Germany

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dazzleguts
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Germany

Unread post by dazzleguts »

1588 "The Book of Trades" by Jost Amman
Reproduction Deck by Il Meneghello


In a move to become a card manufacturing nation in their own right German card makers introduced the national suit signs of Hearts, Bells, Leaves, and Acorns, symbols of everyday country life. Their courts featured a King and 2 Knaves - an "over"(Ober) and an "under"(Unter). Here are 4 Ober cards from a modern pack using the German suit system.
German suits.jpg
German suits.jpg (196.2 KiB) Viewed 10391 times
Though the national suits were accepted and used, German card makers continued to be extremely inventive with their suit signs. Unicorns, dogs, rabbits, apes, monkeys, lions, parrots and peacocks inhabited this paper world. Packs of cards used flowers, combs, fishes, crowns, bellows, frying pans, shields, knives, and the four suits which appear in the 1588 deck I show here, Books, Printer's Ink Pads, Wine Pots and Cups.
Jost Amman books pots courts.jpg
Jost Amman books pots courts.jpg (480.74 KiB) Viewed 10391 times
This 52-card deck is based on one of the most significant works of Jost Amman, one of the more prolific wood cut artists of the German Renaissance. Many of the illustrations for this deck of cards appeared in books before the card deck was completed and produced. The courts are Kings on horseback, and the usual German Ober and Unter. On the 10s are women, perhaps borrowing from the 10s of Spanish packs which are sometimes female figures.
Jost Amman ink pad cups courts.jpg
Jost Amman ink pad cups courts.jpg (477.34 KiB) Viewed 10391 times
The pips feature many illustrations of everyday life as associated with the suit of the card they are on. Placing detailed little pictures on the pip cards was common in German decks, often with a plant rising up in the background of the scene with the pips attached to it as though they were leaves or fruit of the plant.
Jost Amman pips.jpg
Jost Amman pips.jpg (477.98 KiB) Viewed 10391 times
This particular deck is a facsimile deck using the uncoloured black prints from the woodcuts. It was made by Il Meneghello in 1985 as an edition of 2000. My deck is No1,721. The cards come in a book shaped cardboard sleeve that ties at the side with ribbon.

I think the only colour deck still in existence is missing one of the cards so they went without the colour for this facsimile. You can see what the brightly coloured deck looked like here:[/color]
http://www.wopc.co.uk/germany/ammon.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Germany

Unread post by dazzleguts »

1988 DSR II
(Deutfracht Seerederei Rostock)


Printed in 1988 by Coeur this is the second publicity deck for DSR, the naval shipping company of the port city Rostock. 52 cards and 3 jokers are all illustrated with images relating to ocean sailing. This deck is much more playful than the first one which was made in 1976 by the same artist. As with so many modern decks here are the French suits, also known as the international suits, rather than the traditional German suits.
Jokers_small.jpg
Jokers_small.jpg (172.28 KiB) Viewed 8586 times
I love the scratchy ink drawing of this deck. The artist, Klaus Ensikat, even drew each end of every card rather than just flipping the image.
pips 2.jpg
pips 1.jpg
On the courts are a mixture of historic and mythological figures. Sir Francis Drake as the King of Spades and a the Flying Dutchman as the Jack of Clubs. Sorry for the weird quality change in image, the bulb in my scanner may be getting too old.
Courts Spades Hearts.jpg
Courts Clubs Diamonds.jpg
On the Aces, drawings of sea monsters.
DSR aces back.jpg
To see the pip cards I didn't scan go to:[/color]
http://www.mydearplayingcards.com/2006_ ... ock-II.php
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Re: Germany

Unread post by Eoghann »

Wow I love that last deck!
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Re: Germany

Unread post by dazzleguts »

Yeah, it's great artwork eh? And he drew every part of it, pips and all, so it all has the slightly rough feel of being hand drawn, and comes together really well as a whole.
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Re: Germany

Unread post by Eoghann »

Yeah it's really something. I specially like the courts and jokers. I'll have to keep an eye out for this one.
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Re: Germany

Unread post by volantangel »

This is indeed a brilliant deck, it really reminds me of my hendricks deck, albeit a less funky one. Really like the courts, im always waiting for a modern deck to take on this style
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Re: Germany

Unread post by samurai007 »

Here is a German deck that I own. It is a souvenir deck with pictures of places from around Germany on the number cards, traditional costumes on the face cards, and legendary characters on the 3 Jokers (such as the Pied Piper) The back is a double eagle with shiny gold background (why can't today's decks with "metallic inks" get a gold this shiny? It's really shiny in person.) The deck also has gold edges on the corners and comes with a 188 page booklet that describes every card in the deck in 3 different languages! I'm not sure of the year, but it looks at least a couple decades old. The black box it comes in is on the upper rt.

Image

Image
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Re: Germany

Unread post by dazzleguts »

The castle on the Ace of C looks like it's the Bavarian Neuschwanstein Castle that Disney used as a basis for his fairytale castles.
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Re: Germany

Unread post by samurai007 »

dazzleguts wrote:The castle on the Ace of C looks like it's the Bavarian Neuschwanstein Castle that Disney used as a basis for his fairytale castles.
Yep, it sure is! If you are into RPGs, it's also known as Castle Falkenstein in the Victorian steampunk RPG of that same name.
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Re: Germany

Unread post by volantangel »

Love the castle ! Its one of the most beautiful castles out there sitting atop a hill. Pity it was never really completed. Heres a pic i took of it last year =D
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Re: Germany

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Re: Germany

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Re: Germany

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Re: Germany

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Re: Germany

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Re: Germany

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Re: Germany

Unread post by dazzleguts »

Cool decks. I especially like the big heads deck with the op-art back. I'll look around a bit and see if I can find anything on it. Won't be right away though since life's a little busy right now.

