SWEETOOTH DESIGN COMPANY
GIFTS & DESIGNS FOR FOOD LOVERS
Skat Cards
Photo by steinchen
SKAT
GERMANY
19TH CENTURY
OTHER NAMES: Spielkarte (in German)
Skat is Germany's national card game with close to two centuries of history. Skat is a trick-taking card game that consist of 32 cards with 4 suits, and requires three people to play.
THE GAME
Skat is a game for exactly three players. At the beginning of each deal, one player becomes host and the other two players forms the defending team. The two defenders are not allowed to communicate in any way except by their choice of cards to play. The game can also be played in a round of four players; in this case, the dealer will sit out the hand that was dealt.
ORIGIN
Many Skat researchers believe that Skat was started by an Altenburg coachman who travelled frequently to the neighbouring states. He brought the game of Schafkopf (Sheepshead) back home with him from the Saxon-Bohemian Erzgebirge mountains. During that time, one of the members of "Brommesche Tarok-Gesellschaft" (Bromme Tarot Society) learned this Wendish game of Schafkopf from him, and the game of Skat began to develop.
Between 1810 and 1817, the game of Skat was developed from card games Schafkopf, L'hombre, Solo and Tarot. Skat has been refined over the years into the modern form, which the first uniform rules was established in 1929. (1)
The name of Skat is far older than the game itself. In the Italian game of Tarocchi, the cards laid to the side are called the Skat, corresponding with the original meaning in Italian, namely scartare=lay aside. (2) Skat arrived to the United States from German-speaking emigrants, and formed the US Skat Association in 1898, a year before the German Skat Association was found.
TODAY
Skat retains to be a great recreational activity for learning to judge circumstances, and at the same time make connections. It is a great game between soon-to-be friends.
The origin of games is one of the oldest human civilization lineage, spanning over millenniums of development to date. From archaeological evidence traditional games is one of the fundamental aspect of life in the ancient world, and is paramount to the development of social culture and military strategies. Many of these games became modern day family fun for holidays and occasions to enjoy.
TEA AROUND THE WORLD
HISTORY OF COOKIES
