| Suit System: | G |
| Recommended name: | Linz pattern |
Alternative name: Linzer-Deutsche, Raddreher (wheel-turner) pattern.
The oldest known pack – showing a man on the Daus of Hearts who is pushing a large wheel – was made in 1810 by Friedrich Immanuel Eurich in Linz, the main capital of Upper Austria. Most certainly he invented this pattern, nearly together with starting his card making activities in 1809. The kings with two suit symbols each and the Obers and Unters in civilian outfits and gestures obviously stem from packs as made in the last quarter of the 18th century by Johann Georg Pichler, a forerunner of Eurich. From F.I. Eurich’s large production until c.1850, packs from another four woodblocks showing this pattern are known. His successor Alexander Eurich introduced several variations c.1860; Klaus Reisinger – the late expert in card patterns of the Austrian empire, whose research is reflected here – named the new type as Type II. From c.1840 on, other card makers produced this pattern as well. After about 75 years of production, it disappeared around 1885. Several court figures and numerals’ motifs spread to some curious packs showing mixtures of various patterns, made in Vienna by Max Uffenheimer c.1840 and Josef Glanz c.1850, as well as in Graz by Anton Herrl 1856 and 1858.
Type I: Daus-cards: on Hearts a man pushes a big wheel, always to the left side; on Leaves a man holds a glass of wine while sitting at a table; on Bells two men quarrel with each other at a table; on Acorns a pig. The kings are sitting on a throne, two suit signs each above them; the Ober cards present noblemen, the Unter cards cavaliers taking off their hats. The numeral cards mainly show newly invented, rather simple motifs, e.g. a man chopping wood on the Nine of Hearts, an ancestor of a lawn Tennis player on the Eight of Hearts, or a small man directing a (blind?) giant by a long walking-stick on the Nine of Acorns. On the Seven of Bells, an inscription “Deutsche Linzer Spielkarten” (playing cards of Linz type, with German suit signs) is present in most cases. Type II, differing features: All figures and motifs are drawn ‘as in movement’; on the Daus of Hearts, the man now smoking a pipe turns his wheel now always to the right; several motifs on numeral cards are new, e.g. on the Nine of Acorns a servant bears a closed umbrella, walking several steps behind his thick master.
32 cards: Daus, King, Ober, Unter, X to VII 36 cards: VI in addition 52 cards (in a single case, by Friedrich Eurich in Linz c. 1856: V to II in addition).
In Linz: Friedrich Eurich 1810, 1828, 1849, c.1850, c.1856; Alexander Eurich c.1856, c.1860. In Linz-Urfahr: Franz Rothmüller 1840, 1846. In Freistadt: Alois Hirsch c.1840. In Vienna: Johann Nejedly c.1860, Titze & Schinkay c.1865, Ferdinand Piatnik c.1865, Edmund Knepper & Co. c.1865.
REISINGER, Klaus „Linzer-Deutsche“ in Herz, Schelle, Laub, Eichel – Spielkarten mit Deutschen Farben aus fünf Jahrhunderten, 4 volumes, Wien 2003/04; vol. III p.161-208.
MANN, Sylvia Alle Karten auf den Tisch – All Cards on the Table, 2 volumes, Leinfelden and Marburg 1990; vol.I p.102, 265.
| The International Playing-Card Society | 01/2011 PB |