my playing card collection
Altenburger Skat deck: c 1931:
Vereinigte Stralsunder Spielkartenfabriken A.-G. (VASS)
Germany
Unknown
After 1931
36 cards
French
#62
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This deck must have a story to tell. I bought it from France and it was inside an "Aviator, May 25, 1944 Gift of the American Red Cross" box. Both the box and the cards are well worn. The box should have contained Aviator standard poker type cards and not a German Skat deck. Maybe it was just the vendor but I like to think that the joint histories of the box and the cards are more interesting than that. French, German, American ... Second World War and so on, I'd love to know whose pocket they came from.
Skat was originally played with German suits but is now played with both German and French suited decks. German suits are used in the South and East and especially around Alenburg. The French suited deck has Konig (King), Dame (Queen), and Bube (Jack). The image and mirror image are better integrated in this design than in some other decks.
For the rules of Skat refer to http://www.pagat.com/schafk/skat.html
