Leipzig Exhibition Skat, 1897

“Leipziger Skat-Karte” was issued to honour the 400th anniversary of the Leipzig Industry and Trade Exhibition, and was printed by Schneider & Co., Altenburg, in 1897. The 32-card set was designed by Arthur Lewin (1860-1923) as a souvenir for visitors, featuring coats of arms on the four deuces and historical personages on the court cards, along with scenes from the trade fair on the numeral cards. In this edition all cards have handwritten inscriptions printed along the bottom which help to identify the scenes.

Above: the Deuce of hearts shows the coat-of-arms of Landgraves of Thuringia. The tax stamp reads “DEUTSCHES REICH DREISSIG PF” and was used in Imperial Germany from 1879 to 1918 more►  The Deuce of bells shows the coat-of-arms of Leipzig.

Above: the king of hearts depicts a medieval emperor (kaiser). The ober of hearts depicts von Brühl. The unter of hearts shows a student. The king of bells depicts Kaiser Karl V (1519-1556). The ober of bells depicts a musician and the unter of bells shows the night watchman (Nachtwächter).

Above: the deuce of acorns shows the coat of arms of the Wettins as dukes and kings of Saxony. The deuce of leaves shows the coat of arms of the Margraviate of Meissen (Markgrafschaft Meißen).

Above: not all inscriptions are legible. The king of acorns depicts Duke Albrecht of Saxony (Herzog Albrecht von Sachsen). The king of leaves depicts Margrave Dietrich von Landsberg (Markgraf Dietrich von Landsberg). The ober of leaves is a police officer of c.1840-50.

Above: the numeral cards contain vignettes showing scenes from the trade exhibition. All images courtesy Rod Starling.

Arthur Lewin, who designed these cards, was born on 4th May 1860 in Schoenbrunn near Troppau and moved to Leipzig in 1874, where he died on 7th June 1923. He was a costume designer who also illustrated various books, including humorous works by Edwin Bormann, as well as these playing cards.

Right: an ink drawing signed by Arthur Lewin titled “Hunter”, dated 1895.

Facsimile Edition

A facsimile edition was produced in 1997 to celebrate a further 100 years of the Fair, printed by Altenburger Spielkartenfabrik and presented in a replica box. In the facsimile there is no tax stamp on the deuce of hearts►