Schreiber's list of German Playing Cards in 15th century
- shortened representation based on the discussion on page 11-29 (Schreiber 1938)

Handpainted

• 1. Stuttgarter Spiel
  Location/Time: Rhine: upper Rhine, Schreiber dates 1440/50, nowadays the date is fixed on 1427/31
  Structure: 48 cards (3 cards missing), 4x12, 2 Kings on horse (Ducks + Hawks) + 2 Queens sitting (Dogs + Stags), 2 male and 2 female standing Ober, 2 male + female standing Unter (Hawks-Under is missing), 1-9
  Suits: Ducks, Hawks, Dogs, Stags
  
  
• 2. Ambraser Hofjagdspiel
  Location/Time: upper Rhine, Schreiber dates 1445/1455, nowadays often 1440/45 are given
  Structure: 56 cards, 4x14, King Queen, Ober (all on horse, Obers are male), Unter (beside horse), Banner, 1-9
  Suits: Hunting Tool, Hawks, Dogs, Stags
  

Copperplate engravings

• 3. Spielkartenmeister (Master of the playing cards)
  Location/Time: upper Rhine, ca. 1445 (according to Schreiber), nowadays the working time of the master of the playing card is calculated "till 1455", occasionally "till 1465"; the master of the playing card had some cooperative work with Gutenberg (so he was also in Mainz, middle Rhine), and the copied deck after the Spielkartenmeister is located near Neuss (so lower Rhine, 100 km distance).
  Structure: 60 cards, 5x12, King, Queen (both sitting), Ober, Unter (both male and both standing), 9-2
  Suits: Wild animals, Stags, Birds, Flowers, Wild men
  
  
• 4. Copied deck after Spielkartenmeister
  Location/Time: in the region of Neuss (lower Rhine) ca. 1455, most copied in a mirroring manner (compare Nr. 3)
  Structure: 52 cards, 4x13, King, Queen (both sitting), Ober, Unter (both male and standing), 9-1
  Suits: Animals, Birds, Flowers, Wild men
  
  
• 5. Small deck of Master E.S.
  Location/Time: upper Rhine, ca. 1461
  (personal note: it's not obvious to me how Schreiber got this precise dating; the master E.S. entered the history of art as the "master of 1466", cause this date was found on some other of his productions). Structure: 52 (?) cards (only 14 cards remained according Schreiber, other speak of 15 cards), 4x13, King (sitting), Queen (sitting and standing), Ober, Unter (both male and standing), 9-1 (a banner can't be excluded cause the fragmentary state of the deck)
  Suits: Animals, Shields, Helmets, Flowers
  
  
• 6. Big deck of Master E.S.
  Location/Time: upper Rhine, ca. 1463
  Structure: 48 cards ("six missing" according Schreiber, others speak of "seven missing cards"), 4x12, King, Queen, Ober, Unter (all on horse), 2-9
  Suits: Dogs, Shields, Birds, Men
  
  
• 7. Master of the Bandarole
  Location/Time: Rhineland or Westphalia (according Schreiber), for the Master of the Banderole; the location Bochholt is mentioned in other sources (the longer working place of the Master E. S.); 1460-70 according Schreiber, others note a production time of 1462 - 1500 for the Master of the Bandarole.
  Structure: 8 number cards, all of the Italian coppe-suit, each number card is accompanied by funny small men
  Suits: Cups with small men - variated Italian typus (?)
  Schreiber doesn't note a group of further single cards (about 10) from different decks, also given to the Master of the Bandalore.
  
  
• 8. Israhel von Meckenem, copies of the small deck from Master E.S.
  Location/Time: Kleve ca. 1470
  Structure: 52 (?) cards, 13 cards are extant, 4x13, King, Queen, Ober, Unter , 9-1
  Suits: Animals, Shields, Helmets, Flowers
  
  
• 9. Israhel von Meckenem, copies of the big deck of Master E.S.
  Location/Time: suggested is Bocholt ca. 1475
  Structure: 48 cards (?) (24 are extant), 4x12, King,(Queen ?), Ober,Unter , all on horse, 9-2
  Suits: Dogs, Flowers, Birds, Men
  
