German Tarok, sometimes known as Sansprendre or simply Tarok, is an historical ace–ten card game for three players that emerged in the 18th century and is the progenitor of a family of games still played today in Europe and North America. It became very popular in Bavaria and Swabia during the 19th century before being largely superseded by Schafkopf, but has survived in the local forms of Bavarian Tarock and Tapp. During the mid-19th century, it became the most popular card game among Munich's middle classes and was also played in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by notable Bavarian author Ludwig Thoma, frequently appearing in his novels and journal articles. It was superseded after the First World War by other forms such as Bavarian Tarock.

German Tarok originated in an attempt to play the Tarot game of Grosstarock with a standard 36-card German-suited pack instead of Tarot cards, but later evolved into a much more interesting game featuring bidding and a suit of preference. The family of games descended from German Tarok includes Austrian Bauerntarock, Mexican rana and the American games of frog and six-bid solo.

The name of the game was variously spelt in German as Deutsch-Tarock,^[1] Deutsch-Tarok,^[2] Deutsch Tarrok,^[3] Deutschtarok,^[4] Deutscher Tarok,^[5] Deutscher Taroc,^[6] or simply Tarok.^[7] In English it is rendered German Tarok or German Tarock.^[8]

When the new variant appeared in the 1830s, it was initially called Sansprendre, based on the name of its Solo contract; sans prendre being French for "without picking up" and referring to the fact that, in a Sansprendre contract, the declarer could not make use of the scat (skat) – the 3 cards left over after the deal.^[9] However, with the demise of the original game, the name German Tarok or Tarok passed to the new one, although the name Sansprendre persisted in some circles.^{[lower-alpha 1]} For example, in 1878 a Nuremberg choir song features a pub in which four play Sans Prendre into the night while a quintet plays Schaffkopf or Quodlibet.^[12]

By the 1870s, French-suited cards had penetrated into the southwest German states, notably the Kingdom of Württemberg, the variety of German Tarok played with French cards being renamed Tapp, while the game played with the traditional German cards of that region was called as Württemberg Tarock. Both, however, were much the same as the game played in Bavaria. Another name recorded by Anton (1879) was Solo, the German name of the Sansprendre contract.^[11]

The earliest reference to German Tarok dates to 1795 in Illerfeld in Upper Swabia in what was then the Electorate of Bavaria.^[1] However, it is likely that the game emerged in the south German states in the mid-18th century as an attempt to play the German Tarot game of Grosstarock with standard German-suited cards. The original game became sufficiently popular that by around the early 19th century, standard German-suited packs were simply labelled "German Taroc" (Deutsch-Taroc).^[13] No detailed rules for the original form have survived, but it is briefly described in the forward of an 1839 treatise, the author calling it "very simple and without interest" compared with the subject of the booklet, Sansprendre, a variant he considered so good that it would be hard to find a more interesting game played with German-suited cards.^[9] This new variant had superseded its original form by the 1830s,^[9] taking on its name by the 1850s.^[10] Thereafter it was usually called German Tarok or simply Tarok, although the name Sansprendre continued to be used in some regions, especially Franconia.^{[lower-alpha 1][7]}

By the mid-19th century German Tarok was the card game of choice for the middle classes in the Bavarian capital of Munich, being played almost to exclusion of all others.^[2] It 1864 it was the most popular game in Augsburg.^[14] Treatises specifically on the game were published in Bayreuth, Munich and Nuremberg from the 1830s to the early 20th century, further testifying to its popularity in Bavaria, but it was also known further afield, for example, in Hesse and Prussia.^{[lower-alpha 2]} During this time the rules of the game remained remarkably stable, the main changes being elaborations to its systems of payment.^{[lower-alpha 1]} German Tarok was a penny ante game, usually played for low stakes. An 1876 table of "card game tariffs" gives 3 levels of payment for games played with a Laus-Tiegel (common pot) as well as additional payments if blocks or a pool (Poule) was used. In the cheapest, winning a Frage with up to 20 overshoot points was worth 5 pfennigs, winning with 21 to 40 was worth 10 pfennigs and over that was worth 15 pfennigs.^[17]

