Brandeln is an historical card game for three or four players; in which the winning bidder plays alone against the rest. It is one of the earliest games to use the terms Bettel – a contract to lose every trick – and Mord - a contract to win every trick. One of several card games mastered by Mozart,^[2] Brandeln is still current in Austria and Germany today. It has been described as having a "civilized, refined and ingenious character" and "one of the most pleasant card games".^[3]

Parlett Anglicized the name to Brandle and agrees that it is "a delightful German Nap equivalent".^[1]

Brandeln simply means "playing [the game of] Brandel". Historically the game was also referred to as Brandl, Brändeln, Stichbrändeln, Stichbrandl, Brandelspiel, Brannten, Bränteln or even Betteln.^[4] According to Schmid, Brandeln was "a certain card game" and bräntelen or bräselen meant to smell of fire or to be suspicious.^[5] Schmeller confirms that brändeln means to smell of fire, but adds that it also means to make money or to "play a type of card game" and gives the alternative name of stichbrändeln.^{[lower-alpha 1][6]} Brand is, of course, German for "fire".

Rulemann tells us that Brandeln was played by troops during the Thirty Years' War (1618–48) and by soldiers under Frederick the Great during the Seven Years' War (1756–63).^[7] In 1722, Johann Nikolaus Weislinger makes an apparent reference to it in his work Friß Vogel oder stirb!, published in Strasbourg.^[4]

It was certainly widespread enough to be banned as a gambling game in 1765^[8] and 1851^[9] (as Brannten) in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1770, Bränteln was brought to Vienna by the Bavarians or Swabians and, by 1772, had become the most popular game in the taverns there. However, in the land "above the Enz, in Bavaria and Swabia, it had been around for a long time."^[10]

It is recorded in a 1795 Swabian dictionary^[11] and its popularity is also suggested by an 1805 musical play, where it is the chief pastime of the princess, Antiope, who likens the game to love,^[12] but in another contemporary account it is scorned as a "game for tailors".^[13] Other sources confirm that it was played by farmers, peasants and coachmen.^[14][15]

Schmeller's 1827 Bavarian Dictionary tells us that Brändeln or Stichbrändeln is a "type of card game in which you announce the number of tricks you want to take".^[16] However, Stichbrändeln may refer to a variant in which there were only three active players; the dealer, the "King", sat out, but could take on the others if they all passed.^[10]

Johann Siegmund Popowitsch published the earliest known description of Bränteln in 1772, at which time it was a three-hand game.^[10] However, the first complete ruleset is recorded in the 1829 Neuestes Allgemeines Spielbuch which states that its origin is uncertain, but that it is a thoroughly German game whose features were adopted by some of the "newer French and English games" and even by Ombre.^[17] Despite this claim of German origin, all the earliest references to it are Austrian. The game is the earliest record of the contracts known as Brand, Mord and Bettel, which found their way into the three-hand games of Bolachen and Wallachen, which may be derivatives. The terms Mord and/or Bettel also appear in other Bavarian card games, such as Grasobern, Herzla and Schafkopf. At least one source refers to Préférence being played with Bettel and Mord.^[18]

In 1847, in an Austrian dialect dictionary for the Lower Enns, Brandln is described as a card game with four contracts: Bråndl (3 tricks), Brånd (4 tricks), Moardbrånd (all tricks) and Bedldutti (no tricks).^[19]

In 1849, we hear that, at the ball, the ladies of Linz will "play Tarock or Brandel and drink punch,"^[20] but by 1908 it was "very rarely played."^[7] Nevertheless it must have been still popular in Bohemia because from 1895 to around 1920 German-suited, Bohemian Brandl cards (Böhmische Brandl Deutsche Karten Nr. 61) were produced,^[21] the known manufacturers being Piatnik and Glanz. These double-headed cards came in 36-card packs, presumably to give them a more universal appeal.^[22]

Brandeln has been regularly published in German and Austrian games compendia from 1829 until the present. The game is still found in parts of Austria, for example, in Koglhof.^[23]

• Brändl was a bid of 3 tricks ranking below a Brand.^[19]
• Open Bettel was a Bettel played ouvert.^[26]