Deutsche Geschichte
German History Quartet published by Otto Maier Verlag Ravensburg, c.1930-35.
An overview of German history...
Deutsche Geschichte is a quartet game published by Otto Maier Verlag-Ravensburg (Spiele No.5514) in c.1930-35. The b/w images and text, which is in old German script, illustrate German history as told by the Nazis from early beginnings up to the 3rd Reich. The game contains 48 cards in 12 numbered sets of four cards each dedicated to a period of German history.
1: Prehistory and migration

2: The Carolingian Empire

3: The Saxons and Gauls

4: The Hohenstaufen Dynasty

5: The Habsburgs

6: Protestant Reformation and 30 years War

7: After the Peace of Westphalia

8: The Rise of Prussia

9: The Napoleonic Wars

10: The Second German Empire

11: The World War

12: The Third Reich

Above: cards from “Deutsche Geschichte” (German History) Quartet published by Otto Maier Verlag Ravensburg, c.1930-35. 48 cards in box.

By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)
Member since January 30, 2009
Rex's main interest was in card games, because, he said, they were cheap and easy to get hold of in his early days of collecting. He is well known for his extensive knowledge of Pepys games and his book is on the bookshelves of many.
His other interest was non-standard playing cards. He also had collections of sheet music, music CDs, models of London buses, London Transport timetables and maps and other objects that intrigued him.
Rex had a chequered career at school. He was expelled twice, on one occasion for smoking! Despite this he trained as a radio engineer and worked for the BBC in the World Service.
Later he moved into sales and worked for a firm that made all kinds of packaging, a job he enjoyed until his retirement. He became an expert on boxes and would always investigate those that held his cards. He could always recognize a box made for Pepys, which were the same as those of Alf Cooke’s Universal Playing Card Company, who printed the card games. This interest changed into an ability to make and mend boxes, which he did with great dexterity. He loved this kind of handicraft work.
His dexterity of hand and eye soon led to his making card games of his own design. He spent hours and hours carefully cutting them out and colouring them by hand.
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