European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 6, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Florence Italy in 1377, before the invention of the printing press. Political and religious leaders soon banned them one sketch in the museum depicts a group of zealots building a Bonfire of playing cards backgammon boards and other supposed tools of the Devil. But card games became popular across Europe anyway and their variety increased As Trade with the Orient began to flourish. The exhibit features Many cards from India Persia Japan and China where card games Are at least 15 centuries old according to Dietrich. Indian card decks generally Are divided into eight or ten suits with two figure cards in each suit the Mir King and the Wesir King s servant. Traditional German decks use acorns Bells hearts and leaves to distinguish suits. Painted cards remained common in India until modern times while in Europe the ubiquity of printing presses made them virtually obsolete. Some appeared As artistic flukes or wartime improvisations. For example one display Case holds a simple tiny deck which German prisoners of War had made from the paper in soviet cigarette packages during world War ii. The museum also Sells card decks and games common 52-card decks and a vast repertoire of More exotic arrangements including museum reproductions. Several different illustrated catalogues of playing card types also Are for Sale. The Deutscher Spie Karten museum is a Branch of the Baden Wuerttemberg state museum in Stuttgart although the municipality of Leinfelder Echter Dingen owns part of the card collection. A local playing card manufacturing company Altenberger und Stral Sunder Spie Karten Fabrik a operated the museum before the state museum took Over in 1982. Visitors May find the museum by leaving autobahn 8 at the Stuttgart sued exit and by following signs to Leinfelder. In the town signs bearing a heart and a Spade Point the Way to the museum at Schoenbech Strasse 32. Museum brochures and the slide presentation Are available Only in German although Dietrich Speaks English and is at the museum on weekdays. The facility is open 2 to 5 ., tuesday through Friday and sundays and German holidays 10 . To 1  Admission costs 1 Mark for adults about 45 cents and 50 pfennig for students and children. Some of the jokes at Munich s absurd museum need no explanation. Unich museum puts on a funny face persian card presumed to have belonged to Sultan Muhammad of Persia. The card is from Early 1500s. Story and photo by Charlie Bowden Munich Bureau for Karl Valentin life was a joke and he spent most of his life making fun of it. That attitude is continued in the Karl Valentin museum sometimes referred to As the museum of the absurd. The museum crammed into a Tower of the Sartor Gate in downtown Munich is actually More of a memorial to a Man his associates and the times in which they lived. A private museum it was put together by Painter Hannes Koenig using what he could find from the ruins that was Munich after world War ii. Valentin born in 1882 in a suburb of Munich known As the a was apprenticed by his father to a Carpenter to learn a worthwhile Trade. At a time when music Halls were the rage Valentin longed to be a performer. He soon swapped his Hammer and nails for several musical instruments and became a travelling Bard. He met with Little Success until he managed a booking at Munich s Frankfurter Hof one of the most the popular Beer gardens of that Era. Here he met Liesl Karlstadt who became his partner and companion. Together they wrote and produced More than 400 comedy sketches and plays which they performed in cabarets and Beer Halls. Later they made radio shows movies and phonograph records. At his Best he was referred to As Germany s. Charlie Chaplin but he never received the widespread acclaim of Chaplin. Valentin the comic remained a citizen of Munich. He Felt that his particular Genius needed the background of this town which dislikes pomposity and where anybody showing off is soon shown up reads a line from his biography. Perhaps befitting a comic and a Clown Valentin died in 1948 on Rose Montag fool s monday. Museum Secretary Gudrun Koehl said Valentin had a deep appreciation for the bavarian folksinger and foresaw a time when their specially with that of the bavarian humorists would be forgotten. With that in mind he began collecting biographies photographs Wax figures and other Memorabilia for a museum he established near the City s . That museum along with much of the rest of Munich s downtown area was destroyed during the War. However some of its contents were salvaged or reproduced. Those plus what could be found at Flea markets and antique shops make up the Valentin museum. The Tower has three floors above the tiny crowded Entrance. The first is devoted to Valentin and Karlstadt and the special Brand of humor that they practice. The second floor traces the men and women folksinger comedians humorists who were popular in that period. The top floor is a cafe itself a dedication to Valentin from the Coffee mugs with his Silhouette on the Side to a frayed Bat that hangs from the ceiling and dips when the door is opened. Koehl said that much of the humor depicted would be difficult to understand for non germans because some Are dependent on the signs that accompany the exhibit and the words often do not translate Well into another language. Others however Are Universal. One example is a Wax foot that has a huge Nail protruding from the big toe with a sign that says toe  another is a Black door about 12 inches Square with a sign Reading Entrance for Chimney  operating hours and Entrance fees like the museum Are Odd. It s open monday tuesday and saturday from 11 01 . Until 5 29  And on sunday from 10 01. Entrance is 199 pfennings for adults 99 pfennings for children and students. A Booklet is available for 6 Marks but Only the biography of Valentin has been translated into English. The Sartor Gate is within walking distance of the Marie Platz or the Deutscher museum. March 6,1986 stripes Magazine