The ''Weli'', formerly ''Welli'', is a

playing card A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a f ...

used in the Salzburg and William Tell card decks, which are

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n regional patterns of the

German-suited playing cards German-suited playing cards are a very common style of traditional playing card used in many parts of Central Europe characterised by 32- or 36-card packs with the suits of Acorns (''Eichel'' or ''Kreuz''), Leaves (''Grün'', ''Blatt'', ''Lau ...

. It has the value of 6 of Bells and, in the

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous area, Autonomous Provinces of Italy, province , image_skyline = ...

variant of the card game,

Watten Watten may refer to: Places * Watten, Nord, a commune in the Nord ''département'' of France ** ''Blockhaus d'Éperlecques'' or Watten bunker, intended to be a launching facility for the V-2 ballistic missile * Watten, Highland, a village in Cai ...

, it is the only 6 used and can, in addition to its own suit of Bells, join the trump suits of Acorns, Hearts and Leaves. In all other variants of Watten, the 7 of Bells is the ''Weli''.

History

The ''Weli'' is also often called the ''Welli'' or ''Belli'' and, dialectically, the ''Wöli'', ''Wöüli'', ''Bölle'' or ''Belle''. The name ''Weli'' probably comes from the Italian word ''belli'', which means "bells". Historically the ''Weli'' is first recorded in the early 1850s, when a

Bozen Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...

card manufacturer inscribed ''WELLI'' onto the six of bells. As early as 1855, the ''Weli'' was integrated in the Salzburg pattern as the 6 of Bells. The gravestone appearing in many depictions is probably the grave of the Apostle Paul. In the game of

Jaggln Jaggln or Jaggeln is an historical Tyrolean card game designed for five players that used to be played purely as a winter pastime by farming folk. An unusual feature are its three highest trumps known as ''Jaggl, Zanggl'' and ''Buggl''. The aim i ...

, the Six of Bells is usually called the ''Buggl'' (Austrian dialect for ''Buckel'', a hump or rounded object, perhaps referring to the shape of the bells).

As a high trump

Games in which the Weli has the role of a

matador A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...

i.e. high trump include: *

Préférence Préférence, frequently spelt Preference, is a Central and Eastern European 10-card plain-trick game with bidding, played by three players with a 32-card Piquet deck, and probably originating in early 19th century Austria, becoming the second ...

– in a variant played in western Austria the Weli is the 2nd highest trump. *

– in the Austrian variant of Critical Watten, the Weli is sometimes the 2nd highest trump. *

Perlaggen Perlaggen (regionally also ''Perlåggen''), formerly Perlagg-Spiel ("game of Perlagg"), is a traditional card game which is mainly played in the regions of South Tyrol in Italy, the Tyrolean Oberland and the Innsbruck areas of Austria. It is the ...

– the Weli is the 2nd highest permanent 'Perlagg' which may then be used as a wild card (see below).

As a wild card

In the Austrian games of

Bieten Bieten, Laubbieten, Lab bietn or Labbieten (in South Tyrol) or Bavarian Poker (german: Bayrischer Pocker) is a card game that is popular in the Austrian Tyrol and the Bavarian Prealps. It used to be a game frequently played by timber rafters and ...

, and

, the ''Weli'' acts as a wild card, something which is illustrated by the depiction of two other suits (Acorns and Hearts) on the card and by its special design (it is the only playing card with a printed name).McLeod, John
Perlaggen
at

pagat.com Pagat.com is a website containing rules to hundreds of card games from all over the world. Maintained by John McLeod, it contains information for traditional, commercial, and newly invented card games from all over the world. It has been described ...

. Retrieved 1 June 2018. In other games, it is simply the six of bells.

References

External links

The Salzburg deck

{{Playing card Playing cards William Tell deck card games