It became very popular in Bavaria and Swabia during the 19th century before being largely superseded by Schafkopf, but has survived in the local forms of Bavarian Tarock and Tapp.

[8] When the new variant appeared in the 1830s, it was initially called Sansprendre, based on the name of its Solo contract; sans prendre being French for "without picking up" and referring to the fact that, in a Sansprendre contract, the declarer could not make use of the scat (skat) – the 3 cards left over after the deal.

[11] The earliest reference to German Tarok dates to 1795 in Illerfeld in Upper Swabia in what was then the Electorate of Bavaria.

The original game became sufficiently popular that by around the early 19th century, standard German-suited packs were simply labelled "German Taroc" (Deutsch-Taroc).

[13] No detailed rules for the original form have survived, but it is briefly described in the forward of an 1839 treatise, the author calling it "very simple and without interest" compared with the subject of the booklet, Sansprendre, a variant he considered so good that it would be hard to find a more interesting game played with German-suited cards.

[a][7] By the mid-19th century German Tarok was the card game of choice for the middle classes in the Bavarian capital of Munich, being played almost to exclusion of all others.

[14] Treatises specifically on the game were published in Bayreuth, Munich and Nuremberg from the 1830s to the early 20th century, further testifying to its popularity in Bavaria, but it was also known further afield, for example, in Hesse and Prussia.

[b] During this time the rules of the game remained remarkably stable, the main changes being elaborations to its systems of payment.

[17] German Tarok in its later form lasted into the early years of the 20th century, when it was a favourite of the wealthy Bavarian author Ludwig Thoma, who played it before and during the First World War.

After the First World War, scoring with overshoot points and complex payment schemes were dropped in what became known as Bavarian Tarock.

These standard German packs have cards ranking from Ace (Bavarian: Sau or "Sow".

In the later variant, Hearts was normally the permanent trump suit in the lowest contract, known as a Frage, in which the scat could be picked up and exchanged with.

[4][7][9] The only account of the original game is a few sketchy remarks in the forward of the 1839 treatise, Das Sansprendre-Spiel in Regeln zur richtigen Auffassung und Ausführung desselben nach seinen verschiedenen Nuancen dargestellt (SSR).

[9] The first rules for a new form of German Tarok, initially called Sansprendre, were published in the same treatise, SSR, together with extensive tactical guidance.

He shuffles, offers the pack to the right for cutting and places the top 3 cards as a scat, face down on the table.

[9] In addition, Sansprendre may be played: By 1851, the game has adopted the name of its predecessor, German Tarok.

In the most detailed account Ausführliche Anleitung zum Deutschtarokspielen (AAD, 1881), French terminology has been abandoned and more elaborate payment schemes were described.

"[4] Once again, there is a single round of bidding with immediate hold, but this time only three contracts; the ordinary suit Frage has been dropped.

[g] A player who is overcalled and wants to hold the higher bid announces "I'll play [it] myself" (ich spiele selbst).

[4] Four payment schemes are described:[4] In "gentlemen's circles" the tariff was ½, 1 and 2 pf per point for the Frage, Solo and Herzsolo respectively "if one doesn't want to play for high stakes".

[4] AAD records two optional variations:[4] TSP, a shorter treatise published from 1881 to 1910 in several editions and entitled Tarok (Sans prendre), largely follows AAD but mentions two different variations:[7] The family of games descended from German Tarok includes Bavarian Tarock, Swabian Tapp, Mexican Rana and the American games of Frog and Solo, also called Six-Bid, Slough or Sluff, as well as the Austrian game of Bauerntarock.