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| "Bunny" in English, "Hase" in German |
The saying - or its short form "Mein Name ist Hase" (literally: "my name is hare") - means "I have no idea." Even many Germans, although they use it, do not know where this saying comes from. In fact, it really has nothing to do with "hares" nor "bunnies".
The German saying comes from a person named Victor von Hase, who, as a student (and member of a "Burschenschaft" or English: "fraternity") at the university in Heidelberg in the middle of the 19th century, helped another student by giving him his own student identity papiers. This student, having killed someone in a duel, used the papers to flee over the border to France. The fugitive was caught in Strasbourg, France, and Victor von Hase, for allegedly having helped the other to flee, had to answer in court. Victor von Hase's answer at the beginning of the trial was: "Mein Name ist Hase; ich verneine die Generalfragen; ich weiss von nichts." "My name is Hase; I answer the accusation with "no"; I know nothing." The middle part of his answer fell away, and the remaining answer "Mein Name ist Hase, ich weiss von nichts" gained humorous fame in the fraternity world, eventually entering into the German and Dutch ("Mijn naam is haas, ik weet van niets.") languages as a saying. [1]
The family "von Hase" has other renowned persons, including, for example, Paul von Hase who was one of those officers involved in the conspiracy of "20 July 1944" to assassinate Adolf Hitler. He was executed in Ploetzensee near Berlin as the plot failed. The German ambassador to London (1970-1977) Karl-Guenther von Hase has been described as one of the Queen's "all-time favorites".
[1] http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_von_Hase
The German saying comes from a person named Victor von Hase, who, as a student (and member of a "Burschenschaft" or English: "fraternity") at the university in Heidelberg in the middle of the 19th century, helped another student by giving him his own student identity papiers. This student, having killed someone in a duel, used the papers to flee over the border to France. The fugitive was caught in Strasbourg, France, and Victor von Hase, for allegedly having helped the other to flee, had to answer in court. Victor von Hase's answer at the beginning of the trial was: "Mein Name ist Hase; ich verneine die Generalfragen; ich weiss von nichts." "My name is Hase; I answer the accusation with "no"; I know nothing." The middle part of his answer fell away, and the remaining answer "Mein Name ist Hase, ich weiss von nichts" gained humorous fame in the fraternity world, eventually entering into the German and Dutch ("Mijn naam is haas, ik weet van niets.") languages as a saying. [1]
The family "von Hase" has other renowned persons, including, for example, Paul von Hase who was one of those officers involved in the conspiracy of "20 July 1944" to assassinate Adolf Hitler. He was executed in Ploetzensee near Berlin as the plot failed. The German ambassador to London (1970-1977) Karl-Guenther von Hase has been described as one of the Queen's "all-time favorites".
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| Coat of Arms - Family "von Hase" |
[1] http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_von_Hase
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