Das Tübinger Skatspiel

In the playing-card world, Tübingen, south of Stuttgart, is most closely associated with the name of J.G. Cotta, the local bookseller who published what are thought to be the earliest complete printed transformation packs. In this pack, however, other local characters take the stage, each of them in caricature and each named. Some were living (at the time of the pack’s publication), while others are linked with Tubingen’s past, notably Ernst Bloch (1885-1977), the German Marxist philosopher (KS). Simple outlines of sights around the city decorate the Aces. The pips are arranged in non-standard ways – in a different fashion on each suit. The Club Voltaire mentioned on the backs of the cards is a social and cultural club for the performing arts in Tübingen. The accompanying leaflet has biographical details in German►

Above: Das Tübinger Skatspiel devised by Volker Scheub and published in Tübingen, Germany, 1987. Maker unknown. 32 cards + leaflet in German in clear plastic box. Size: 60 x 89.5 mm.