Bruus, formerly Brausebart or Brusbart, is a north German card game for four players in two teams of two. It was once highly popular but has since died out except for a few pockets in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. As Brusbart, it was the ancestor of a family of similar games in northern Europe, including Swedish Bräus and Danish Brus which are still played today. Bruus features 'daring and tormenting' which has been said to give the game a certain charm. Once considered the national game of Hamburg, Bruus is a descendant of Karnöffel, the oldest identifiable European card game in the history of playing cards with a continuous tradition of play down to the present day. The game is named after the Bruus or Brusbart, once its top card, but now its second-highest trump.

The game of Brusbart or Brausebart goes back at least to the first half of the 18th century, Amelung even suggesting that this "old German game" may have emerged as early as 1650.^[1] By the mid-18th century it had spread to most of northern mainland Europe, including Poland, Livonia and Russia. Earliest references to the game,^[2] appear in the 1770s, by when it was familiar enough for a character in a north German stage play to announce that "my leevtes Spill is Bruusbaart” ("my favourite game is Brusbart").^[3] The game contains a number of features that clearly point to its being a descendant of Karnöffel, Europe's oldest card game with a continuous tradition of play down to the present day.^[4] These include the wild ranking of the cards, the unusual powers of the Sevens and, historically, the use of signalling between partners using gestures, known as winken.^[5]

Around 1800, "Bruus'baart" was the best known card game in the north German city port of Hamburg, so much so that it was described in 1804 as "Hamburg's national game"^[6] and a song was written in honour of it that conveys something of the rowdy atmosphere of the game and confirms that signalling was an integral part of it.^[7] In the 1830s and 1840s it was played in the town of Schleswig and in the 1870s in Eckernförde. It is also recorded in Bergedorf and the state of Mecklenburg.^[8]

The game faded quickly, being described in 1865 as a "formerly" very popular game among the lower classes,^[5] and, by 1900, it was virtually forgotten in Hamburg.^[9] Nevertheless, it clung on in the north, being recorded in 1911 in the Anglian peninsula, at Wallsbüll near Flensburg and also in central Schleswig along the Danish-German language boundary.^[10] By 1927, it was thought to be extinct having once been "very popular through Schleswig (specifically in Anglia)" and also played in Holstein in Dithmarschen, Hademarschen and Hohenwestedt. It had been especially popular with women.^[11]

The name of the game appears to have come from the nickname for the King of Hearts (illustrated) which was top card until the 19th century when it was gradually overtaken by the Spitz, the Jack of Clubs. The name 'Brusbart' means "shaggy beard" and may be derived from early German-suited playing cards where the King of Hearts was the only King with a bushy beard. The Spitz was also called Spitzkopf. The Toller Hund means "mad dog" and may likewise be derived from the depiction of a dog on the Eight of Leaves in such cards. The Low German word bruusen meant 'to play Brusbart' and appears as early as 1800 both as a verb and as a noun (se speelt bruusen).^[12] Nevertheless, the name Brusbart, variously spelt, continued to hold sway until the second decade of the 20th century when it was finally superseded by the term Bruus.^[10]

Today the game is still played are in Schleswig in the region east of the port of Husum, in the villages of Schwesing, Treia and nearby Oster-Ohrstedt.^[13][14] Regular Bruus tournaments are held during the winter months in Schwesing and Oster-Ohrstedt.^[14] In March 2020, an 'International Open' tournament was held in Schwesing, in which an English player was placed second.^[15]

The original game of Brusbart developed into a family of closely related games as it spread across Europe. These include the historical games of Estonian Brus, Livonian Brusbart, Russian Bruzbart or Dulya and Polish Drużbart, as well as the games of Danish Brus, Swedish Bräus, Icelandic Brús, Greenlandic Voormsi and Bruus itself, which have survived into the 21st century. More distant cousins include Faroese Stýrivolt and Schleswig Knüffeln.^[16]

The rules have changed over the years with new features being added, such as double and triple tricks, but the old signalling scheme and lively communication between partners, including bluffing and blustering, has gone. The latter very much features in the Brausebart song of 1800, which is the earliest description of play and was interpreted by Feit in 1907.^[17]

The following gives an outline of the earliest known rules from 1885, followed by early 20th century and modern rules as played in Schwesing and Treia.

