Many regions have their own pattern (
Bild) which features their own unique artwork or number of cards. Some patterns are descended from much earlier ones like the Saxon pattern which can trace their ancestry to the 15th-century Stukeley type cards named after their identifier,
William Stukeley, in 1763.
Northern Northern patterns include the
Saxon pattern, in old, new and double-figured variants, the
Lower Saxon pattern and the two types of
Prussian, or
Prussian-Silesian, pattern. Most were originally produced with 36 cards but this was reduced to 32 cards after the spread of
Skat. In northern patterns, the acorns are red.
Saxon pattern The only traditional northern pattern still in regular production in Germany is the Saxon pattern where only pip cards have corner indices. 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. Historically they were called
Schwerterkarte, "sword cards", referring to the two or three swords displayed on some of the cards, a symbol of the electoral status of the
dukes of Saxony. Wolfgang Suma identified four stages of development: • Nuremberg pattern, Stukeley type, imported in the late 15th century. Later called Ruimpf cards after the game. • Cavalier cards, developed in the first half of the 18th century probably in Leipzig • Schwerterkarte (Sword cards), first appeared 1800, became double-ended in late 19th century. • East German pattern, designed 1963–1964.
Ruimpf cards 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. 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. They were narrower than the almost square cards of the older Nuremberg pattern (see below).
Schwerterkarte 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. Replicas of this early type are still made, for example the 1835 example produced by
Altenburger. A newer, more elaborate, variant emerged in the early 19th century. Both designs feature a great lion on the Acorn Deuce, lovers being surprised on the Deuce of Bells and the Unter of Bells holding a tame bird. The pip cards feature a range of ornamental scenes from animals, legendary and real, to biblical scenes. The latter fell away in the double-headed versions that came into vogue at the end of the 19th century and are still in production today. picture cards)
East German pattern These older northern patterns have been eclipsed by the double-headed
New Altenburg,
New German or
East German pattern, created by Walter Krauss (1908–1985) in the former
East Germany, which added corner indices to every card but the Aces and cleverly changed the dimensions of the cards to match those of standard poker or rummy cards. In 2018,
ASS Altenburger (ASS) launched the first 52-card, German-suited pack to be manufactured for several centuries as part of a
Rommé set comprising 2 packs of 52 cards plus 2 jokers each. This limited edition of 1000 sets was sold out almost immediately and so, in 2019, ASS published a revised set taking account of customer feedback. Despite being German-suited, the cards featured Queens and Jacks instead of Obers and Unters. In addition, there are Twos as well as Deuces (called Aces). The Queens had also been designed by Krauss originally, but they were unpopular, and such version with Queens instead of Obers is otherwise no longer in print.
Prussian pattern Meanwhile, for over a century the Prussian pattern has been the most common German-suited pattern in
Poland, though nowadays it is usually associated only with Skat, which is played mostly in
Upper Silesia. The
regular German version of this pattern was produced in Poland up to the mid-1960s, when it was then replaced by a modification (usually called the
Silesian pattern), designed by
Franciszek Bunsch in the early 1960s, while packs featuring it have been produced since 1963. or various types of Prussian double-headed pattern, are still produced as special editions.
Southern The 36 card Bavarian (
Munich and
Stralsund types),
Franconian, and
Salzburg (or
einfachdeutsche) patterns are descended from the Old Bavarian pattern which itself goes back to the 15th-century Augsburg pattern. In all variants the Obers and Unters are portrayed as fighters, with the Ober and Unter of Leaves carrying a drum and fife respectively. Bavarian cards have an aspect ratio of roughly 2:1. In the non-reversible (Einfach) pattern which used to be commonplace, various pictorial designs were used, especially on the pip cards. These individual scenes are now only found on the Deuces (also called Twos, Sows, or Aces). Since the 1980s, Italian manufacturers have included 5s into their Salzburg decks to allow the German speaking South Tyroleans to play Italian card games that require 40 cards with suits they are more familiar with. Salzburg decks also inherited the "Weli" from its extinct sibling, the Tyrolean pattern. The Salzburg pattern remains non-reversible and lacks corner indices. Most games require only 32 cards by excluding the 6s such as
Schafkopf. Games that require the full deck include
Bavarian Tarock,
Jass,
Tapp and some versions of
Watten. Patterns that are still printed: • Bavarian Doppelbild, Munich type • Bavarian Doppelbild, Stralsund type • Franconian reversible pattern • Bohemian (or Prague) pattern • Salzburg pattern - in Austria called the
Single German pattern ("einfachdeutsch") as opposed to the
Double German pattern ("doppeldeutsch") Patterns that have ceased printing: • Ansbach or Nuremberg (narrow type) pattern • Old Bavarian pattern (common predecessor) with variants in Poland and Russia • Bavarian-Swabian pattern • Isarkreis pattern (predecessor of the Salzburg pattern) • Lemberg pattern • Nuremberg pattern (wide type) • Nuremberg Eagle (coat of arms) cards • Regensburg pattern (predecessor of the Bohemian pattern) • Tyrolean pattern • Polish pattern The
Bohemian (or
Prague) pattern pack is the standard one still used in the
Bohemian part of the Czech Republic. It is closely related to the Salzburg pattern of Austria and thus is also descended from the Old Bavarian – one of the oldest German-suited packs – but there are only 32 cards in the pack, like the northern ones. The cards are single-headed and lack corner indices. and are used for playing traditional regional games. 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 Kings are seated and come with two suit marks like the Deuces. The pip cards have miniature scenes of animals or rural life. Today the pattern is still produced by Společnost Hrací Karty 1884.
