There is a children's song called "Klein Häschen wollt' spazieren gehn". And it's the first line of the song as well.
"Häschen" is a neuter noun, so shouldn't it be "Kleines Häschen" instead?
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This is partly a song,, partly a nursery rhyme, and partly a finger game, something like "Itsy Bitsy Spider" in the US. If you're not familiar with it, try this Liederkiste video. You can also find videos showing the finger movements. Nothing do to with the question, but some cultural background.– RDBuryCommented Aug 21, 2022 at 17:05
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The song is probably old and doesnt have the Same german grammar rules than we have nowerdays– UndercoverDogCommented Aug 23, 2022 at 16:32
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1 Answer
In today's standard German and with "klein" used as an adjective, you're completely right.
100 years ago, it was more common to use "klein" undeclined in this way, kind of an in-between between an adjective, a compound word part and a name part.
Note that the article is also missing: "Klein Häschen" is used like a name for a particular little hare here, it's different from "ein kleines Häschen" in that respect.
There was a series of jokes about a little girl "klein Erna", there is an old children's song with the lyrics "Hänschen klein / ging allein / in die weite Welt hinein...", there's the fictional stereotypical example of a small village called "Kleinkleckersdorf", and there are many real villages with a name starting with "Klein-".
So it's no surprise to find this in an old children's song.
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Thank you very much for all the examples of this phenomenon! Commented Aug 21, 2022 at 22:11
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Charles Dickens Little Dorrit also received the title Klein Dorrit in a translation dating from 1927, so 100 years seems a pretty exact range.– guidot ♦Commented Aug 22, 2022 at 11:04