01-019 German-suited Playing Cards

01-019
German-suited Playing Cards

Apart from the widely popular Standard 52-card deck of French-suited playing cards and the second popular Spanish-suited cards, there exist another “standard” deck playing cards in the world. It is the German-suited playing cards.

Although called “German-suited”, part of the Germany have already adopted the French-suited cards. German-suited cards are mainly used in Central Europe, which includes Austria, German-speaking Switzerland, Liechtenstein, north Italy, Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and only the south and east parts of Germany. People living further east of these countries again adopted the French-suited.

German-suited playing cards also come with 4 suits. But the suits are different from the French-suits or the Spanish-suits. The 4 German-suits are Acorns (Eichel or Kreuz), Leaves (Grün, Blatt, Laub, Pik or Gras), Hearts (Herz or Rot) and Bells (Schelle, Schell or Bolle). Pattern varies between different area.

German-suited playing cards

Among different “standard” decks of playing cards, German-suited cards have the least number of cards. A pack of German-suited cards normally come with 32 or 36 cards. While most Spanish-suited cards skip number 8 & 9, German-suited cards skip number 2 to 6. Some packs include a 33^rd card called Weli, which is 6 of the Bells and often used as a wild card. Some packs contain all 4 “Number 6” cards. There are no Jokers.

In Spanish-suited cards, face cards start from value 10. The German-suited cards follow the French pattern and start from 11. Face cards are “U” Under Knave (Unter = Untermann i.e. subordinate, underling or sergeant), “O” Over Knave (Ober = Obermann i.e. superordinate, overlord or officer) & “K” King (König).

Cards are very colourful. In some patterns, every the number cards are decorated with pictures.

German-suited playing cards are also standard decks, the pack normally includes no instructions as all people should know how to play cards.

Specifications

Card size	Not specific, down to the printer.
Deck size	32, 33 or 36 cards
# of suits	4 – Acorns, Leaves, Hearts & Bells
Details	For each suit, pip cards are valued from 7 to 10, then followed by U, O, K & A. Some packs include number 6. U, O, K are court cards which represent Under Knave, Over Knave, and the King. There are no Jokers.

Game Play

I have not played these cards with my kids yet. I am still looking for a game that can be played with German cards. Actually, all card games played with the German or Spanish-suited cards can be played with a Standard 52-card deck.

Where to buy?

Etsy.

Playing cards are in public domain. So technically everyone can print their own playing cards. But maybe because of their lesser popularity, there are not too many manufacturers publishing German-suited playing cards nowadays.

I got my copy from Etsy. The seller is Shop4Top from Lithuania. The shop provides free shipment through standard airmail, slow but free. The deck is printed by the Italian printer Modiano. It is in Tell pattern. The Ober and Unter cards depict William Tell and other characters from Friedrich Schiller's famous play “Wilhelm Tell”. The cards are also called “Hungarian cards”.

The Ober and Unter cards are replaced by characters from "Wilhelm Tell".

Kings remain but not named.

Aces depict the four seasons.

The single "Weli" card is usually played as a wild card.

Even the normal number cards are beautifully decorated.

Cards are made of plastic and are beautifully printed. I am happy to include this pack in my collection. My card collection would not be completed without a pack of German-suited cards in it.

Never heard of Wilhelm Tell's story? Watch this!

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