Maus in the Haus Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Nutcracker

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" is one of the Russian composer's most enduringly popular works, regularly performed over the Christmas holiday season in North America and other parts of the world. First performed in 1892, the two-act ballet is based on "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" (1816), one of the fantastic tales by Prussian author's E.T.A. Hoffmann. The libretto by Marius Petipa, however, greatly simplified the plot of Hoffmann's tale (and also of the adaptation by Alexandre Dumas that was Petipa's primary source), in which the mice have a much larger role.

The story is set on Christmas Eve in the house of the Stahlbaum family. At the end of Act 1, the monstrous, seven-headed Mouse King leads his army of mice out of the floorboards at the stroke of midnight. The mice first engage in battle with an army of gingerbread men, but are defeated when the Nutcracker (who is an enchanted prince), accompanied by tin soldiers, enters the fray. The Mouse King is eventually killed by the Nutcracker with the help of Clara, the little girl who has been given the toy as a present.

Answer: Western Australia

Located about 18 km (11 mi) west of Fremantle, off the southern coast of Western Australia, Rottnest Island owes its name to its population of quokkas, small native marsupials that were mistaken for giant rats by Dutch captain Willem de Wlamingh, who explored the islands for six days in late December 1696. The low-lying, sandy island, inhabited by Aboriginal people for over 7,000 years, was settled by European colonists in 1830, and used as an Aboriginal prison until 1902. Now Rottnest Island is a popular tourist destination, connected to Perth and Fremantle by daily ferry services. Most of the original colonial buildings are used as tourist accommodations; cars are not allowed on the island, and cycling is the main mode of transportation for both tourists and the few permanent inhabitants.

With its rich flora and fauna, which includes three native tree species, many coastal birds, and colonies of seals (as well as the quokkas), Rottnest Island enjoys the status of A-Class Reserve (granted in 1917), the highest level of protection afforded to public land in Australia.

Answer: Michael Bond

Michael Bond, who sadly passed away in 2017, is well known for his series of children's books featuring the beloved character of Paddington Bear. His second children's series, the books featuring the guinea pig Olga da Polga (written between 1971 and 2002), was inspired by the Bond family's own pet guinea pig. In the series, Olga lives with her owners, the Sawdust family, and a host of other animals - including Noel the black cat, Graham the tortoise, and Fangio the hedgehog. All these creatures form Olga's audience when she launches into wildly exaggerated tales (eventually revealed to be untrue) that turn everyday occurrences into daring adventures in the style of Baron Munchhausen.

The Olga books were originally illustrated by Danish artist Hans Helweg, known for the iconic "pulp" covers he created for Pan Paperbacks; later editions were illustrated by Catherine Rayner.

Answer: Candlemas

Observed in Canada and the US, the popular tradition of Groundhog Day has its roots in German weather lore. In the original tradition, however, the weather-predicting animal was not a groundhog (a kind of ground squirrel, related to the European marmot, but native to North America), but a badger: if, on the day of Candlemas (2 February), a badger emerged from his lair during a sunny day and saw its shadow, then winter would continue for a further four weeks. This superstition was brought to North America by the Pennsylvania Dutch, the German immigrants ("Dutch" being a corruption of "Deutsch") who settled in Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The festival of Candlemas commemorates the presentation of Jesus at the Temple, and is based upon the account in the Gospel of Luke (2:22-40). The name "Candlemas" is derived from the custom of bringing candles (a symbol of Christ as "the light of the world") to church to be blessed.

Answer: Novosibirsk

The Monument to the Laboratory Mouse is a small (70 cm/27.5 in high) bronze sculpture that sits on a high granite pedestal in a park in front of the Institute of Cytology and Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, located in a suburb of the Siberian city of Novosibirsk. The statue, designed by local artist Andrey Kharkevich, and made by sculptor Alexei Agrikolyansky, depicts a mouse wearing pince-nez on its nose, and knitting a DNA double helix with the needles held in its paws. The monument commemorates all the mice whose sacrifice has allowed genetic research to progress and contribute to the development of new cures for diseases. It was completed on 1 July 2013, the 120th anniversary of the city's foundation.

With a population of over 1.5 million, Novosibirsk is Russia's third-largest city after Moscow and St Petersburg; it is located in southwestern Siberia, on the banks of the Ob River. The three cities listed as wrong answers are also major Russian cities: Kaliningrad is the only one of them located west of the Urals.

