Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Bruus
Bruus, formerly Brausebart or Brusbart, is a north German card game for four players in two teams of two. It was once highly popular but has since died out except for a few pockets in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. As Brusbart, it was the ancestor of a family of similar games in northern Europe, including Swedish Bräus and Danish Brus which are still played today. Bruus features 'daring and tormenting' which has been said to give the game a certain charm. Once considered the national game of Hamburg, Bruus is a descendant of Karnöffel, the oldest identifiable European card game in the history of playing cards with a continuous tradition of play down to the present day. The game is named after the Bruus or Brusbart, once its top card, but now its second-highest trump.
The game of Brusbart or Brausebart goes back at least to the first half of the 18th century, Amelung even suggesting that this "old German game" may have emerged as early as 1650. By the mid-18th century it had spread to most of northern mainland Europe, including Poland, Livonia and Russia. Earliest references to the game, appear in the 1770s, by when it was familiar enough for a character in a north German stage play to announce that "my leevtes Spill is Bruusbaart” ("my favourite game is Brusbart"). The game contains a number of features that clearly point to its being a descendant of Karnöffel, Europe's oldest card game with a continuous tradition of play down to the present day. These include the wild ranking of the cards, the unusual powers of the Sevens and, historically, the use of signalling between partners using gestures, known as winken.
Around 1800, "Bruus'baart" was the best known card game in the north German city port of Hamburg, so much so that it was described in 1804 as "Hamburg's national game" and a song was written in honour of it that conveys something of the rowdy atmosphere of the game and confirms that signalling was an integral part of it. In the 1830s and 1840s it was played in the town of Schleswig and in the 1870s in Eckernförde. It is also recorded in Bergedorf and the state of Mecklenburg.
The game faded quickly, being described in 1865 as a "formerly" very popular game among the lower classes, and, by 1900, it was virtually forgotten in Hamburg. Nevertheless, it clung on in the north, being recorded in 1911 in the Anglian peninsula, at Wallsbüll near Flensburg and also in central Schleswig along the Danish-German language boundary. By 1927, it was thought to be extinct having once been "very popular through Schleswig (specifically in Anglia)" and also played in Holstein in Dithmarschen, Hademarschen and Hohenwestedt. It had been especially popular with women.
The name of the game appears to have come from the nickname for the King of Hearts (illustrated) which was top card until the 19th century when it was gradually overtaken by the Spitz, the Jack of Clubs. The name 'Brusbart' means "shaggy beard" and may be derived from early German-suited playing cards where the King of Hearts was the only King with a bushy beard. The Spitz was also called Spitzkopf. The Toller Hund means "mad dog" and may likewise be derived from the depiction of a dog on the Eight of Leaves in such cards. The Low German word bruusen meant 'to play Brusbart' and appears as early as 1800 both as a verb and as a noun (se speelt bruusen). Nevertheless, the name Brusbart, variously spelt, continued to hold sway until the second decade of the 20th century when it was finally superseded by the term Bruus.
Today the game is still played are in Schleswig in the region east of the port of Husum, in the villages of Schwesing, Treia and nearby Oster-Ohrstedt. Regular Bruus tournaments are held during the winter months in Schwesing and Oster-Ohrstedt. In March 2020, an 'International Open' tournament was held in Schwesing, in which an English player was placed second.
The original game of Brusbart developed into a family of closely related games as it spread across Europe. These include the historical games of Estonian Brus, Livonian Brusbart, Russian Bruzbart or Dulya and Polish Drużbart, as well as the games of Danish Brus, Swedish Bräus, Icelandic Brús, Greenlandic Voormsi and Bruus itself, which have survived into the 21st century. More distant cousins include Faroese Stýrivolt and Schleswig Knüffeln.
The rules have changed over the years with new features being added, such as double and triple tricks, but the old signalling scheme and lively communication between partners, including bluffing and blustering, has gone. The latter very much features in the Brausebart song of 1800, which is the earliest description of play and was interpreted by Feit in 1907.
