It may be related to modern Fingerkloppe in which losers also receive a physical punishment, albeit on a lesser scale.
The world Saunigel in the Austrian dialect is recorded as early as 1784 and meant "sow hedgehog",[1][a] but was also a pejorative term for a "dirty person" as well as a card game in which the last player left holding cards in hand was called the Saunigl.
"[6] It is also recorded in the German translation of Jacques Offenbach's operetta Les Deux Aveugles where Jeržabek says he can play Preferance, Mariagel, Saunigl, Black Peter and Macao.
B. Moser, there is the following description of Saunigl:[9] Bei jenem Spiel, das's Kind, was kaum recht laufen kann, schon kennt, Das man - warum, das weiß ich nicht - gemein "Saunigeln" nennt, Da spiel'n's, ich glaub' was Dummer's gibt's wohl nimmer auf der Welt, Da spiel'n sie um diverse Schläg, anstatt um's baare Geld, Da nimmt der Erste der da g'winnt, voll Freud in einem Rand, Ein'n Plumpsack wie der größte Heilingstritzel groß in d'Hand; Und schlagt den Letzten, weil der Letzte allemal verspielt, Die Haut so voll, daß ihm sein' Hand wie eine Blunzen g'schwillt; Daß jeder Daum'n an jeder Hand ein' Leberwurst formirt, Daß jeder kleine Finger wie ein Nudelwalker wird.
In that game – which even a child who can barely walk already knows – That is commonly called "Saunigeln" - I don't know why – I don't think there's anything stupider in the world than playing it, They play for a thrashing instead of money, The first one, the one who wins, full of joy, grabs the end Of a Plumpsack[d] as big as the biggest Heilingstritzel[e] in his hand; And beats the one who came last, because the last one always loses, His skin is so sore that his hand swells like a ball of blood; So that each thumb becomes a liver sausage on each hand, And every little finger becomes like a rolling pin.