Achtung Deutsche Mitglieder!: Name"Ede"

[Stormfighter]

I am interested in learning more about the name "Ede", because a Luftwaffe pilot I am writing about had this Spitzname (nickname). I have been told the name "Ede" was used in old German movies and by the German public to mean "kleiner Dieb" or "Kleinkriminelle" ("Petty Thief"). My questions are:

1) Is it true that the name "Ede" was used in old German films to describe a kleiner Dieb? Was the name also used to describe other types of people, zum Beispiel, drug users, gangsters, pimps, etc.?

2) Can anyone give an example of an actor from pre-1944 who had the name "Ede" and also name the film?

3) I also understand that "Ede" sometimes also had a prefix, such as "Drogen-Ede." Incidentally, the pilot's Spitzname was Tomaten-Ede (in English, we would say "Eddie Tomatoes"). I also would like to know if anyone can give an example or examples of "Ede" with a prefix that dates before 1944.

I am very interested in hearing from anyone who can give me some good information on the Spitzname "Ede". Please keep in mind that I am only interested in the usage of the name "Ede" from 1944 or before (I know that it is still used in comic books and was used to describe Eduard Zimmermann postwar, but I am only interested in its usage before 1944).

Vielen Dank in Voraus!

Barry

[Weweslburg]

The name Ede is an old German poetic name and the meaning for "wolf" . Mostly used in Prussia and Berlin, but also an short cut for Eduard.

I never heard that Ede was used in the 40´s with the context to theft

[Gerdan]

" Ede - Wolf " comes from the comic figure used by Walt Disney (1933) in USA

Gerdan

[Trebes]

Some points about the origin of "Ede":

1854:
Wörterbuch der Diebs-, Gauner- oder Kochemersprache. Zusammengestellt vom Centra-Evidenz-Büro in Wien. 1854:

--> The word „Ede“ is not mentioned.

1888:
Franz Söhns: Die Parias unserer Sprache. Eine Sammlung von Volksausdrücken. Heilbronn: Henninger, 1888, S. 37.
„... so werden der dröwische und sein unschuldiger Ede (frz. aide = Gehülfe, aus Unkenntnis häufig als Abkürzung des Namens Eduard aufgefaßt und meist Ete gespr.[ochen)“
--> Söhns thinks that Ede comes from French aide (helper) and is wrongly taken als short form of Eduard.

1912:
Archiv für Kriminologie, Bände 50/51 (1912), S. 159, Anmerkung 1:

„Bekannt ist ferner Lude aus dem in unseren Witzblättern heimisch geworden Gaunerpaar „Lude und Ede", ähnlich wie im Englischen „Tom and Jerry". Möglich ist dabei, daß Ede ursprünglich nicht schlechthin Abkürzung für Eduard, sondern soviel wie das französ. aide, d. h. „Gehilfe“, gewesen ist (s. Söhns, Die Parias, S. 37), eine Ansicht, die dadurch Unterstützung findet, daß Ede in neueren Gaunersprachen (s. z. B. Groß 401 u. E. K. 22; Rabben 44, Ostwald 41) in dem allgemeinen Sinne von „Freund, Genosse“ ...

--> At the turn of the century (1900) there were two famous characters in the German humourous magazines named Lude and Ede similar to Tom and Jerry in English magazines. It’s possible (according to Söhns) that Ede comes from aide, which is supported by the use of Ede as “friend”/“comrade” in modern (i.e. 1912) argot.

1919:
Louis Günther: Die deutsche Gaunersprache und verwandte Geheim- und Berufssprachen. Leipzig: Quelle & Meyer, 1919
S. 121
Gleich wie Kaspar könnte übrigens vielleicht auch Ede, das in neuere Vokabularien der Gauner- und Kundensprache durch „Freund, Genosse“ wiedergegeben wird und in weiteren Kreisen namentlich aus der in allen Witzblättern beliebten Verbindung von Lude und Ede für zwei Gauner.

--> Repeats the 1912 article.


S. 202:
Radau-Ede (eine besondere Art russischer schwerer Granate, die einen großen Krach verursachen)

--> Radau-Ede was a special Russian heavy shell that caused a big noise.


1931:
There is a youth novel „Ede und Unku” by the Austrian/German author Grete Weiskopf (pseudonym Alex Wedding) which was published in 1931 in Berlin.

Trebes

[Valentino]

In a famous german TV series called Grosstadrevier you can hear it in the title song:

"Wenn der Schutzmann ums Eck kommt, nimmt der Ede reiss aus, weil der Ede den Schutzmann nicht mag... Ede fischt gern im trüben, doch der Schutzmann treibst Ihm aus.. rund um die Uhr.. Tag für Tag"

[Stormfighter]

Thanks to everyone for your replies. Let me give you a few more details about why the Luftwaffe pilot was called Ede, more specifically Tomaten-Ede (incidentally, the pilot's name was not Eduard).

This pilot began flying Reichsluftverteidigung (Home Defense) missions in January 1944. During his early Einsätze (Combat Missions), his Staffelkapitän (Squadron Commander) noticed that he was never the first pilot to notice feindliche Flugzeuge (Enemy Aircraft). Therefore, his Staffelkapitän said to him "Du hast Tomaten auf den Augen!" ("You have tomatoes on your eyes!"), a German expression for a person who doesn't easily recognize things. From that time on, the pilot was given the Spitzname (Nickname) Tomaten-Ede (in English, we would say Eddie Tomatoes).

Now that you know the story behind the Spitzname, I am wondering if perhaps anyone can provide any more insight into the name Tomaten-Ede. The Tomaten part of the story is easy to understand, but why was "Ede" added to the name?

Vielen Dank in Voraus!

Barry

[Stormfighter]

Niemand?

[Aether]

That is a famalie Name

Revernce here good posibel a female pilot G. or H. Ede ,served under F Weiss sometimes. He diet suicid after ww2 wail( privat).
Only G ede can be listet as new in 1944 but was lufwaffe bevor ,difficult ,H.was flyer bevor ww2.