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History of gambling in Germany
Early forms: from fairs to court lotteries (until the 18th century)
Medieval fairs and public houses. Dice, cards and competitive games are part of urban culture, but often under the prohibitions of local authorities and the church.
Princely measures and revenues. The duchies and electors used lotteries to finance bridges, hospitals and universities: permission for draws was given "one-time" and on report.
Equestrian sport. Since the 18th century - aristocratic races and the first organized betting in the spirit of a sweepstakes (even without a single system).
Golden age of resort casinos (beginning-mid-19th century)
Resort map: Baden-Baden, Wiesbaden, Homburg, Bad Kissingen, Bad Ems - fashionable places of European aristocracy and bohemians.
Games and etiquette: roulette, trente et quarante, ferrara; strict dress code, secular ritual, music and gastronomy.
Cultural plots: Fyodor Dostoevsky played and lost in Wiesbaden - the experience embodied in the "Player"; Baden-Baden was mentioned by Turgenev, Flaubert, the European press chronicles of social life.
Resort economy: casino revenues supported hotels, theaters, parks; the authorities tolerated "excitement" as an engine of tourism and urban modernization.
All-German ban and "revenge" of lotteries (1872-1918)
1872: in the wake of moral reforms and the unification of Germany - a nationwide ban on casinos (exceptions are extremely rare, for local needs). Baden-Baden and other salons are closing.
Lotteries and sweepstakes: instead of roulette - state-controlled lotteries and the growth of racing with more "legitimate" bets.
Shift in leisure: bourgeois culture of sobriety and labor comes into conflict with "frivolous" resort salons.
Interwar period and control of the Third Reich (1919-1945)
Weimar Germany: financial instability, but also the institutionalization of sporttotalizer (football Toto) and state lotteries.
1933-1945: centralized control, ideologization of sports, strict regulation of gambling; casino as a phenomenon - still out of the big legal card.
Two Germanys - Two Vectors (1945-1990)
Germany (West Germany)
Federalism as a chance: land governments get the right to determine the fate of casinos.
Return of the Houses of Play: Since the 1950s, Spielbanken have been opening in Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, etc. Resort traditions are being revived in a modern form - with admission control and taxes.
Lotto and Tote: Lotto/Toto is a massive national habit, a "social license" thanks to sports funding and philanthropy.
GDR (East Germany)
State monopolies and caution: a bet on state lotteries and a minimum range of gambling forms.
Casino as a bourgeois attribute is almost absent; after the unification, the lands of the East adopt the Western licensing model.
Consolidation and consolidation (1990-2000s)
Reintegration: Eastern lands create their Spielbanken, build control over lotteries and bets.
Technology and marketing: casinos become cultural and business centers (gaming halls, restaurants, concerts); bookmakers - a civilized "satellite" of the football nation.
Legal axis: the federal state sets the framework (criminal, tax law), lands - specific licenses, limits, operating modes.
Digital turnaround and "state contracts" (since 2008)
Glücksspielstaatsvertrag (inter-land betting contracts): lands regularly agree on general rules for lotteries, betting, bookmaking and online.
Cautious digitalization: online betting permits are slow and focus on player protection; online poker and online slots have long been the subject of heated debate and phased pilots.
Regulatory philosophy: "admission for the sake of sewage" is a better controlled legal product with limits than a gray market without protection.
People, places, symbols
Baden-Baden (Kurhaus, Spielbank): architectural standard, "French chic" on German soil; today - both a cultural site and a tourist magnet.
Wiesbaden: 19th-century "European saloon," literary legends and modern playhouse restoration.
Gomburg: once "little Monte Carlo," set the tone for the mods and rules of the continental game.
Hippegarten (Berlin) and other racecourses: Racetrack codes that survived casino bans and survived centuries.
Lotto/Toto: Sunday ritual of German families, long-term funding for sports and community projects.
Law, taxes and liability: German specifics
Federal structure: lands issue licenses and operate casinos; federation - criminal norms, financial control and framework regulations.
Taxes and "Gemeinwohl": the share of income goes to sports, culture, social programs - this strengthens the public legitimacy of lotteries and casinos.
Responsible play: advertising restrictions, age control, deposit/time limits, self-exclusion, checking the source of funds for large amounts - concepts firmly spelled out in German practice.
Impact on culture and economy
Resort aesthetics: from secular chronicles of the 19th century to today's festivals and forums - casinos as a stage for fashion, music and gastronomy.
Literature and cinema: from Dostoevsky to German films about "little people" and "big bets" - excitement remains a dramatic motive.
Tourism and services: from hotels and gastronomy to the event industry - gambling houses and racetracks generate multiplier demand.
Sports: stable funding of federations through lotteries is an important detail of the "social contract."
Chronological cheat sheet
until the 18th century: fair and card games, episodic lotteries under the auspices of princes.
beginning-mid-19th century: peak resort casinos (Baden-Baden, Wiesbaden, Homburg).
1872: All-German casino ban.
1919-1933: the institutionalization of lotto/sweepstakes; casino off the legal field.
1933-1945: centralized control, ideologization of sports, strict regime of games.
since the 1950s (Germany): the return of Spielbanken by land solutions; Lotto/Toto is a national habit.
1990: amalgamation; eastern lands adopt the FRG model.
2008 + and 2010s-2020s: inter-land agreements (GlüStV), phased digitalization, strengthening the responsible game.
The history of gambling in Germany is a series of pendulums between the brilliance of resorts and the discipline of the regulator, between the freedom of entertainment and the responsibility of society. From Baden-Baden saloons and racetrack sweepstakes to modern land licences and digital restrictions, the German model has always sought balance. That is why today's German market seems "strict but stable": it relies on tradition, respects the right and carefully lets in innovation, not forgetting that behind every bet is a human story worth protecting.