Who we are

Bernd Brunnhofer – from University to games

In the mid-eighties emerges a backyard company which is now one of the most successful game publishers in Germany. As many as seven times the Munich "think tank" receives the highly coveted award "Spiel des Jahres" (game of the year) recently in 2016 the "children's game of the year" for Stone Age Junior. Ten other games were rewarded with the "Deutsche Spielepreis" (German game award). All of these games bear not only the authors' hallmarks but also the hallmarks of one person: Bernd Brunnhofer. Since the foundation of the company in 1983, he has had one goal: developing brilliant games.

Born in Graz (Austria) in 1946 he came to Germany when he had finished school. He tried various jobs, but his creative mind could not accept regular working hours. In 1984 he quit his role as a sociology lecturer and hurled himself into the adventures of publishing games. Not without success – see above.

In 2008, his son Moritz joined the company. In 2017 he took over the management of the publisher and Bernd retired. But that does not mean that Bernd does not work anymore. He is still working on prototypes, testing games and much more.

However, he can do that with much more tranquillity as Moritz manages the publisher as passionately as Bernd had been maintaining it for the last 35 years. Thank you! – To all the colleagues for giving their best for Hans im Glück.

My passion for board games already existed when I was born in October 1984 in Munich. I had to gain experience in different areas before rediscovering this passion. However, these experiences help to cope with my daily routine  – as I hope.

Even if I am and was always fascinated by the digital world, I have never lost my passion for playing board games. In 2008 I started to put all my energy into the company. My area of work is varied but particularly fascinating is the development and testing of new games. We should not lose eyesight of tradition when everything – and especially games – shifts into the digital world.

Meanwhile, I have been working at the office pretty much every day for the last five years. Events like the "Spiel" in Essen and other well-known trade fairs are the highlights every year! Working like this, I can travel around the world at the same time...

No, there is literally nothing to complain about mainly because of the fantastic team!

I was born in 1973 – the youngest of three brothers and sisters. In my family, everybody played games: classic card games, chess. But soon I realised that there is much more to discover that these games. It all started with one simple board game. Then, I searched various flea markets in the area. For Christmas and birthdays, board games were the things I would put on my wish list. Very quickly I gathered a large number of boxes of different colours as well as other gamers. Back then, I even played Play-by-Mail (games where you communicate with letters), when there was nobody around who wanted to play games. Luckily, nowadays there are apps and websites like www.yucata.de where you can act out your passion for playing games

I first met Hans im Glück at a trade fair in Nuremberg. After having finished studying economics, I started to work in Munich. When Carcassonne came out in 2001, we were only two people managing the company. Nowadays, we are a small but great team, and I enjoy playing games the same way I did thirty years ago, and I am sure that won't change in the future.

My whole life, playing games has been important to me. In my childhood, I enjoyed playing board and card games together with my family. When I visited the SPIEL in Essen in 1989, one thing I have kept in mind was Karl-Heinz Schmiel with his chef's hat and his game "à la carte".

In 2007, after school, I did an internship at Hans im Glück. Then, I started studying history of arts but I never really left the company. I worked at several trade fairs in order to finally join the team in 2012 when I had finished my studies. Now, I work as an editor for Hans im Glück.

Born in 1972 I experienced a "usual childhood". I went to school, then another one and then another one. After school, I wanted to study computer sciences, then electrical engineering, then a teacher of something and finally I found myself enrolled in supply engineering.

Playing games became more and more a side issue in my life. Not because I did not want to play, but because none of my friends wanted to play, and playing alone is definitely dull.

After five years of elderly care, I had waited long enough to start studying social education. I found my way back to gaming with my girlfriend at that time. One day, she asked me whether I want to visit her ex-boyfriends' parents. I can't remember anymore why I joined her, but this was surely one of the better decisions in my life. This ex-boyfriends' father is Dieter Hornung, and through him and his test sessions, I got to know Bernd (and many other excellent people).

All of this happened fifteen years ago. In the meantime, I have found something I want to study: "creative management" in Ansbach – and I already started, extra-occupationally of course...

Born in 1973, my childhood was comparable to Dirks. I played board, card, and dice games. I studied German and Politics, and it was at that time that I first visited the trade fair in Essen. Three years later I did an internship at Ravensburger. In 2004 I moved to Munich and began to work at Zoch as an editor. Today, thirteen years later, I started working at Hans im Glück. I take care of editing and the webshop (www.cundco.de), which I really enjoy.

Born in Brunswick, I have lived in Wasserburg near Lake Constance for ten years. I moved several times as a child but also with my own family. Twenty years ago I moved to Munich, and I found an apartment in the Birnauerstraße very close to Hans im Glück. Back then, they were searching for somebody to keep the office clean. It was fun, and after a short while, I was asked whether I want to take care of sending the spare parts. From now on I was the expert for everything which had to be posted somewhere. Some years later I helped with the cundco website. I love the meeples but also my colleagues.

As the only child, it was not always easy to play board games. In my last years of school, however, I found many enthusiastic people who loved board games. Even now, we meet from time to time to play games together. But playing games from time to time was not enough for me. That is why I felt at the right place when I joined the team in 2016.

Whoever needs spare parts or has questions concerning a mini-expansion – I am the right person to ask!

In my leisure time? Playing games, of course, and studying politics...