Hub AI
Bruus AI simulator
(@Bruus_simulator)
Bruus
Bruus, formerly Brausebart or Brusbart, is a north German card game for four players in two teams of two. It was once highly popular but has since died out except for a few pockets in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. As Brusbart, it was the ancestor of a family of similar games in northern Europe, including Swedish Bräus and Danish Brus which are still played today. Bruus features 'daring and tormenting' which has been said to give the game a certain charm. Once considered the national game of Hamburg, Bruus is a descendant of Karnöffel, the oldest identifiable European card game in the history of playing cards with a continuous tradition of play down to the present day. The game is named after the Bruus or Brusbart, once its top card, but now its second-highest trump.
The game of Brusbart or Brausebart goes back at least to the first half of the 18th century, Amelung even suggesting that this "old German game" may have emerged as early as 1650. By the mid-18th century it had spread to most of northern mainland Europe, including Poland, Livonia and Russia. Earliest references to the game, appear in the 1770s, by when it was familiar enough for a character in a north German stage play to announce that "my leevtes Spill is Bruusbaart” ("my favourite game is Brusbart"). The game contains a number of features that clearly point to its being a descendant of Karnöffel, Europe's oldest card game with a continuous tradition of play down to the present day. These include the wild ranking of the cards, the unusual powers of the Sevens and, historically, the use of signalling between partners using gestures, known as winken.
Around 1800, "Bruus'baart" was the best known card game in the north German city port of Hamburg, so much so that it was described in 1804 as "Hamburg's national game" and a song was written in honour of it that conveys something of the rowdy atmosphere of the game and confirms that signalling was an integral part of it. In the 1830s and 1840s it was played in the town of Schleswig and in the 1870s in Eckernförde. It is also recorded in Bergedorf and the state of Mecklenburg.
The game faded quickly, being described in 1865 as a "formerly" very popular game among the lower classes, and, by 1900, it was virtually forgotten in Hamburg. Nevertheless, it clung on in the north, being recorded in 1911 in the Anglian peninsula, at Wallsbüll near Flensburg and also in central Schleswig along the Danish-German language boundary. By 1927, it was thought to be extinct having once been "very popular through Schleswig (specifically in Anglia)" and also played in Holstein in Dithmarschen, Hademarschen and Hohenwestedt. It had been especially popular with women.
The name of the game appears to have come from the nickname for the King of Hearts (illustrated) which was top card until the 19th century when it was gradually overtaken by the Spitz, the Jack of Clubs. The name 'Brusbart' means "shaggy beard" and may be derived from early German-suited playing cards where the King of Hearts was the only King with a bushy beard. The Spitz was also called Spitzkopf. The Toller Hund means "mad dog" and may likewise be derived from the depiction of a dog on the Eight of Leaves in such cards. The Low German word bruusen meant 'to play Brusbart' and appears as early as 1800 both as a verb and as a noun (se speelt bruusen). Nevertheless, the name Brusbart, variously spelt, continued to hold sway until the second decade of the 20th century when it was finally superseded by the term Bruus.
Today the game is still played are in Schleswig in the region east of the port of Husum, in the villages of Schwesing, Treia and nearby Oster-Ohrstedt. Regular Bruus tournaments are held during the winter months in Schwesing and Oster-Ohrstedt. In March 2020, an 'International Open' tournament was held in Schwesing, in which an English player was placed second.
The original game of Brusbart developed into a family of closely related games as it spread across Europe. These include the historical games of Estonian Brus, Livonian Brusbart, Russian Bruzbart or Dulya and Polish Drużbart, as well as the games of Danish Brus, Swedish Bräus, Icelandic Brús, Greenlandic Voormsi and Bruus itself, which have survived into the 21st century. More distant cousins include Faroese Stýrivolt and Schleswig Knüffeln.
The rules have changed over the years with new features being added, such as double and triple tricks, but the old signalling scheme and lively communication between partners, including bluffing and blustering, has gone. The latter very much features in the Brausebart song of 1800, which is the earliest description of play and was interpreted by Feit in 1907.