Julius Berndl and his Austrian tarock

Julius Berndl was born in Vienna on 7 April, 1848. Although no records of his training are known, his documented work shows that he began working for Josef Glanz in around 1885. He often signs his work, which allows its identification. He followed the tradition of his predecessor Josef Sürch►

Sadly, in 1901 Julius Berndl was placed in an asylum due to mental illness; he died on 4 April, 1902. Around 1875, his son of the same name was born. Based on the decks produced by Josef Glanz that are dated 1900–1910 and bear the same signature, it's likely the son succeeded his father. It is debatable whether the version 2 below is not a joint work of father and son, or perhaps only the son.

Perhaps Berndl's best-known collaboration with the Glanz company is the Gigerl-Tarock. Another interesting atypical tarock deck is the similar “Tarock with scenes from leisure time” (Tarock mit Szenen aus den Mußestunden) created around 1890.

The Glanz company also commissioned Berndl to design its own Austrian tarock deck (Industrie und Glück). The court cards have the usual appearance, but the composition of rural scenes on the tarock cards is non-standard. Although it is close to the Type B scheme in the IPCS specification, sometimes the position of the scene does not correspond to a specific tarock. Some motifs are completely new. Leading tarock expert Klaus Reisinger, with his own classification series, refers to the deck as “Scheme VII”. Tarock cards with this composition of genre scenes were produced only by Josef Glanz.

Version 1. According to the contact addresses listed on Jack of Clubs, this deck could be dated to 1897-1898. The tax stamp used in 1882-1899 also corresponds to this date. Reisinger assumes that the original matrix was created around 1890. Berndl's signature can be seen on tarock card no. I. (See footnote regarding pencilled index numbers).

Some of the new images use motifs from another deck by Josef Glanz: Nationalitätentarock published around 1864. These include a hunter and a shepherdess on tarock card XIV (Tyrol), a man smoking with a woman on tarock card XV (Moravia) or a man entering a gate on tarock card XII (Bohemia). The walking couple on tarock card II in front of the period backdrop of the Hofburg (the Hofburg is common here when it serves as a background for the figure of the so-called Tyrolean clothier) is usually seen on card XII. Even in the case of using some traditional scenes, they are supplemented with new details (bird on the fence (X), frightened chicken (XII), butterflies (XIV)).

Version 2. Berndl also made another version for the Glanz company, which has a slightly simpler graphic design. The signature is again placed on the pagat card (tarock no. I), this time including the date 1895. The set of genre depictions on the tarock cards is identical to the previous version. The manufacturer's contact addresses on the Jack of Clubs are also the same, but this information was routinely updated on new editions. So even in the previous case, the product information may not correspond to the engraving design.

It is clear that the line lithography technology was an important medium for Berndl's work. In the case of the Austrian tarock, the graphic design is clearly overloaded with individual lines and the design lacks the light-hearted caricature abbreviation known from the Gigerl Tarock. Klaus Reisinger also refines his solution in his publications on the Salzburg, Prague and Vienna card patterns. He presents it with the incorrect first name Josef instead of Julius.

Acknowledgements & References

A big thank you goes to Mr. Wolfgang Altfahrt. His information support was very detailed and essential for this article.

Peter Endebrock: Nationalitätentarock by Josef Glanz►

Talon: information about the company Josef Glanz (in German, online)►

Klaus Reisinger: Tarocke-Kulturgeschichte auf Kartenbildern, part 5.

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Footnote: Tarock games are known for having a unique card hierarchy and scoring system that differs from standard card games. Where a rank order such as A, K, Q, J, 10... might be the norm, Tarock decks often have a non-linear ranking and special scoring values. Players accustomed to conventional trick-taking games might find the Tarock system confusing or difficult to remember. To make life easier players might have made manual alterations to the cards, such as adding numerical values and clarifying the ranking. This gives us a glimpse into the pragmatic ways in which people adapted games to suit their needs in an era before mass-produced, standardized card sets.