Vorarlberg Büschel Jasskarten

These delightfully decorative, full-length German-suited playing cards were designed by Konrad Hämmerle in 2019 for the 36-card Swiss-Vorarlberg version of the game Jass, in the westernmost alpine region of Austria. The illustrations are bright, clean-lined and inspired by folk-art traditions. In-keeping with the medieval origins of playing cards, the kings portray historical dukes and duchesses, named beneath each figure, the obers show figures from the aristocracy whilst the unters show everyday peasants. The four aces depict pigs (sau). Thus the indices are S, U, O and K whilst the colour-coded suits are acorns, bells, hearts and leaves. The charming designs also include local landmarks, traditions and folk costumes • See the box

Above: “Vorarlberg Büschel Jasskarten” designed by artist and typographer Konrad Hämmerle from Vorarlberg, printed by Piatnik in Vienna, 2019. 36 cards in tuckbox.

The artist says : one thing that clearly sets my deck apart from the Salzburg pattern is that the kings, obers and unters include both men and women. This was important to me as I wanted to reflect equality in the design. Konrad also created a custom typeface for the lettering. Further details are at www.jasskarten.at►