Vesterheim Ornaments | Collector’s Series-Julehjerte – 2024 Scandinavian Icon Collectible

2024 Scandinavian Icons Collectible Ornament, The Julehjerte

The first Julehjerte, or Pleated Christmas Heart was probably fashioned back in the later part of the Viking Era.  It was a way to make a decorative basket to place small gifts and to share with friends for the Jul. The heart shape conveyed Love and the woven pattern conveyed Unity and Community.  

The oldest recorded Pleated Christmas Heart were made by the Danish author, Hans Christian Andersen in 1860.  His paper cut Julehjertes are part of the Hans Christian Andersen museum in Odsense Denmark.  It was a simple woven heart made with colored paper, but it had no handle.  

The first known guide to making Pleated Christmas Hearts is found in an 1871 edition of the Danish journal Nordisk Husflidstidende. It gave a pattern and instructions that anyone could follow.  The Hearts also featured a handle allowing them to be hung or carried depending on the size created.  

The oldest Pleated Christmas Heart in Norway is from 1873.  It appears to have been used on a Christmas Tree and probably held candy.  Today it is preserved at the National Museum in Oslo. It took another 40 years before the Pleated Julehjerte became more widespread.

The oldest photos of a Christmas tree decorated with pleated hearts is from the Danish manor house Søllestedgaard in the year 1901.  It is believed that around 1910 Danish kindergarteners started spreading the use of the Pleated Julhjertes.  They filled them with candy to exchange with friends and family at Christmas.  These were made from glossy paper which made them look more festive.  

Still today in Scandinavian homes Julehjertes are made in various sizes to hold everything from gifts or hung on a Christmas Tree filled with Christmas candies.  The most recent book, from 2002, includes a wide variety of Julehjertes templates, writen by Francis Jordt entitled Flettede Julehjerter.  

Traditonal Scandinavian blue silkscreen design on a 2.75″ white porcelain disk.  Gift boxed with history.