Schafkopf in digital exile: Starnberger Runde does not let the pandemic spoil the fun

The fight against the corona pandemic is also inventive.

One example is the Schafkopf round about Martin Eickelschulte from Starnberg.

Starnberg Mercury was there.

Starnberg

- 47 years ago, fifth graders from the Starnberg high school got together to do cartoons.

"We used every opportunity, from the break to some train rides and hiking days to play Schafkopf," recalls Johann Groß from Starnberg.

At 57, he is the senior of the group that meets on Friday evening in front of the screens in digital exile.

After finishing school and because of vocational training and studies, the card thrashing initially petered out - until the group met about 22 years ago in what was then the “Poeterie” restaurant in Starnberg.

There it was decided to meet again regularly for Schafkopf - once a month on a Friday.

Former school friends met once a month - then Corona came

The gathering has its rules.

"Whoever organizes the meeting provides the food, drinks, chips, gummy bears and chocolate," explains Roland Fichtel (56) from Unterbrunn.

"The meetings take place in turn, with the quality of the food differing depending on who it is."

The playing time is basically not limited.

The round usually starts at 8 p.m. and ends around 11 p.m. - sometimes earlier, sometimes later.

"There is, however, a time limit: each participant has exactly one minute to talk about their illnesses", says Roland Fichtel and explains the procedure with the reason: "After all, we want to play cards and not hear any stories."

Schafkopf, skiing - and the “Bonanza” chef

The men's group doesn't just limit its social commitment to card games.

Every year in January they go skiing together in the Wildschönau in Tyrol.

The troops are housed in a hut near Oberau.

The Schafkopfer have a cook - "His name is Hop Sing (the Chinese cook from the TV series" Bonanza ", editor's note), that is our Hansi, who then cooks for us," adds Fichtel with a smile.

The catering on the ski weekend works according to established rules: on Friday, the day of arrival, the kitchen in the hut is still cold, and the card players come together in a restaurant in the evening.

On Saturday, "Hop Sing" prepares a fiery chilli, and on Sunday night friends sit around the fondue pot.

Digital exile has been in effect for the Schafkopf round since March

The face-to-face meetings ended in March, and since then the friends have been meeting in digital exile.

And the ski weekend won't be able to take place as usual in the coming winter.

But the carters have not lost the fun of having fun.

The round counts five players, but only four are sitting at the Schafkopf's gaming table, including the virtual one.

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The virtual gaming table shows the carters how the score is and how the game is going on.

© Screenshot: Martin Eickelschulte

Each player gives himself an avatar name, a pseudonym.

Fichtel is the “Unterbrunner”, Peter Sterr (55) from Weilheim “The Payer”, and Martin Eickelschulte (49) calls himself “Stierflecken Oehi”.

The IT entrepreneur from Starnberg has been a member of the Schafkopfrunde for around two years.

He joined the group as a replacement for a deceased member.

The winner appeals to the schools: "Put sheep's head in the curriculum"

This time the cards were threshed until 10.30 p.m.

"Unterbrunner" aka Roland Fichtel collected the most points.

And he is still waiting with a proposal to the public, more precisely to those responsible in the school area: “Schafkopf is such a varied game.

In times when it can also be played virtually, it would be a stimulus for schools to perhaps include this traditional, very Bavarian game in the leisure area of ​​schools.

There are also teachers who like to play sheep's head themselves, "explains Fichtel and ends with the appeal:" Include sheep's head in the curriculum or in any other way in school.

You will have enthusiastic students. "