

in 1860. However, as Andersen's heart has no handle, it seems unlikely it could have been used as a Christmas tree ornament. That pleated heart is today located in the

Hans Christian Andersen Museum The Hans Christian Andersen Museum or H.C. Andersens Odense, is a set of museums/buildings dedicated to the famous author Hans Christian Andersen in Odense, Denmark, some of which, at various times in history, have functioned as the main Odense-b ...

in the city of Odense in Denmark. It is documented, however, that Andersen did make decorations for Christmas trees, and that the predecessors of the pleated Christmas hearts were miniature wicker baskets. The oldest known guide to making pleated Christmas hearts is found in an 1871 edition of the Danish journal ''Nordisk Husflidstidende'',.Lea Holtze: ''Det flettede julehjerte er en dansk juleskik''

he pleated Christmas heart is a Danish tradition He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

Danish Bible Society The oldest pleated Christmas heart (from 1873) is preserved at the National Museum of Norway, in Oslo. But it was still some 40 years before the pleated Christmas hearts became more widespread. The oldest depiction of a Christmas tree decorated with pleated hearts dates from 1901 from the Danish manor house ''Søllestedgaard''. That same year, the pleated heart motif was used by Swedish artist Carl Larsson in the lithograph '' Brita as Idun''. It is believed that Danish

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

s from around 1910 started spreading the use of the pleated Christmas hearts, which were made from glossy paper in order to enhance the children's creative abilities, patience, and fine motor skills.

Pleated books

*The first pleated Christmas book, ''Julehjerter'' (1975), was released by the Lottrup Knudsen brothers. *A more recent book (2002) which includes a big variety of pleated Christmas heart templates, is Francis Jordt's ''Flettede julehjerter''(https://bibliotek.kk.dk/ting/object/870970-basis%3A24272486)

References

External links

Various Pleated Christmas hearts templates

Pictorial
on making a woven Christmas heart {{Christmas trees Danish culture Christmas decorations