Origins The
Augsburg pattern was one of the two ancestors (the other being the
Ulm-Munich pattern) of the present Bavarian pattern pack and appeared around 1500. The four kings sitting on thrones are each accompanied by two armed servants. The Ober and Unter of Leaves are military musicians, the Ober is a bagpipe-playing fool; the Unter is playing a 'fanfare' or flute. The Ober and Unter of Hearts are armed with polearms, the Ober and Unter of Bells with swords, The Ober and Unter of Acorns carry a mace and bossed shield. In the middle of the 17th century, after the
Thirty Years' War, the Augsburg pattern changed into the so-called Old Bavarian pattern. The Ober and Unter of Acorns were now each armed with a sword and parrying dagger. 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. Obers and Unters of the same suit were armed, as in a fencing school, with the same weapons. 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. The Deuces depicted various scenes. The Deuce of Leaves had a pyramid with a unicorn, deer and eagle; the Deuce of Acorns depicted Bacchus, the Deuce of Bells had a wild boar being attacked by a hunting dog and, on the Deuce of Hearts was usually a Cupid. Around 1750 this pattern became widespread across the whole old Bavarian region. Smaller variations of this pattern became common in
Congress Poland from 1918.
Modern Bavarian patterns In the newly formed
Kingdom of Bavaria, the
Old Bavarian pattern changed after 1810 into the Modern Bavarian pattern. A vase now appears on the Deuce of Leaves and the King of Acorns was given a crown again, leaving the King of Leaves as the only 'oriental' figure. The Ober of Heart has now exchanged his polearm for a sword on which he rests. The Ober and Unter of Acorns now only carry one weapon, however, Ober of Acorns also carries an oval shield. This type, designed by Munich card maker, Josef Fetscher, draughted by
Frankfurt card maker,
C. L. Wüst, and manufactured around 1854, is known today as the
Munich type of the Bavarian pattern. It has been widely used thanks to its production by the playing-card manufacturers, F. X. Schmid. 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. The Kings, Obers and Unters were dressed in fantasy uniforms in the style of historicism. Essential distinguishing features of this
Stralsund type of the Bavarian pattern from its Munich type are: • The Ober of Leaves carries the drum on his right knee instead of the left. • The Unter of Acorns wears a
beret. • The Ober of Acorns has a pointed shield instead of an oval one. • The Bacchus on the Deuce of Acorn has a beer mug instead of a wine goblet. • The Cupid has butterfly wings. 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. Non-reversible versions are occasionally reprinted but for the interest of collectors as opposed for gaming. For example, in 1980, ASS produced a limited run of non-reversible packs of the Munich type for export to West Germany.
Württemberg The
Württemberg pattern was invented around 1865 by C.L. Wüst and bears many unique features. The kings were copied from French-suited patterns now found in the Netherlands and Portugal. The Obers were inspired by the
Knights in
Adler Cego decks used in nearby
Baden. Unters are
journeymen in broad-brimmed hats. Unlike other German-suited patterns, the cards were only ever produced in double-headed format. A younger type of the Württemberg pattern, manufactured by
the Nuremberg Playing Card Company (NSV) and others using different court designs, also exists. In the present, the cards are sold as a doubled pack of 48 cards (24 unique cards duplicated). The duplicated cards (7, 10, U, O, K, A of each suit) are used to play
Doppelkopf,
Pinochle, and
Gaigel. They used to be produced in 36 card packs (with every card unique), like other southern patterns, to play
Württembergischer Tarock. This was the original format, but by 1985 it was restricted to the
Palatinate where it eventually died out.
Pressman Toy has published a 48 card version, in which every card is unique, to play
Karnöffel. It uses the younger type and is mislabelled as the Bavarian pattern.
Central European The
Tell pattern,
Hungarian pattern, or in Austria called the
Double German pattern, is popular throughout the former
Austro-Hungarian Empire which takes in much of Central and Southeastern Europe. The Ober and Unter cards depict William Tell and other characters from
Friedrich Schiller's
Wilhelm Tell (the title character is Ober of Acorns). The play was written in 1804, its first Hungarian performance was in 1827 at
Kolozsvár (Austrian: Klausenburg) and the first decks were made by József Schneider of
Pest around 1835. Schneider cut out sheets of 36 cards, applied the red, scarlet, blue, and brown colours to them using a template. He then painted the face, hands, and small ornaments of clothes by hand. The characters from the drama were chosen to avoid censorship at the time of the Hungarian opposition to
Habsburg rule. The story, after all, was about a successful revolt against the Habsburgs. After the
Hungarian War of Independence in 1848–49, the Austrian government confiscated the cards.
Piatnik of Austria began producing this deck in 1865, they changed two of the characters. The Aces or Deuces depict the four seasons which are also somewhat different in the Austrian and Hungarian versions. The Slovak-Moravian version follows the Austrian version but does not label the characters or the seasons. The Kings represent no one in particular and are shown mounted on horses. Except for the Aces, all pip cards have Roman numerals. The suit symbols are also slightly different, most notably the leaves are now half yellow and end with three tips. They come in packs of 32, 33 (with the
Weli), or 36 cards. They are sometimes called "Swiss cards" due to the nationality of the characters but this pattern is not used in Switzerland. In Hungary and other eastern European countries they are called "Hungarian cards" and only come in 32-card packs. Here are the differences between the current iterations of the Hungarian (first given) and Austrian versions:
Franco-German hybrid decks After the
unification and
reunification of Germany, compromise decks were created to help players from around the country who were used to different suits. The
Skat Congress decks split cards diagonally with one half using the pattern with French suits and the other half using the pattern with German suits. This is not unique to Germany as similar split decks are found in Austria, Switzerland and even France. The Turnierbild pack was created for official Skat tournaments, using the French suited
Berlin pattern but with German colours (green Spades and yellow Diamonds). The packs from
Grimaud Junior also used this scheme. == Footnotes ==