When confronted by a garden gnome the common reaction is to hold up your hands in horror and utter an expression of disgust while wondering how anyone can bear to allow such a creature to remain in their backyard. On the other hand we are told on good authority that the gnome population of Southern Germany is close on four million and, when you start looking, there are quite a number visible in the US.Perhaps we should not be surprised by the Germans since gnomes were first created in their coun.