  
• 10. Copperplate Engraver of the Schongauer school
  Location/Time: Schreiber estimates 1480 - 1500, other seem to have suggested, that it is a deck produced at the opportunity of the marriage of the son of Emperor Maximilian with a Spanish princess in the year 1496 ("The South German Engraver was one such craftsman who produced an elaborate, Gothic Spanish-suited pack of playing cards which appears to commemorate the marriage, in 1496, of Felipe I of Spain and Doña Juana, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. Sometimes referred to as "Schongauer's follower", the engraver worked the same way as most of his colleagues of the time: he copied other engravers, among them Schongauer, as well as other playing cards and popular images. Some of the court figures have been adapted from other sources where they might have held a falcon rather than the present suit symbol." - cited from Simon Wintle's page
  Structure: 52 cards, 4x13, King (sitting), Queen (standing), Ober (on horse), Banner, 9-2 (all numbers are decorated with additional figures)
  Suits: Dogs, Flowers, Birds, Pomegranates
  
  
• 11. Master P.W.
  Location/Time: Cologne, ca. 1500
  Structure:70 (72) cards, 5x14 + 2 single additional cards (Schreiber doesn't mention them), King, Queen, Ober, Unter , 9-2
  Suits: Hares, Parrots and 3 different flowers ("Rosen, Nelken und Akeley")
  Survived in Dresden nearly complete, other pictures in London, Oxford and Vienna (in the time of Schreiber)
  
  
• 12. Master T.W. (Telman von Wesel), partial copy of the deck of Master P.W.
  Location/Time: Wesel, lower Rhine ca. 1500-1510
  Structure: Only 52 cards, 4x13, King, Queen, Ober, Unter, as in master P.W.'s deck, (one number card missing - Schreiber forgets to mention which one)
  Suits: Hares, Parrots, two kinds of flowers
  

Woodcut

• 13. Hofämterspiel
  Location/Time: The deck was found in castle Ambras and it is suggested to have been produced for the young Bohemian king Ladislaus Postumous, who lived till 1457 (Schreiber notes as production time 1453 - 1457, generally it's declared for ca. 1455).
  Structure: 48 cards, 4x12, Kings (unnumbered), Queens (unnumbered), Hofmeisters (10's), Marschalls (9's), Junckfrawe (6's) and Fools (Aces), 8's, 7's, 5's, 4's, 3's, 2's are all different "Hofämter" (professions at the court) with the exeption of the Trompeter, which appears twice for the suits Bohemia and Hungary
  Suits: identified by heraldic shields: Germany, France, Hungary, Bohemia
  
  
• 14. Maihinger Spiel (partly copied after Spielkartenmeister)
  Location/Time: upper Rhine, ca. 1460 (location and based on Schreiber's judgment on costumes; the later Hoffmann gives ca. 1450)
  Structure: 3 cards only, 3 Ober (Bär-Ober follows the Birds-Unter of the Master of the Playing Cards, the Lion-Ober follows the Flowers-Unter and the Dog-Ober follows the Birds-Ober)
  Suits: Bear, Lion, Dog
  According Hoffmann the 3 cards are nowadays in Vittoria, Museo Fourier.
  
  
• 15. Liechtenstein'sches Spiel
  Location/Time: Swabia ca. 1465 (according Schreiber), occasionally it is estimated on ca. 1440 - 1450
  Structure: 16 cards on two missprinted sheets, 15 courts and one ace; 5 suits with either 12-13 cards (rough calculation, not totally sure), King, Ober, Unter - but the incomplete deck doesn't allow to exclude the possible existence of queens - 5 Kings (sitting, male), Obers (standing, male, 5 Unters (3 male and 2 female, one of these a nude - perhaps the oldest nude in a card deck; one of the male Unter is a Fool, perhaps the oldest known Fool on a card deck).
  (According to Hoffmann, the age of the deck is disputed by Vera Sack in 1976: "Zwei frühe Volkskartenspiele mit italienischen Farben. Zugleich ein Beitrag zur Datierung der Spielkarten." In: Archiv für Geschichte des Buchwesens, XVI, 1976, S.1218-1278. She gives the estimation "short after 1500")
  Suits: Swords, Batons (poplosticks), Cups, Coins (variated Italian or Mamluk suits), Shields with German eagles (Swiss suit sign ?)
  
  
• 16. Lower German - Italian deck
  Location/Time: Lower Germany, found by Paul Kristeller as fragmentarious sheet in Rome in a register-book from Marea 1466 - 1469; 3 card contain an inscription in Lower German language, one of the inscriptions is "S. beaten lat ons ok aten"; likely it's a German export deck for the Italian market. Inscriptions on German decks are rare in 15th century, but appear often in 16th century.
  Structure: likely Italian suits, confirmed are only coins and batons cards and 4 picture cards, at which the suit cannot be identified,
  Suits: Danari: Ace, 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 Bastoni: Ace,2,3,Cavallo, unidentified: 3 Cavalli, fragmentarious piece of a female turned to the right.
  