German Tarok in its later form lasted into the early years of the 20th century, when it was a favourite of the wealthy Bavarian author Ludwig Thoma, who played it before and during the First World War. He is known to have played both at 'Sharp Tarock' and Tarock with Talerblocks i.e. blocks or counters valued at 3 Marks or 1 Thaler.^[18]

However, it fell into steady decline as Schafkopf gained the ascendancy. After the First World War, scoring with overshoot points and complex payment schemes were dropped in what became known as Bavarian Tarock. During this time a large number of local and regional variants appeared, some of which survive. However, the dominant version today is the point-bidding version of Bavarian Tarock or Haferltarock that emerged after the Second World War.^[8]

Suits of the German deck
Bells (Schellen)	Hearts (Herz)	Leaves (Gras)	Acorns (Eichel)

The game is played with a pack of 36 German-suited cards. In that part of Swabia outside of Bavaria, these were of the Württemberg pattern.^{[lower-alpha 3]} In Bavaria itself, cards of the Bavarian or Franconian pattern would have been used.^[19] These are still widely available and marketed as "Schafkopf Tarock" packs (see illustration). These standard German packs have cards ranking from Ace (Bavarian: Sau or "Sow".^{[lower-alpha 4]}) to 6. Thus the pack has a total of 36 cards in 4 suits each of 9 cards.^[20]

The only account of the original game is a few sketchy remarks in the forward of the 1839 treatise, Das Sansprendre-Spiel in Regeln zur richtigen Auffassung und Ausführung desselben nach seinen verschiedenen Nuancen dargestellt (SSR). Although this original form of German Tarok differed "in only a few points" from its successor, Sansprendre, it was "quite different from it in execution." It was played with 36 German-suited cards, each player receiving 11, the remaining 3 belonging to the dealer.^{[lower-alpha 5]} It is likely that Hearts was a permanent trump suit, replacing the role of the tarocks in Grosstarock. It was an ace–ten game in which the player with the most points won.^[9]

The first rules for a new form of German Tarok, initially called Sansprendre, were published in the same treatise, SSR, together with extensive tactical guidance. The author opens by comparing Sansprendre to the original German Tarok saying "It is not easy to find a game played with German-suited cards which gives as much interest as Sansprendre; a variant of German Tarok, although quite different from it in execution" and that "anyone who has played [Sansprendre]... is unlikely to return to Tarok; because, in comparison, it appears to him very simple and without interest."^[9]

By 1851, the game has adopted the name of its predecessor, German Tarok.^[10] Further, mainly cosmetic, changes appear in the 1880s. In the most detailed account Ausführliche Anleitung zum Deutschtarokspielen (AAD, 1881), French terminology has been abandoned and more elaborate payment schemes were described. The following rules are based on AAD and show the main changes from the rules for Sansprendre above.^[4]

AAD records two optional variations:^[4]

• Siebzig-Spiel ("Seventy Game"), which ranks between a Frage and a Solo. The declarer exchanges with the scat and names any suit as trumps, but has to score more than 70 points to win. It was paid as in a Frage and, in the block game, the winner claimed a block.
• Bismark (sic), which the dealer is forced to play if the others pass and where Frage is not permitted. The dealer calls for a card from the opponents and gives up any held card in exchange. Of course, if the card lies in the scat, the dealer is unlucky.

TSP, a shorter treatise published from 1881 to 1910 in several editions and entitled Tarok (Sans prendre), largely follows AAD but mentions two different variations:^[7]

• Rufen ("calling"), whereby a Matsch player may call for a card not held
• Siebziger-Solo, presumably the highest ranking bid in which a Solo player has to score 71 to win.

The family of games descended from German Tarok includes Bavarian Tarock, Swabian Tapp, Mexican Rana and the American games of Frog and Solo, also called Six-Bid, Slough or Sluff, as well as the Austrian game of Bauerntarock.^[8]