Preiskegelschieben

Title

Preiskegelschieben

Description

Representation of a bowling game in Bavaria

ca. 1884

Artist

Kotschenreiter

Historical Description

Skittles is one of the oldest sports. Predecessors already existed in ancient Egypt. Etymological studies of the word cone (Old High German chegil) suggest that preliminary forms of today's bowling sport originated in the early Middle Ages. Popular games of skittles have been continuously documented since the 12th century. At that time, however, the emphasis was not on the sporting aspect, but on the betting game. Subsequently, there is evidence of legal regulations that attempted to curb gambling and thus brought bowling into a relationship with card and dice games, and time and again the game of skittles was banned outright. None of this was able to curb the increasing popularity of skittles in the long term. In the 15th century, numerous sources prove that a bowling alley or place, similar to a dance arbor, was one of the places where people celebrated their amusements in almost every community. Although, like most games, it was considered blasphemy, bowling was also practiced in monasteries, and here it was often referred to as pagan killing: The erected short wooden columns were treated by the monks as pagan gods and demons, which they knocked over with stones or wooden balls. Soon the skittles game became part of the great folk festivals. Until the 18th century, bowling was played outdoors without exception. Bowling was not missing at any fair or big wedding. It was still often a matter of good and money. Bowling was also popular in the courtly world of the Rococo. Friedrich Schiller and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe were enthusiastic bowlers. German emigrants brought bowling to Herzegovina, Banat and Transylvania, but also to distant countries like Brazil and Australia. English and Dutch brought the game of skittles to the United States, where it spread very quickly.