Schafkopf games: And the sow is the ace

T he most beautiful card game you can play in a pub is called Schafkopf. For this purpose, I met for years in Berlin with colleagues who, like me, have a Bavarian migration background. This is important because this game has its own secret language, which is easier to master the more you speak Bavarian or Franconian - interestingly, the difference between the dialects hardly plays a role in this case.

So if four people are sitting at the next table and each is holding eight cards in their hand and terms like grass, acorn or bells are mentioned, there is often talk of Luschen, of Unter or Ober, but most of all of the sow - the ace - then it is a sheep's head round. In general: it would be a shame to play without words. The language is coarse, and experienced koaddara (card players) have a creative comment ready for every card that is placed on the table.

As with Doppelkopf, it's about finding out who your partner is as quickly as possible so that you can win as much as possible together or just lose by a narrow margin. The ringing of words serves to spread concentrated potency, but never (warning: irony) to direct wishes to the supposed partner. That is forbidden. As a beginner, you should still have learned after the first few games what “smearing” and “scraping” are all about and have also encountered the “Oide” (the old one: the ace of acorns).

In Bavaria, the game is as much a part of the pub as the Halbe Helles. Or not. Because even if Ilse Aigner, a passionate sheepshead player, will soon hold the highest office in the state, the Bavarian State Association for Monument Preservation considers the game to be under threat as a cultural asset. The “Schafkopf-Friendly Tavern” campaign was launched to save the situation. The central element is a “weatherproof” plaque with the same name, which you as an innkeeper can screw to the entrance.

As a Koaddara, I have only one comment for this: “Continue”. I'm out of this game. Because it's the inn's least fault if people actually stop eating sheep's heads. With us, because there is an inn outside, you can also play inside. Especially at table 3, where the blessed Mrs. Deininger taught half the town how to make cards.

And basically: I wouldn't be surprised if a few innkeepers had to close because of all the badge screwing. You are constantly being offered something with hospitality, sustainability or a sense of tradition that you should stick on your door. The only thing missing is the “Beer Drinker Friendly Tavern” badge.