Having the title, artist, maker and date for the first one is very good. Sometimes there's nothing at all I can find on a deck I have, and it's a mystery until I chance upon some sideways info on the web.
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Re: Germany

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Re: Germany

Unread post by dazzleguts »

Poker Flat Recordings

I don't know if it usually comes with a box but the deck I bought didn't have one. I made this 2 part slide box to contain the cards.
Poker Flat box.JPG
Based in Hamburg, Germany, the Poker Flat Recordings studio has been one of Europe's most prominent tech house labels for much of the past 15 years. Founded in 1998 by Steve Bug, the Poker Flat sound has gone through several mutations over the years, but the studio remains largely grounded in functional and melody-heavy house.

The cards were made in 2008 for the tenth anniversary of Poker Flat. They feature "inspired deadly chic" illustrations by artists Nils Zimmermann & Chris-toph Babbel.
Poker Flat jacks.jpg
Poker Flat queens.jpg
Poker Flat kings.jpg
This deck is made up of 100% plastic, casino quality poker cards and was made in China. They seem a little thinner than the other plastic decks I have handled, and they have a pebbled surface for glide.
Poker Flat ace EC jokers.jpg
The backs of the cards feature a repeating Poker Flat logo, and the way the pattern ends makes this a one-way back.
Poker Flat back fan.JPG
These cards are still available on the Poker Flat Recordings web site, last I looked.

[/color]
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Re: Germany

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Re: Germany

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Re: Germany

Unread post by Eoghann »

WOw that Gracia deck is lovely!
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Re: Germany

Unread post by volantangel »

Wow really really nice! Jase if you ever see them floating on eBay at a steal..
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Re: Germany

Unread post by Sher »

Yeah, I totally agree with Eoghann and Volant. Awesome deck! :D
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Re: Germany

Unread post by dazzleguts »

Sounds like there's going to be a run on these.
Must be that soft touch in the graphics. The patience deck looks harder edged and not as appealing.

It's really cool you're bringing all these cards to the UC table that most people here have never seen before.

Jase = 8-)
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Re: Germany

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Re: Germany

Unread post by Norbie »

Ok......

I'm just after a nice 54 card deck that uses those traditional German courts like those shown in a post by Jock1971 with the 32 sket deck. I'm not after those vintage decks, just new releases with those courts.

Thanks.
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Re: Germany

Unread post by dazzleguts »

Hi Norbie :)

In the US you can buy new European decks of all types at TaroBear's Lair. Here's the German cards with French suits page:

http://tarobearslair.com/german-cards-w ... suits.aspx

The poker deck is at the bottom and only $4.25. Don't know what the shipping is like to Australia though. Any site that sells German cards with French suits should have the deck so perhaps you can find a better source?

The name of these courts is the Berlin Pattern, in case that helps in your search. They started in the North of Germany in the early 1800s. The name is confusing since they were named for the location of a factory that started making them in large numbers rather than for their actual origin. You can read about them here if you like - about halfway down the page:

[url]http://a_pollett.tripod.com/cards7.htm[/url]

I'm curious, are you actually planning to use the cards or are they for your collection? I understand wanting a particular deck without the price tag that often goes with it.
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Re: Germany

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Re: Germany

Unread post by Mike Ratledge »

Absolutely no question that the European makers have consistently produced the finest cards with the most variety. The one gotcha about getting locked into "vintage and antique Bike" decks is that there is no variation amongst them. You have the Ace of Spades, Jokers (if they exist, and most were discarded - especially hard to find a 120+ year old deck with them because the first thing most people did when they opened the deck was discard the joker(s)), the backs and of course the tuck box - if IT exists.

Contrast this deck, ostensibly the finest ever made: the deck that killed Donforf in 1933 on their 100th anniversary: "Hundertjahrkarte" or Centennial, later reprinted by Waddingtons in Britain in the 60's and again in 1975 by A.S.S. the company that bought Dondorf and to this day still produces a few of their decks under that name.
These are the 1975 version. Waddington's sold under the name "Royal Gothic" - a red / blue pair. Both are distinct from the original 1933 printing which had A/K/D/B (German/Dutch) indices on the courts vice A/K/Q/J the English markings. I've seen a set marked "E/K/D/Kn" which is the Danish marks, probably printed for Wulff in Koebenhavn, since a lot (all?) of their cards were printed by Dondorf and some had "Enteret" on them, meaning 'exclusive' for them only.
Dondorf Hundertyahrkarte 1933
Dondorf Hundertyahrkarte 1933
Dondorf_HunredYarKarte_Centennail_1933_back.JPG (172.36 KiB) Viewed 7905 times
These are the "28 stone" cards that beat them into bankruptcy. A deck with 16 color faces and 12 color backs, although looking at any of my three varieties I'd have to say that I'm clueless why it needed 12 colors for the back. The court faces are unbelievable, appear to be photographs of the people on them, and even the best of the others have the look where they are clearly identifiable as say 'Charlemagne' on the KoH ("Suicide King"), can see the color of his eyes on those 12 color decks, but - nothing quite like these.

I think I'll reproduce them and see how it turns out? (shhh... I didn't say that)
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