  
• 17. Kleeblattkarte
  Location/Time: Upper Germany, ca. 1465
  Structure: 1 card
  Suits: Kleeblatt
  
  
• 18. Darmstädter Spiel
  Location/Time: Switzerland (Basel?), possibly as late as 1516, but the costumes go back to a date of ca. 1470 (according Schreiber); The deck was found in a book, which was bought 1516.
  Structure: 37 cards remained from 48 cards, 4x12-structure, King, Ober, Unter, 10 -2
  Suits: mixed Swiss German suits, Eichel, Grün, Wappen, Schellen
  
  
• 19. Round deck
  Location/Time:
  Structure:2 round cards, 2 Kings on horses
  Suits: Rose, Lily
  
  
• 20. Bird's deck
  Location/Time: Nurremberg, ca. 1480(?) (Schreiber regards the dating as very difficult)
  Structure: fragmentarious, Birds 2,3,6,7 are recognizable
  Suits: Birds
  
  
• 21. Typus of Nuremberg (Stukeley-Typus)
  Location/Time: Nurremberg, might reach as deck type into 15th century (various decks of a similar type are recognizable as from early 16th century)
  Structure: 48 cards, 5x12, King (sitting), Queen (standing), Unter (standing), 10, 9-2
  Suits: Eichel, Grün, Herzen, Schellen (German)
  
  
• 22. Typus of Basel
  Location/Time: Basel, for the deck type ca. 1500 (the deck itself from begin of 16th century)
  Structure: 48 cards, 4x12, King (sitting), Ober (standing), Unter (standing), 10, 9-2
  Suits: Eichel, Rose, Wappen, Schellen (Swiss)
  
  
• 23. Rhenanian Typus
  Location/Time: Alsace (?) ca. 1480
  Structure: 48 cards, 4x12, King (on horse), Queen (sitting), Ober (standing), Unter (standing, partly female), 9-2
  (the iclusion of the Queen without 10 or banner seems to be a Rhenanian speciality, according Schreiber).
  Suits: Eichel, Laub, Herzen, Schellen (German)
  
  
• 24. Typus of Munich
  Location/Time: Munich, cause the heart-Daus presents city-heraldic, a monk / estimated on ca 1500, cause of similarities with copperplate engravings of Mair von Landshut, the monogrammist M.Z. and Duerer, which worked around this time. Ober and Unter show "Landsknecht" attributes and the deck would be the oldest known example of this tradition.
  Structure:48 cards, 4x12, King (sitting), Ober (male standing), Unter (female standing), Banner, 9-2
  Suits: Eichel, Laub, Herzen, Schellen (German)
  
  Hoffmann notes a Münchener-Ulmer Typus, from which the earliest examples are dated ca. 1470, possibly made in Augsburg (nowadays in Cincinnatti, The US Playing Card Collection), ("Altdeutsche Spielkarten", 1993, p. 26-27)

Not noted by Schreiber

• Small 32-cards deck in Ambras-inventory
  see report report to Ambras collection, Nr. 103
  
  

  103. (= unknown) Ein sehr kleines, aus 32 Blättern (2%" hoch, l V*" breit) bestehend, auf denen man in bemalten Holzschnitten Figuren der verschiedenen Stände, Leidenschaften (Neid, Geiz, Eifersucht, Schmerz, Sehnsucht u. s. w.), Burgen, eine Trauung, Fortuna, die Gerechtigkeit u. dgl. dargestellt sieht. Aus dem XV. Jahrhundert. Auf dem Deckel des mit gothischem Schnitzwerk gezierten Kästchens ist das Wappen von Steiermark gemalt.

  
  
• Flemish hunting deck
  might perhaps be called a "German deck", see report to Flemish Hunting deck
  
  
• Landecker Spiel
  9 cards in fragmentarious state from 3 different plays, woodcut, found behind a wooden wall covering in the village Fließ in the Oberinn-Tal ca. 1940, first reported in 1943 in the Gutenberg-Jahrbuch. They are dated towards 1460-1470. The reporting source is Hoffmann, "Älteste Spielkarten", 1993, p. 16 + 19).