Answer: dormouse

The name "dormouse" denotes a number of species of Old World rodents of the family Gliridae; it comes from the French "dormeuse" ("sleeper"), and refers to these small, nocturnal creatures' habit of hibernating for about six months a year. The common name of "European edible dormouse" of the type species, Glis glis, hints at these animals' highly prized status as a delicacy in Ancient Rome. Caught in the wild, dormice were kept in terracotta containers called "gliraria", where they were fattened with nuts prior to being killed and served as appetizers or desserts. A dish of attractively arranged, honey-glazed dormice is featured in the famous episode of Trimalchio's dinner in Petronius's "Satyricon" (1st century AD), while a recipe for stuffed dormice is included in Book VIII Apicius' "De Re Coquinaria" (also from the 1st century AD). Dormice are still eaten in various parts of their range, though in some regions (such as Italy) it is illegal to hunt them.

The Dormouse is one of the characters in Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", where it first appears during the Mad Tea Party (Chapter 7), and then in Chapter 11, at the Knave of Hearts' trial.

Answer: Hans Holbein the Younger

Executed in 1526-1528, during Hans Holbein the Younger's first stay in England, "Portrait of a Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling" depicts a young woman believed to be Anne Lovell, wife of Sir Francis Lovell, a courtier of Henry VIII. The woman, who wears a distinctive white fur hat, is set against a plain blue background, where a starling can be seen perching on a branch; the chained squirrel she holds in her lap is eating a nut. While the starling is believed to be a pun on the name of the sitter's residence, the squirrel may refer to the coat of arms of the Lovell family, on which six red squirrels appear. The painting has been part of the collections of London's National Gallery since 1992.

A highly accomplished artist, Hans Holbein the Younger was one of the foremost portrait painters of his time. During his second stay in England, which lasted from 1532 to his death in 1543, he became Henry VIII's official painter, and created numerous portraits of the King and his family.

Of the artists listed as wrong answers, Bosch was Dutch, not German.

Answer: Siena

Enclosed within a nearly intact circle of medieval walls, the historic centre of Siena (Tuscany) is divided into 17 wards, known as "contrade" (a cognate of the English "country"). Most of these wards - which were more numerous in the Middle Ages - are named after real or legendary animals. The Contrada Sovrana dell'Istrice (Sovereign Contrada of the Crested Porcupine) is located at the north-westernmost edge of the city centre; it was traditionally associated with blacksmiths and their craft. The "Sovereign" title was granted in 1980 by the Sovereign Order of Malta, which has been headquartered in the ward since the 14th century. The ward's coat of arms features a crowned porcupine; its colours are red, white, blue and black. Istrice's arch-rival is the Contrada della Lupa ("She-Wolf"). The Palio horse race takes places twice a year (2 July and 16 August); ten out of seventeen wards compete in it each time.

The crested porcupine (Hystrix cristata) is the largest rodent in Africa and Europe; it is found in most of the Italian peninsula, as well as in Sicily and on the island of Elba.

Answer: Jethro Tull

Named after the inventor of the seed drill, Jethro Tull was formed in 1967 by Scottish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ian Anderson. The band, dissolved in 2012, reformed in 2017 for their 50th anniversary, though without longtime guitarist Martin Barre (who had been with them since 1968).

Throughout their decades-long career, Jethro Tull have recorded a number of songs inspired by animals. "Cat's Squirrel", a traditional folk instrumental arranged by Mick Abrahams (the band's original guitarist), appears on their debut album, "This Was" (1968). "One Brown Mouse", based on Robert Burns' well-known poem "To a Mouse", appears instead on Jethro Tull's eleventh studio album, "Heavy Horses" (1978). Strongly influenced by the folk music of the British Isles, "Heavy Horses" features a number of songs whose titles reference animals and country life in general: its opener is another rodent-related song, "...And the Mouse Police Never Sleeps", partially inspired by Ian Anderson's cat Mistletoe.

Answer: Oregon and New York

The world's second-largest rodent after the South American capybara, the North American beaver is not only one of Canada's symbols, but also the state mammal of New York and Oregon - two states located at opposite ends of the US. The East Coast state of New York has borders with the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec; its capital, Albany, was originally a Dutch fur-trading community named Beverwijck (Beaver Village). A beaver gnawing the trunk of a fallen tree appears on Albany's coat of arms, and a beaver is also depicted on the blazon of New York City's official seal.

Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest, north of California and south of Washington, is nicknamed "the Beaver State": a gold beaver is depicted on the reverse of the state flag, and the athletic teams of Oregon State University are called the Beavers.