Königrufen or Königsrufen (German: "Calling the King"[2]) is a four-player, trick-taking card game of the tarot family, played in Austria and Southern Tyrol, with variants for two, three and six players.

In a broader sense, the term Königrufen may be used for a family of closely related tarot games whose other members are mainly played in other regions of the former Habsburg monarchy, most notably in Slovenia.

[10] The original form of the Tarock card game family emerged in Northern Italy during the Early Renaissance, first evidenced in 1440.

[12] The earliest reference to a four-handed variant of Tapp-Tarock involving the calling of a King occurs in an 1827 book, but by then it had presumably been played for several decades.

[23] The first description of Königrufen is found in 1827 in an appendix to the second edition of the book Anweisung zur gründlichen Erlernung des beliebten Tarok-Tappen-Spiels sowohl durch genaue Bestimmung aller Regeln und Feinheiten, als auch durch die Beobachtung und Auseinandersetzung mehrerer angeführter, sehr schwieriger Beyspiele ("Instructions for a thorough learning of the popular Tarok Tappen game, both by clear explanation of all rules and details, as well as by the observation and discussion of several accompanying, very challenging examples").

Until recently, the second edition had been thought to have been lost; it was only made public in 2010, when the Lower Austrian State Library (Niederösterreichische Landesbibliothek) was able to acquire a copy from the Tax and Customs Museum in Rotterdam.

This was felt to be so harsh by Königrufen players that some of them used to call Tarock XX instead, the loss of which was far less of a worry and, if it were lost, was only of low value anyway.

In the book Der praktische Tarockspieler ("The Practical Tarock Player") by Moriz Bermann (1894) three different contracts are presented, two of which correspond roughly to the above; in the third, two cards or even just one could be taken from the talon.

There it was further introduced that the Pagat ultimo can also be declared beforehand, very probably taken from a similar announcement in Hundertspiel, an Austrian version of the originally Italian card game, Trappola.

However, research revealed that the term first appeared in 1902 in Hungary in the card game Alsós, a variant of Jass for three players, which was heavily influenced by Tarock and was also played in Austria under the name Vannakspiel.

[51] Since 2008, there has been an annual Austria Final (Österreich-Finale) in April in the Casino Linz, in which over 200 of the best players from the various cup competitions compete for the title of Austrian Tarock Champion (Österreichischer Tarockmeister).

In responding to a friend's criticism of his worn Tarock cards, he jokingly replied "let us have a little pleasure in 'unculture'" – an allusion to his work Civilization and Its Discontents, whose original title was Das Unbehagen in der Kultur.

[56] Other Königrufen players include the ÖVP's former vice-chancellor, Wilhelm Molterer, head of the Senior Citizens' Association, Andreas Khol, and Minister of Economics, Reinhold Mitterlehner.

Among SPÖ politicians, Königrufen players include former Minister of Transport, Rudolf Streicher, and former Federal Whip, Josef Kalina.

Prominent women who indulge in the game are cabaret artist Lore Krainer, Vienna ORF regional director, Brigitte Wolf, cultural journalists Gabriele Flossmann and Eva-Maria Klinger, the former president of the Austrian National Bank, Maria Schaumayer, and former vice president of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, Ingrid Tichy-Schreder.

Cards I to IIII are commonly called Birds (Vogerl or Vögel):[65][66] The Sküs, Mond and Pagat together form the 'Honours' or Trull.

[64] These names were originally derived from the French and Italian: excuse (pronounced "ex-kooz", meaning "excuse [me]"), le monde (the world, corresponding to card XXI in French tarot – wrongly translated into German as der Mond, "the moon") and il bagato (from bagatella, meaning "triviality").

The Cavalier (Italian cavallo) is recognizable by being depicted on horseback, and unlike the King, wears neither a crown nor carries a sceptre.

After determining which announcement will be played (and by whom), a specific player (depending on the contract) leads a card to the first trick on the table after possibly drawing from the talon.

[78][79] The player who announces the highest-value bid during the auction earns the right to play his chosen contract and becomes the declarer or soloist (Spielersteher or Spielersteiger).

[23] The auction (Lizitation) is where players bid for contracts ("games"), and it takes place, like the dealing of cards, in an anti-clockwise direction.

So Solo does not carry the same meaning as in other card games, including another popular Austrian Tarock variant Zwanzigerrufen – a contract where a soloist offers to play against all the rest.

The game proceeds as follows: Königrufen was not limited to the territory of present-day Austria, but spread to large parts of the Habsburg Empire.

They share with Austrian Königrufen the same pack of cards, distribution of hands and "calling" of a King, but differ primarily in the range of contracts and in the rules for how the talon is treated.

While McLeod classifies it as "less baroque and much more competitive" than Königrufen,[99] Robert Sedlaczek judges it as much more conservative, since card games were unpopular under Communism and therefore could not develop strongly.

However, regionally, especially in Kozy, Poland's largest village, a type of Königrufen has survived, although the large differences in rules make a direct connection between the two games seem unlikely despite their geographical proximity.

[102][103] Polish Königrufen involves four possible bids: Jeden (one talon card), Dwa (two), Trzy (three) or Cztery (four).

Following talon exchange, further announcements may be made for Trul, Pagat ultymo and for holding various card combinations, e.g. 0–2 and 10–12 tarocks in the hand or Four Kings.

In Texas, for example, Czech immigrants introduced Neunzehnerrufen, which is quite closely related to Königrufen, as well as a version of Zwanzigerrufen with a 54-card pack.

[104] In 1922, the illustrator, August Petrtyl, who had immigrated from Bohemia to Chicago, attempted to establish a variant of Königrufen in the USA whose cards and names were based on American themes (pictured right).