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[ History ]
The exact history
is unknown but here is one version...
Sheepshead, or Schafkopf in
German, is an old game that originated in Middle Europe
in the mid to late 1700's. The game is believed to be derived Tarok
and Kalabrias. The game was developed by peasants
who were fed up with their government and expressed their
discontent by giving the King Card a lower rank. To this day, Sheepshead has a very strange order
ranking of cards.
The literal English translation
of Schafkopf is 'sheephead' although
the original word has nothing to do with sheep, since it's
"scha*ff*kopf", not "scha*f*kopf". The name
is believed to originate from the location where it was played:
On the lids (heads) of wooden barrels or kegs (Schaffen).
Schafkopf (Sheepshead) led to another card
game, Skat. Skat is unusual because we know, more or
less, when and, exactly, where the game began. Primitive Skat
was developed around 1811 by residents of Altenburg, Germany. It
is the descendent and melding of three other games, Sheepshead,
Hombre, and Tarot (Tarok in the German spelling), which
themselves derive from more remote ancestors.
If you have a different
interpretation of the history, please contact
us!
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