Tyrolean Playing Cards
Facsimile of patriotic 1878 Tyrolean playing cards published by Piatnik in 1992.
Tiroler Spielkarten
This commemorative facsimile edition of an historical, or patriotic, German-suited Tyrolean deck produced in 1878 contains interesting scenes in vignettes on the pip cards plus court card characters relating to Tyrolean history. For example, the hearts suit depicts the 1809 struggles for freedom whilst the acorns suit depicts art, science and industry. See the box►
Above: reproduction of an 1878 deck from the Tyrolean State Museum designed by the patriotic artist Edmund von Wörndle (1827-1906) and published as facsimile by Piatnik (No.2892) for Haymon-Verlag in 1984, 1992. 36 cards + information booklet in German.
By Matt Probert
United Kingdom • Member since March 02, 2012
I have adored playing cards since before I was seven years old, and was brought up on packs of Waddington's No 1. As a child I was fascinated by the pictures of the court cards.
Over the next fifty years I was seduced by the artwork in Piatnik's packs and became a collector of playing cards.
Seeking more information about various unidentified packs I discovered the World of Playing Cards website and became an enthusiastic contributor researching and documenting different packs of cards.
I describe my self as a playing card archaeologist, using detective work to identify and date obscure packs of cards discovered in old houses, flea markets and car boot sales.
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