---
title: "Brettspiele im Wandel der Zeit"
date: 2022-12-20
last_modified: 2025-09-22T08:13:55+02:00
generated_at: 2026-05-16T01:20:27Z
url: "https://www.stadtmuseum.de/en/article/brettspiele-im-wandel-der-zeit"
description: "Learn about the historical board games that are stored in our toy collection’s depot, inaccessible to the public."
image: "https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/backgammon.jpeg"
language: "en-US"
---

# Brettspiele im Wandel der Zeit

Backgammon game, foldable wooden box, Ivory and ebony inlay, maker unknown, early 19th century.

© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Photo: Silvia Thyzel

![Backgammonspiel in einem Dam-Brett, klappbarer Holzkasten, Intarsien aus Elfenbein und Ebenholz](https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/backgammon-300x159.jpg)

Even in the digital age, board games are just as important when it comes to social interactions: played with family, friends and acquaintances, and often even with strangers, they’re a great way to combat boredom and bring us closer together, especially during the dark, winter months.

For as long as humankind has existed, people have been playing either alone, in teams or against each another. Game boards were present in different parts of the world from very early on. One of the oldest board games ever discovered was found in a grave in Ireland and dates back to the Bronze Age (approx. 2000 BC). In Egypt, for example, various game boards were found engraved on the roof slabs of the Temple of Qurna (around 1400 BC). Old board games, many of which we now only know what they looked like, have long been forgotten, some are still familiar to us, while others have been given new names.

### When is a board game a board game?

Germany currently has the largest international “gaming community”. More than 200 new games come into the market every year. The best games have been awarded the “*Spiel des Jahres*” [Game of the Year] critics' choice award since 1979 and the “*Deutschen Spiele Preis*” [German Games Award], which is decided by the public, since 1990.

![„Belagerungsspiel“, unbekannter Hersteller](https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/alte-brettspiele-belagerungsspiel-19dd4-300x226.jpg)  “Asalto“, maker unknown, circa 1850. Asalto, also known as the “Assault Game”, was one of the most popular games of the 18th and 19th centuries. One team would have to defend the fortress, while the other would try to attack and occupy it.

© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Photo: Silvia Thyzel

![](https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/alte-brettspiele-belagerungsspiel-2583b.jpg)

This abundance of forms, types and variants, of different materials and rules, doesn’t only relate to board games, but also countless card games and games of skill, as well as hybrid games, thus leading to a confounding medley of concepts. A look at the more recent history of games will help get us through this thicket.

![Schach (hier aus Holz mit Intarsien gefertigt) gilt als Inbegriff des Brettspiels.](https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/altes-schachspiel-300x220.jpg)  Chess (here, made of wood with inlays) is considered the epitome of board games.

© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Photo: Silvia Thyzel

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![„Salta. Das neue Brettspiel von Prof. Dr. Schubert“](https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/alte-brettspiele-salta-karton70cc.jpg) “Salta. Das neue Brettspiel von Prof. Dr. Schubert“ \[Salta. The new board game by Prof. Dr. Schubert\], G. J. Goenschen’sche Publishing House, Leipzig 1899   ![Spielaufbau von „Salta“](https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/alte-brettspiele-saltadb49.jpg) The classic setup for “Salta“ is similar to that of draughts (paper on wood, laminated, multi-coloured print)  As early as the 19th century, when numerous new games for "the education and entertainment of both young and old" were created, the character of the games changed and numerous variations were created. The classic board games (such as chess, draughts, Nine Men's Morris, Go, Pachisi, mancala, bagh-chal, backgammon, etc.) were joined by modern board games (such as Asalto, Halma, Salta, " Volldampf voraus" \[Full Steam Ahead\], followed by ludo and "Monopoly"). In addition, games with a wide variety of forms and content are created, both with and without a game board, including simulation games and solitaire, table-top games, card games, tile-based games (including puzzles), games of chance, games of skill, ball games to name but a few.

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![Brettspiel „Volldampf voraus“](https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/alte-brettspiele-volldampf-voraus-karton97fb.jpg) “Volldampf voraus“ \[Full Steam Ahead\], Hermann Windrath, Grevenbroich (Rhineland), circa 1910   ![Flotten-Brettspiel](https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/alte-brettspiele-volldampf-vorause9e0.jpg) The “Neue Flotten-Kampfspiel“ \[New Fleet Battle Game\] playfully addresses Germany’s desire for naval prestige  ## From competition to collaboration

The classic board games are primarily games of strategy during which two teams usually move gaming pieces around on a game board. They battle it out with cunning, deceit and aggression, conquer, get rich and try to skilfully manipulate or subdue their opponent. Power struggles are fought out on the game boards, just as they do in the real world.

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![Reise-Brettspiel](https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/alte-brettspiele-verkehrsmittel-der-neuzeit-1e841.jpg) “Verkehrsmittel der Neuzeit. Neuestes Reisespiel“ \[Transportation of the modern age. The latest travel game\], Otto u. Max Hauser, Munich, circa 1924   ![Das Reisespiel aus den 1920-er Jahren](https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/alte-brettspiele-verkehrsmittel-der-neuzeit-245a1.jpg) “Verkehrsmittel der Neuzeit. Neuestes Reisespiel“ \[Transportation of the modern age. The latest travel game\], Otto u. Max Hauser, Munich, circa 1924

![Laufspiel](https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/kaiserreise-von-nord-nach-sued_0-300x197.jpg)
The “Kaiserreise nach Nord und Süd“ [The Kaiser’s Journey to the North and South] (1888) is a classic race game.

© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Photo: Silvia Thyzel

Another type of traditional board game is the race game, in which players compete against each other to get their gaming pieces to a given goal while overcoming obstacles. The outcome of these games isn’t primarily determined by intelligence, skill or other abilities, but also by luck.

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![Spiele-Magazin](https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/alte-brettspiele-mensch-wir-werfen-raus-197b7.jpg) Collection of games “<em>Mensch wir werfen raus</em>“ \[Ludo\], maker unknown (GDR), 1953.   ![Spiele-Magazin](https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/alte-brettspiele-mensch-wir-werfen-raus-2eeb1.jpg) As the name “<em>Mensch ärgere Dich nicht</em>“ \[The German name for Ludo\] is patented and can’t be used commercially without the consent of Schmidt Spiele, other manufacturers gave the same game concept other names, such as "<em>Pachisi</em>", "<em>Ärger-Spiel</em>" \[Anger Game\], “<em>Lach nicht zu früh</em>“ \[Don’t Laugh Too Soon\], “<em>Raus</em>” \[Out\] and “<em>Mensch wir werfen raus</em>“ \[Man, we’re casting you out – translation of the German name\].   Modern games, on the other hand, focus more on working together instead of competing against each other. The focus is usually no longer battling and competing, but rather setup, development and cooperation. In order to constantly invent new games, mixing different types of games together and adding and adapting new elements is inevitable. Questions have to be answered, cards drawn, pictures put together or strange activities performed.

![„Wilhelm II. Kaiserreise nach Nord und Süd“ Brettspiel](https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/alte-brettspiele-kaiserspiel-kartona337-300x256.jpg)  “*Wilhelm II. Kaiserreise nach Nord und Süd*“ [Kaiser Wilhelm II‘s Journey to the North and South], manufacturer's mark AK, Nuremberg 1888

© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Photo: Silvia Thyzel

![]()

![Strategiespiel „Alarm“](https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/alte-brettspiele-alarm-1857a.jpg) Strategy game “Alarm“, Herrmannsen & Umland, Hamburg, 1962. Even in the post-war Federal Republic of Germany, some games subliminally emitted the spirit of militarism.   ![Strategiespiel „Alarm“](https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/alte-brettspiele-alarm-28fe7.jpg) Despite the tactical game "Alarm’s" neutral design, two opposing teams compete against each other on the "combat zone’s" 100 tiles. The winner is the first person to occupy ten opposing fields, or the first person capture more than six pieces or an airplane (with Balkenkeuz beam crosses on the wings!) from the opponent.  What’s also interesting is that current topics and ideological views have always been the subject of games: Imperial splendour reigned around 1900, the Nazi regime propagated militarism, during the oil crisis players became "oil magnates" and in the 1980’s people separated - " *Ene mene Müll*" \[Eeny, Meeny Rubbish\] - waste paper from waste glass.

## Highlights

![Das Speilbrett](https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/alte-brettspiele-sturmangriff-24747-225x300.jpg)  Game board of „Asalto“

© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Photo: Silvia Thyzel

To this day, many board games have conflict, war and conquest as their theme – although usually not as obvious as in the once popular "Asalto".

![Gesellschaftsspiel „Luna-Luna“](https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/alte-brettspiele-luna-luna-255ea-300x202.jpg)  The “Luna-Luna“ parlour game, VEB Spielwerk Karl-Marx-Stadt (GDR), 1968.

© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Photo: Silvia Thyzel

During the Cold War, accomplishments in the fields of research and technology were the subject of games in both the West and the East. This board game from the GDR focuses on the Soviet lunar probes from the "Luna" series.

![Würfelspiel „Tageszeiten“, VEB Plasticart Annaberg-Buchholz (DDR), 1988.](https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/alte-brettspiele-tageszeiten-1a5a9-243x300.jpg)   “Tageszeiten“ [Times of the Day] dice game, VEB Plasticart Annaberg-Buchholz (GDR), 1988.

© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Photo: Silvia Thyzel

In the GDR too, a dice game would serve as a playful introduction to socialist norms and values.

![Würfelspiel „Tageszeiten“, VEB Plasticart Annaberg-Buchholz (DDR), 1988.](https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/alte-brettspiele-tageszeiten-340f0-300x205.jpg)  “Tageszeiten“ [Times of the Day] dice game, VEB Plasticart Annaberg-Buchholz (GDR), 1988. Rear side

© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Photo: Silvia Thyzel

![Originalspiel „Mensch ärgere Dich nicht“, J.F. Schmidt, München, 1931. Spielblatt.](https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/alte-brettspiele-mensch-aergere-dich-nicht-3b476-300x225.jpg)  The original “*Mensch ärgere Dich nicht*“ ludo game, J.F. Schmidt, Munich, 1931. Game board

© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Photo: Silvia Thyzel

“*Mensch ärgere dich nicht*“ \[Ludo\] has been a classic right from the day it was invented. A fact that the Nazi regime in Germany wanted to take advantage of and use in its propaganda.

![Das Brettspiel für Kinder](https://www.stadtmuseum.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/alte-brettspiele-der-bunte-wuerfel-1ba49-300x208.jpg)  “Der bunte Würfel“ [The Colouful Die] by Marianne Drechsel, VEB Druck und Verpackung Dresden (GDR).

© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Photo: Silvia Thyzel

“*Der bunte Würfel*“ \[The Colouful Die\], a race game for preschool children published in the GDR, is similar to “*Mensch ärgere dich nicht*“ \[Ludo\].