The earliest rule set is recorded by Zahn in 1885 in the Korrespondenzblatt des Vereins für niederdeutsche Sprachforschung (Magazine of the Society for Low German Language Research). We are told that "Brusbart" was a game played among four players in two teams of two with the partners sitting opposite one another. Signalling, known as winken (the same term used in the game of Gaigel) is recorded as late as 1865, but appears to have dropped out by this point and there is no mention, yet, of double and triple tricks. The King of Hearts, Brusbart, reported as being the highest card as late as 1860,^[18] has now fallen to second place.^[19][20]

In 1911, a certain E. Schnack from the Anglian region of north Germany published an account of the game, now called Bruus for the first time. Apart from some different terminology, the main changes are that the Jacks replace the Sixes as beaters and that double and triple tricks are introduced for the first time. In his account, he describes the culture surrounding the game in rural Anglia. The villagers in the local dairy cooperative gather at their local pub where the "dairy money" is paid out. They stay on and chat and then eventually turn to playing Bruus. The landlord hands out a pack of cards, a slate and chalk.^[10]

Mensing's Schleswig-Holstein dictionary of 1927 gives a passable description of Bruus. The usual matadors are called the Spitz, Bruus or Bruusbart and the Doll Hund. The game is normally played with 36 cards, but an option with 32 cards is mentioned. The beaters rank 9–A–J–6, Jacks being implied, and presumably the 32-card game lacked any 6s. The Sevens are as in Schnack. The stock is called the barg and the four suits are called, in the Low German dialect, Klewer, Piek, Harten and Ruten.^[11]

The game was mostly played for fun, not money. Scoring used a ladder with eight rungs or comb with 8 prongs and chalked on the table; a line (prong or rung) being erased for each point. In Eiderstedt, they drew a cat's head, line-by-line, on the table. Daring was announced with e.g. "Bruus dares" (Bruus waag!) or "I'll dare him" (ik waag em) and striking with e.g. "Spitz strikes!" (Spitz slaag!) or "I'll strike him" (ik slaag em). The team that had been struck had "a pair of spectacles" (de Brill) and the opponent erased two lines. A successful dare entitled one line to be erased. Daring the Dullhund [sic] was not universal, but permitted in "some areas".^[11]

If one team was 'licked' (gejannt) by losing 5–0 in tricks, this entitled three lines to be erased (as opposed to the usual two). If, when playing with 32 cards, a draw (bock) resulted (4 tricks apiece), a point was carried forward to the next game.^[11]

Schwesing, a small village near the North Sea fishing port of Husum, holds regular Bruus tournaments during the winter months. The game is usually played by four, but the rules mention the possibility of six players without, however, clarifying the changes needed to accommodate the extra players. There are always two teams and 36 cards are used (from Ace down to Six). Players agree who is to shuffle and deal first.^[21]

The Männergesangverein "Frohsinn" von 1881, a male voice choir in Treia in German Schleswig, who had played Bruus after choir practice since their formation in 1881,^[13] used slightly different rules from those employed in Schwesing. A 32-card Skat pack was used which meant that there were no Sixes and only eight tricks per deal. The duds were known as Schiet or Schietkarten (worthless or 'rubbish' cards) and the stock was called the Bunk.^{[lower-alpha 9]} Cards were always dealt in one packet of three. If both teams took four tricks, it was a Bock and the point was carried forward to the next deal. Matchsticks were used to keep score; teams started with ten and one was discarded for each point won.^[23]

There were certain rituals, the infringement of which incurred a penalty. For example, the cutter had to examine the bottom card of the cut and show it to an opponent; the dealer had to look at the bottom of the pack and show it to an opponent. If either card turned out to be a matador, the pack was reshuffled. If either forgot to check, the cards were reshuffled and the infringer had to buy a round of schnaps. If a team won 10 points while their opponents scored nil or their score was only made up of bonuses for daring and striking, the winning team won double.^[23]

After their final public performance in St. Nicholas Church, Treia, on 27 November 2022, the choir was disbanded due to a lack of younger members.^[24]