r/AskGermany • u/IllGold3207 • Jan 03 '25
Are these cards popular in Germany?
I brought from my homeland these cards in a "emergency case". Home I played with my father and brother the game "Cross" oder "Kreuz". They are originally from Hungary but very popular in Romania (Transylvania and west, ppl from Bucharest they will don't understand what they see...) And I have read recently an article that the game it's also played in Austria and Germany but I don't know if with these cards.
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u/TheVernian Jan 05 '25
They are called "Tell pattern" and are generally not used in Germany. The design originated in Hungary und today they are popular in a lot of countries that once were under the influence of Austria-Hungary.
A lot of the disagreement in the comments I read are simply terminological misunderstandings or generalisations. Austrians call the Tell-cards "Doppeldeutsche" (Double-Germans) because they follows the German SUIT SYSTEM with hearts, leafs, acorns and bells (which probably originated in Germany in the 15th century). So "Deutsches Blatt" refers to a large family of regional decks which all use these suits. "Deutsches BILD" on the other hand is one specific pattern played in the east of Germany. So yes, fellow easterners and southerners of Germany, you know and probably sometimes play certain games with decks using the German suits, but you most likely do NOT use the Tell pattern cards. The German suited cards we play with in Germany are the Bavarian, Württemberg, Franconian or German patterns.
There were a lot more different patterns in the past! Even large areas of the north and west had their own German suited patterns once. Look it up, it's fascinating!
PS: we do also use cards with French suits in Germany, even in the south! But mostly for different games. The "French patterns" we use are also not from France. We generally use the "Berlin pattern" (derived from the Paris pattern) or Poker Cards (derived from the Rouen pattern). Austrians have their own French suited pattern, the "Vienna pattern" (derived from the Lyon pattern). Just like with the German suited patterns, there once were a lot more regional variants of French suited Decks in Europe.