German playing cards

German playing cards are a style of playing cards used is some parts of Central Europe. Playing cards (Spielkarten) entered German-speaking lands around the late 1370s. After much experimentation, the cards settled into new suits of Acorns (Eichel), Leaves (Grün or Blatt), Hearts (Herz) and Bells (Schelle) around 1450. Closely related Swiss playing cards are used in German-speaking Switzerland. The French suit symbols were derived from the German ones around 1480. German-suited cards spread throughout Central Europe into areas that were once under German or Austrian control (Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Croatia, Transylvania, Banat, Vojvodina, South Tyrol, Transcarpathia, and parts of Poland). They were also produced and used as far east as Russia until the early 20th century. German-suited decks are not well known all over these countries including parts of Germany itself as they have been undergoing strong competition from French playing cards since the late 17th-century. Traditional card games in which the German suits are used include Skat, Schafkopf and Doppelkopf.

German suited decks tend to have fewer cards than either the French, Spanish, or Italian sets. The typical northern German pack goes from ranks 7, 8, 9, 10, Under Knave (Unter), Over Knave (Ober), King (König), and Ace (Ass) for a total of 32 cards. Southern patterns have 36 cards by including the 6. In Austria and South Tyrol, the 6 of Bells is known as the Weli which is often used as a wild card. The Weli first appeared around 1855 in the discontinued Tyrolean pattern and later the Salzburg and William Tell patterns. With the exception of the New Altenburg pattern, all cards with the rank of 10 include the Roman numeral X on the top center of the card.

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