Perlaggen

Perlaggen, a game played with 33 cards in teams of two, is now considered part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Its origins lie in the Valle dell'Adige and Valle Isarco, where a plaque on a house in the Via dei Bottai (Bindergasse) in the Old Town of Bolzano still commemorates its creation. According to the inscription, Perlaggen was played for the first time in 1833 at the Pfau Inn.

The playing cards include the Weli, one of the most important special cards, as it can beat any other card and be "christened" at will. In addition to this, the King of Hearts, known as the "Martl", the Ace of Acorns - known as "Spitz" - and the "Seven of Bells" are central components.

The pair of players that reaches 18 points first wins the game. A Perlaggen booklet from 1853 already reports on this game, and on April 19, 1890, the first Perlaggen congress took place in Innsbruck. The card game is still extremely popular today: Since 2004, a "Förderkreis Perlaggen" (support circle) has existed in South Tyrol, which also organises the annual championship.

A decade ago, the pan-Tyrolean Perlaggen championship took place. The name, incidentally, traces its roots to the south of South Tyrol and the word "Berlicche" (devil): Much like the devil, the Perlagg can appear in the form of any card.