my playing card collection
I love the detailed design of these and the mirrored scenery on the pip cards is especially nice.
Ferdinand Piatnik & Sohne
Austria
Originally Jozsef Schneider, Hungary 1837
Replica purchased 2012
32 cards + one WELI
German
#58
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33 cards with German suits
Each suit has Ace (As), King (König), Over (Ober), Under (Unter), 10, 9, 8, 7. In addition there is a six of bells labelled "WELI" decorated with a few suit-signs from other suits.
The original inventor and creator of the deck was József Schneider, a Master Card Painter at Pest, Hungary, and the date of its creation was 1837.
See
This deck is used for the games Bieten, Perlaggen and Schnellen, played mainly in Tirol and Vorarlberg, and for Watten, which is played throughout Western Austria. The WELI is used as a wild card in Bieten, and as an extra trump in the other games. In Schnellen, the 7s, 8s and 9s may be dropped, leaving 21
cards.
The deck was born in the times before the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, when revolutionary movements were awakening all over in Europe. The Aces show the four seasons. The inventor and creator of the deck was József Schneider, a Master Card Painter at Pest, and the date of its creation as 1837. Had he not chosen the Swiss characters of Schiller's play, had he chosen Hungarian heroes or freedom fighters, his deck of cards would never have made it into distribution, due to the heavy censorship by the government at the time. Interestingly, although the characters on the cards are Swiss, these cards are unknown in Switzerland.
The Kings are not named