Re: Question
wami@cuhk.edu.hk
Sat, 07 Mar 1998 13:52:00 +0800
Walter Amos wrote:
> There is no doubt whatsoever that the "blonde brat's" first name is Reinhard.
> That is a perfectly valid honest-to-goodness German name. (Remember Hitler's
> protege, the Naziest Nazi of them all, Reinhard Heydrich?) Not to mention
> that it is shown as Reinhard in all the original Japanese subtitles.
> The only possible question could come from the exact spelling of the name.
> There are 3 valid spellings I have seen, in decreasing order of usage:
> Reinhard, Reinhart, and Reinhardt.
To me, I have forgotten what is the spelling of Reinhart's name written in
the anime, but I am definitely sure that Reinhart is the spelling that the Germans
prefer. In the German supplementary texts that I've read, there is an example
using the name Reinhart.
> To me the bigger question is his last name. It is usually written
> "Lohengramm" from the original and fan subtitles, but I have seen "Lowengramm"
> in one or two places. The German word for "lion" is "Lowe" (with an umlaut
> over the "o"), and there is a gold lion on Reinhard's heraldic flag. Also
> there is the sort of the symbolism of Reinhard's golden "mane". I wonder
> therefore if maybe the second spelling is more correct. But I can't say for
> certainty. And I guess I have become used enough to the former spelling that I
> would probably advocate sticking to it for consistency.
I remembered that someone on the list have said a couple of months ago that
the surname of Reinhart might be the name of a famous German legendary hero,
Lohengrin (?). This is the immediate response that my German professor gave me
when I showed him the name Reinhart von Lohengramm. He asked me whether Lohengramm
is the correct spelling or not. He said that it just looks like Lohengrin.
Therefore, I think the 'right' spelling of Reinhart's surname might be
Lohengramm. Moreover, another German professor also agrees that Lohengramm
might be an imitation of the surname of the German hero. He also explained that
"rein" means 'pure' and "hart" means 'hard'. So, it is the same as what Walter has
said.