Bruus
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.
History
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. By the mid-18th century it had spread to most of northern mainland Europe, including Poland, Livonia and Russia. Earliest references to the game, 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”. 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. 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.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" 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. 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.
The game faded quickly, being described in 1865 as a "formerly" very popular game among the lower classes, and, by 1900, it was virtually forgotten in Hamburg. 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. By 1927, it was thought to be extinct having once been "very popular through Schleswig " and also played in Holstein in Dithmarschen, Hademarschen and Hohenwestedt. It had been especially popular with women.
The name of the game appears to have come from the nickname for the King of Hearts 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. 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.
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. Regular Bruus tournaments are held during the winter months in Schwesing and Oster-Ohrstedt. In March 2020, an 'International Open' tournament was held in Schwesing, in which an English player was placed second.
Related games
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.Rules
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.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.
Brusbart (1885)
The earliest rule set is recorded by Zahn in 1885 in the Korrespondenzblatt des Vereins für niederdeutsche Sprachforschung. 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 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, has now fallen to second place.Cards
A French-suited pack of 36 cards is employed. The aim is to win the majority of the nine tricks. There are three matadors which are :Next come the remaining beaters which beat each other in rank and then suit order as follows:
Thus the beats the and any Sixes, but is beaten by any Nine and by the and. With the exception of the matadors, the remaining cards are duds and have no power except among cards of the same rank, where they beat each other in suit order. So, for example, a led may be beaten by the or, but not by any other dud.
Sevens are free cards when led, i.e. they are unbeatable by any other card, even another Seven. Otherwise they are duds i.e. a Seven played by second, third or fourth hand is worthless.
Play
Players are dealt three cards each and the rest are placed face down to form the stock. It is likely that play is clockwise and that forehand leads to the first trick, but Zahn is silent on these points. He does confirm that the trick winner leads to the next, and that players replenish their hands after each trick, the trick winner taking the top card from the Haufen and the others following in turn.;Daring and whacking
A player who has the Toller Hund, may play it, saying "I dare", and the team earn a bonus if the dare is successful i.e. it is not beaten by Brusbart, but concede a bonus if it is 'whacked' the next higher card has not already been played, b) the darer does not hold it, c) the darer is not fourth hand the Haufen is not exhausted.
Scoring
Scoring is recorded in the traditional way by chalking tally marks in the form of lines or strokes on a slate. A team that takes at least five tricks chalks up 1 line. If they win the first five in a row, this is a jann and their opponents are 'licked' or 'thrashed' and the winners score 2 lines. A successful dare of the Toller Hund is worth 1 line and of Brusbart is worth 2 lines. If a dare fails, Zahn merely says that the points "naturally fall to the other team". Game is eight lines and the first to record that collects the winnings, either in money, Boltjes or the like.Bruus (1911)
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.Cards
Schnack gives the nicknames of the matadors as Spitz, Bruus and Duller Hund. The remaining beaters are the same as before, except that the Jacks now rank immediately below the Aces and the Sixes are not mentioned at all. So either the Sixes are worthless duds or there are only 32 cards in the pack. The duds are known as 'Fosi' and now have no trick-taking power whatsoever, even among cards of the same rank. Meanwhile, the Sevens retain their unbeatability when led, but may now beat one another in the usual suit order: Clubs, Spades, Hearts and Diamonds.Preliminaries
Players decide who will partner whom and the partners in each team sit opposite one another. One player is nominated as the scribe and chalks up a 'ladder' on a slate consisting of six horizontal lines divided in half by a vertical line. Each half represents the six lines that a team aims to erase first. The dealer now deals 3 cards, one by one, to each player and places the rest down as a Block in the middle of the table.Play
Any card may be led to a trick and players may also follow with any card. The highest card wins the trick and the trick winner leads to the next. Beginning with the trick winner, players replenish their cards by drawing from the stock as many as they played to the trick.;Double and triple tricks
For the first time, a player may also lead two or three cards to a trick provided they are of the same rank e.g. two Aces or three Kings.
;Daring and tormenting
As before, the three matadors have a special role in daring and 'tormenting', as it is now called: Bruus and Duller Hund may be 'dared', while Spitz and Bruus may 'torment'. Teams erase one line for a successful dare; two lines for a successful torment. Schnack says that up to four lines may be erased if the three cards are suitably distributed. Schnack tells us that "it is this 'daring and tormenting' in particular that... gives the game a certain charm."