Deckels, deckels everywhere

OK. We're in Germany. We're sitting in a bier hall. Our Weisen, helles, lager, or pilzen is finally brought to our table. The dirndl-dressed help whacks Chugger on the head. Why?

'Cause he's playing with the deckels. Again. He won't leave them alone. From the second he sat down, he picked up the stack of deckels and has been shuffling, flipping, and passing them from hand to hand.

If we want our bier, we'll have to get Chugger to remember to put the things down for us to be served our biers.

So, a little on the humble deckel. The deckel was first intended to keep flies out of one's bier. Then it became the annoying thing that stuck to the bottom of one's condensation-moistened bier glass. Now its an article of post-modern art. A sort of Andy Warhol commercial art thing.

This week's edition of Der Spiegel has a few things to add. Here's a slideshow collection. Finally, there are games - drinking games - to be played with the things. All-in-all deckels will provide some distraction for us while we are there. While we are waiting for our dirndl-dressed bier provider to whack Chugger's head.