Das Bohnenspiel
Encyclopedia
Bohnenspiel is a German
mancala
game described in the 1937 Deutsche Spielhandbuch.
Each player "owns" the six pits closest to himself. The player whose turn it is to play chooses any one of his pits which contains at least one bean. He removes all the beans from this pit and sows them counterclockwise. Sowing is accomplished by selecting a pit, removing all the pieces from that pit, and dropping them one-by-one in each subsequent pit (leaving out the stores), until all have been used.
If the last bean ends up in a pit which, after sowing, contains exactly two, four, or six beans (but no other number), all beans in this pit are captured. If any capture is made, the preceding pit is checked (and its beans possibly captured) according to the same rule, and so forth.
If the player whose turn it is to move cannot move, the game ends and all beans on the board go to the other player.
The goal is to capture more beans than the opponent.
to visit Baron von Stackelberg. There he discovered a replica of a game board which to this day is kept in the Hermitage Museum
in St. Petersburg. The original board had been a gift from the Shah
of Persia to Empress Catherine the Great.
The game spread in German-Baltic and Prussian noble families until it was popularized by Jahn in the entire German-speaking world and in all population strata. Jahn also pursued adult-pedagogical goals with the game: He wanted to educate the working class and improve the lives of wounded German World War I
veterans. His variant of the game is also called Baltic bean game, while another variant, which used a bigger board, is called German bean game.
A detailed analysis of the rules of the game shows the bean game to be very similar to Central Asian and Arab mancala games, such as Turkish
mangala
, Palestinian
Al-manqala
, and Iraq
i Halusa
. This fits very well with the likely origin of the game. The resemblance to African mancala games on the other hand is probably coincidence.
In the 19th century, the game was most popular in the Baltic States, East and West Prussia
and Pomerania
. In the Baltics, the game disappeared after the October Revolution
, due to the expropriation, expulsion, and execution of the German noble families in 1917. In East Germany, several books were written about the game. Plastic game boards were made in the 1980s, with the name of the game changed to Sabo or Badari.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
mancala
Mancala
Mancala is a family of board games played around the world, sometimes called "sowing" games, or "count-and-capture" games, which describes the game-play. Mancala games play a role in many African and some Asian societies comparable to that of chess in the West, or the game of Go in Eastern Asia...
game described in the 1937 Deutsche Spielhandbuch.
Rules
The field consists of two rows of six pits each. The game starts with six beans in each pit.Each player "owns" the six pits closest to himself. The player whose turn it is to play chooses any one of his pits which contains at least one bean. He removes all the beans from this pit and sows them counterclockwise. Sowing is accomplished by selecting a pit, removing all the pieces from that pit, and dropping them one-by-one in each subsequent pit (leaving out the stores), until all have been used.
If the last bean ends up in a pit which, after sowing, contains exactly two, four, or six beans (but no other number), all beans in this pit are captured. If any capture is made, the preceding pit is checked (and its beans possibly captured) according to the same rule, and so forth.
If the player whose turn it is to move cannot move, the game ends and all beans on the board go to the other player.
The goal is to capture more beans than the opponent.
History
The Bohnenspiel was first mentioned by Fritz Jahn his book Old German Games (1917). In it he describes a 1908 trip to EstoniaEstonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
to visit Baron von Stackelberg. There he discovered a replica of a game board which to this day is kept in the Hermitage Museum
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display,...
in St. Petersburg. The original board had been a gift from the Shah
Shah
Shāh is the title of the ruler of certain Southwest Asian and Central Asian countries, especially Persia , and derives from the Persian word shah, meaning "king".-History:...
of Persia to Empress Catherine the Great.
The game spread in German-Baltic and Prussian noble families until it was popularized by Jahn in the entire German-speaking world and in all population strata. Jahn also pursued adult-pedagogical goals with the game: He wanted to educate the working class and improve the lives of wounded German World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
veterans. His variant of the game is also called Baltic bean game, while another variant, which used a bigger board, is called German bean game.
A detailed analysis of the rules of the game shows the bean game to be very similar to Central Asian and Arab mancala games, such as Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
mangala
Mangala (game)
Mangala is a traditional Turkish mancala game. It is strictly related to the mancala games Iraqi Halusa, Palestinian Al-manqala, and Baltic German Bohnenspiel. There is also another game referred as Mangala played by the Bedouin in Egypt, and Sudan, but it has quite different rules.The game can be...
, Palestinian
State of Palestine
Palestine , officially declared as the State of Palestine , is a state that was proclaimed in exile in Algiers on 15 November 1988, when the Palestine Liberation Organization's National Council adopted the unilateral Palestinian Declaration of Independence...
Al-manqala
Al-manqala
Al-manqala is a traditional mancala game which is very similar to Turkish mangala. It is played in Palestine.- Rules :The game has the same rules as mangala except the following:*The game is played on a 2x7 board with seven pieces in each hole initially....
, and Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i Halusa
Halusa
Halusa, or Halusi , is a traditional mancala game which is similar to Turkish mangala. It is played in Iraq.- Rules :The game has the same rules as mangala except the following:...
. This fits very well with the likely origin of the game. The resemblance to African mancala games on the other hand is probably coincidence.
In the 19th century, the game was most popular in the Baltic States, East and West Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
and Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
. In the Baltics, the game disappeared after the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
, due to the expropriation, expulsion, and execution of the German noble families in 1917. In East Germany, several books were written about the game. Plastic game boards were made in the 1980s, with the name of the game changed to Sabo or Badari.
External links
- Play Das Bohnenspiel online (JavaJava (programming language)Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
applet) - Article about Bohnenspiel
- Rules of Bohnenspiel with example diagrams on igGameCenter