German-suited playing cards
German-suited playing cards are a very common style of traditional playing card used in many parts of Central Europe characterised by 32- or 36-card packs with the suits of Acorns (Eichel or Kreuz), Leaves (Grün, Blatt, Laub, Pik or Gras), Hearts (Herz or Rot) and Bells (Schelle, Schell or Bolle).
Today German-suited playing cards are common in south and east Germany, Austria, German-speaking Switzerland, Liechtenstein, north Italy, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, northern Serbia (Vojvodina province), southern Poland and central and western Romania.
German-suited decks are still well known all over these countries although they have been undergoing strong competition from French playing cards since the late 17th-century.
Traditional card games in which German suits are used include Binokel, Doppelkopf, Gaigel, Schafkopf, Skat, Bavarian Tarock and Watten.
German suited decks tend to have fewer cards than either the French, Spanish, or Italian sets.
The typical northern German pack has 32 cards ranking from 7, 8, 9, 10, Under Knave (Unter = Untermann i.e. subordinate, underling or sergeant), Over Knave (Ober = Obermann i.e. superordinate, overlord or officer), King (König), and "Ace" (Ass) for a total of 32 cards.
The 7 of Bells is sometimes known as the Belli and the 7 of Acorns as the Spitz or Soacher and they are of comparable use, with the Weli being the higher card.
However, Saxon pattern cards of various designs have been produced for over 500 years for the German-speaking region bounded roughly by the Elbe and Saale rivers and by the Ore Mountains to the south.
This region is represented by the modern German states of Saxony and Thuringia, the latter historically falling under Saxon rule.
[6] The modern double-ended Saxon pattern is the product of a long evolution from the primitive Stukeley type cards imported from Nuremberg.
In Saxony and Thuringia there was also a pack known as Ruimpf cards (Rümpffkarte or Rümpfkarte) that was produced from the 16th to the 18th century, before being replaced by the Saxon pattern.
[5] Ruimpf or Ruempf (German: Rümpfspiel or Rümpffen) was the name of a game for which the precise rules are unknown.
Ruimpf cards are believed to have originated in south Germany and destined for export to the Ore Mountains.
The older variant of the Saxon single-headed pattern originated in Leipzig and Dresden in the early 19th century, being typified by the Schwerterkarte, named after the crossed swords on the coat of arms of the Deuces of Acorns.
Games that require the full deck include Bavarian Tarock, Jass, Tapp and some versions of Watten.
The Knaves represent soldiers and hold spears, halberds or swords or, in the case of the suit of Leaves, are depicted playing a fife or drum.
The Ober and Unter of Leaves now carried a drum and fife respectively; from now on the drummer and fifer became the distinguishing feature of the Bavarian pattern.
In this period the number of cards was reduced from the former 48 (the One – Ace – had already disappeared) to 36 (the Three, Four and Five were removed; the Two or Deuce already outranked the King by that time), probably due to paper shortages.
In the late 17th century, during the Turkish Wars, the Kings of Leaves and Acorns swapped their crowns for turbans.
In 1882, the United Altenburger und Stralsunder Spielkarten-Fabriken printed their own version of the Bavarian pattern, which went back to a design by Frankfurt card manufacturer's Lennhoff & Heuser.
Essential distinguishing features of this Stralsund type of the Bavarian pattern from its Munich type are: In the 20th century, the pip and court cards were gradually marked with indices and the misprinting of Deuces with the letter A, instead of the more accurate D, prevailed.
After the Second World War, the previously dominant non-reversible cards finally disappeared and were replaced by the reversible designs that are still widespread today.
For example, in 1980, ASS produced a limited run of non-reversible packs of the Munich type for export to West Germany.
A younger type of the Württemberg pattern, manufactured by the Nuremberg Playing Card Company (NSV) and others using different court designs, also exists.
The play was written in 1804, its first Hungarian performance was in 1827 at Kolozsvár (Austrian: Klausenburg)[d] and the first decks were made by József Schneider of Pest around 1835.
[31] Schneider cut out sheets of 36 cards, applied the red, scarlet, blue, and brown colours to them using a template.
[32] The characters from the drama were chosen to avoid censorship at the time of the Hungarian opposition to Habsburg rule.
The suit symbols are also slightly different, most notably the leaves are now half yellow and end with three tips.
This is not unique to Germany as similar split decks are found in Austria, Switzerland and even France.
[e] The Turnierbild pack was created for official Skat tournaments, using the French suited Berlin pattern but with German colours (green Spades and yellow Diamonds).
