About us
Hello, I’m Anna and I founded Hase Weiss in 2004. At that time, my children were very small and I was working as an architect. I´ve always liked to play around, even when I was studying architecture at the UDK Academy in Berlin, my projects weren’t too serious.
My greatest heroes were the Eames, who did exactly what they loved and dabble in everything that makes life beautiful and joyful.
It started when I was designing some furniture for my daughters and then I couldn´t stop inventing and building new toys for my children, drawing animals, sewing clothes, imagining furniture for them to play with.
In 2004 I closed my small architecture studio, still had a teaching position at the art academy in Hamburg in the department of architecture and opened a shop Hase Weiss with all these toys that I had made.
Hase Weiss later became more professional. I found several small workshops for people with disabilities to build the dollhouses, sew the animals and make the school supplies. I work with two leather manufacturers in Poznan, Poland, who sew the satchels and pencil cases, and a sewing workshop that sews all the clothes, also in Poznan, just a two-hour drive from Berlin.
I couldn’t run the store with only homemade products, so very soon I started buying things I liked. Things with the same approach, thoroughly thought out and beautifully made by hand or in small workshops.
I really like toys from other countries that show a different perspective and how beautiful and adorable the world can be.
However the philosophy always remains the same.
I want to make and sell toys with a soul that are creative, fun and give children a great freedom to use their imagination and to build their own world.
I love toys that are well made and made from good materials that are durable and sustainable. I try to find products that are mostly produced in Europe, in small workshops and above all under fair conditions. I try to avoid industrial production and plastic items as much as possible.
And last but not least, I am happy to do my small part to keep traditional workshops and toys alive in today’s world, even though it sometimes seems like an impossible wish.