The origin of the breed

The most ancient of curly cats and generally rare breed. These felines descend derive from cornish rexes yet do look substantially different. Their name alone tells of their german origin, one of the version says that back in 1951 german fanciers have crossed a cornish rex with a street cat of a breed yet to be known. The litter had curly coat, as if both of the parents bore a respective gene. The other claim about german rexes dates back to the year 1930. Still exists the old photo of a cat called Munk, a pet of Erna Schneider's family from a village round Konigsberg. There is a mark on the photo defining the cat's breed as German Rex. It is also known that Munk was a child to a russian blue cat and a tobacco hued turkish angora. Schneiders were not breeding Munks offspring purposely, although they have all shared their ancestors curled hair. Unfortunately, the world war has revised the breed's development in it's brutal fashion and it is Rose Scheuer-Karpin, a doctor who has found Lämmchen, a black curly haired feline, and took up the development of a thought to be lost breed.

Some sources state that Lämmchen was a Munk's direct progeny, and that she was brought to Berlin for breeding purposes in 1947.It is notable that at the beginning there were straighthair kittens in her litters, and only by crossing her with her son the breeders could achieve a reliable generation of curled hair litters. They became the forefathers of the breed as we know it now. To shape the breed at the beginning, a number of breeds was used including, but not limited to, cornish and devon rexes. There is a speculation that cornish rex has derived from it's german counterpart, but there is no evidence of that. At the beginning, in 1970-s to be exact, the breed was recognised as european shorthair. Only in 1983 it was recognised as a german rex. Back at the day there were two archetypes of the breed with different nose profile: the roman one and the cobbled one, later the second one became dominant. Nowadays there is a number of organisations that have admitted the breed, yet CFA treats it as cornish or devon rex.

Nowadays Germany, Switzerland and Finland remain the main german-rex fancier centres.

Appearance

A well-built and rather strong medium-sized feline. It's breed defining feature is it's curly coat.

Head: Rounded, with smooth contours and with good breadth between the ears. Cheeks are well developed. Profile is slightly curved at the level of the nose base. Muzzle is shorter and broader than Cornish Rex Chin is strong and full. Whiskers are shorter than usual and curly.

Голова: Округлая, с плавными очертаниями и большим расстоянием между ушами. Щеки хорошо развитые. В профиль заметно легкое углубление на переходе ото лба к носу. Мордочка короче и шире, чем у корниш-рекса. Подбородок сильный, массивный, крепкий. Усы короче обычных, загибающиеся.

Eyes: Medium in size and rounded, set wide and a bit slanted, well open. The eye color should be uniform and harmonize with the coat color of the cat.

Глаза: Средних размеров, округлые, широко и слегка косо поставленные, широко раскрытые. Они должны быть обязательно однотонными, яркими, блестящими и гармонировать с окрасом шерсти.

Ears: Medium in size, broad at the base, with slightly rounded contours, set wide apart. Outside is well covered with fine hair, inside is slightly covered.

Уши: Средних размеров, широкие у основания, со слегка закругленными кончиками, относительно низко поставлены. Внешний край покрыт густой и тонкой шерстью, нижний край с легким пушком.

Neck: Medium long.

Шея: Средней длины.

Body: Medium size, athletic, strong, muscular, but not coarse and not heavy. Chest is strong and rounded. Back is straight from the shoulders to the rump.

Тело: Среднего размера, атлетическое, крепкое, мускулистое, но не массивное и не тяжелое. Грудь закругленная и мощная. Спина прямая от плеч до крупа.

Legs: Muscular and of medium length.

Ноги: Мускулистые, средней длины.

Paws: Well developed, oval (WCF), rounded (FIFe) in form.

Лапы: Хорошо развитые, слегка овальной (CFA), округленной (FIFe) формы.

Tail: Medium length, tapering form the substantial base to the rounded tip, well covered with fur.

Хвост: Средней длины, крепкий у основания, постепенно суживается к закругленному кончику. Шерсть на нем обильная и вьющаяся.

Coat: Short, soft, silky and velvety. Curly or wavy over all body. It is longer than Cornish Rex coat. Density varies from a thin and soft to a thick uppercoat. Characteristic feature of this breed is absence of the guard hairs.

Шерсть: Короткая, мягкая, шелковистая и бархатистая. Завитая или волнистая по всему телу. Она более длинная, чем у корниш-рекса, и более торчащая. Густота шерстяного покрова варьируется от тонкой и мягкой до очень густой. Характерная черта породы - отсутствие остевого волоса.

Color:
WCF: Not recognized colors: chocolate, cinnamon, lilac, fawn and colorpoint and their combinations with white. Other colors are recognized with any amount of white.
FIFe: All colors are recognized with any amount of white.

Окрасы:
WCF: Не признаны окраы: шоколадный, циннамон, лиловый, фавн и колорпойнт и их комбинации с белым. Остальные окрасы признаны. Любое количество белого.
FIFe: Признаны все окрасы и их комбинации с любым количеством белого.

Penalize: Too long, and too narrow head, small ears, short, bald tail.

Недостатки: Слишком длинная или заостренная голова, маленькие уши, короткий и голый хвост.

Disqualification on shows: Bare patches on the body, shaggy and not wavy enough coat.

Дисквалификация на выставках: Всклокоченная и не особенно волнистая шерсть, а также участки без волос.

Disqualification for all breeds: Amputated claws, cryptorchism, deafness. Any bone deformation in the head, body, limbs.

Character traits and features

German rex is an active yet patient pet, which is social enough to live well both with it's owner, children and other pets. Being as vigorous and tireless as a rex, they are also pedantic as germans and can even put their toys away after play to earn your praise. They are also smart and witty enough to accompany the owner on any errand. It is notable that while happy they wave their tails like dogs.

Maintenance and care

It is better to the german's curly hair with a soft brush. Dry cleaning is generally not preferred. Just as other rexes, they are never cold and feel well in european climate even without outer coat. Having no undercoat, they are also suitable for allergic people.
During the season of extensive coat growth vitamin-B supplies are recommended.

Nutrition choices

Rex breeds are dependent on provided food quality for their coat to grow nice and thick. One should see to it that their rations have enough vitamins and fats, as if they need it to stay warm not relying on their coat.

Selection and breeding

Allowed crossings: NONE

Breeds relative to or derived from German Rex:

NONE

Alternative and absolete breed names:

Deutsch Rex
Prussian rex.