Klaus Teuber
Klaus Teuber (25 June 1952 – 1 April 2023) was a German board game designer. Originally working as a dental technician, he began designing games first as a hobby then as a full-time career.
Klaus Teuber | |
|---|---|
.jpg.webp) Teuber in 2017 | |
| Born | 25 June 1952[1] |
| Died | 1 April 2023 (aged 70) |
| Nationality | German |
| Occupation(s) | dental technician, game designer |
| Known for | board game developer |
| Works |
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Four of his games won the prestigious Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year) award: Barbarossa (1988), Adel Verpflichtet (1990), Drunter und Drüber (1991) and The Settlers of Catan (1995). The latter sold over 40 million copies, was translated into 40 languages and spawned a family of expansions and versions.[3] Teuber founded the games company Catan Gmbh in 2002 and his sons now direct the family business.
Early life
Teuber was born in 1952 in the village of Rai-Breitenbach under the Breuberg castle.[2] He played games with model soldiers as a child and later returned to gaming as a young husband and father during his military service.[2]
Career
Teuber worked as a dental technician for his business Teuber Dental-Labor but was not happy in this work. He designed games as a pleasing alternative and, when these became successful, he became a full-time game designer in 1998.[2] The family game business was incorporated as Catan Gmbh in 2002 and his sons Benjamin and Guido are directors while his wife Claudia and his daughter also have roles as bookkeeper and tester.[2]
He won the Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year) award four times: Barbarossa (1988), Adel Verpflichtet (1990), Drunter und Drüber (1991) and The Settlers of Catan (1995).[4]
Death
Teuber died on 1 April 2023 at the age of 70, after a brief illness.[5]
Games
- Barbarossa (1988)
- Timberland (1989), a German-style board game based on woodland management that came in ninth in the Deutscher Spiele Preis (German Game Prize).[6][7]
- Adel Verpflichtet (1990) (Fair Means or Foul, Hoity Toity, Hook or Crook). Was published in the American market by Avalon Hill in 1991, making it an early German-style board game import.[8]
- Drunter und Drüber (1991) (reworked as Wacky Wacky West in 2010)
- Catan (1995) (Die Siedler von Catan, The Settlers of Catan) and its many expansions and versions such as the video game
- Entdecker (1996)
- Löwenherz or Domaine (1997)
- Pop Belly (1999)[9]
See also
- Going Cardboard, (documentary; includes an interview with Teuber)
References
- Neil Genzlinger (5 April 2023), "Klaus Teuber, Creator of the Board Game Catan, Dies at 70", The New York Times
- Adrienne Raphel (12 February 2014), "The Man Who Built Catan", The New Yorker
- Antoinette Radford (5 April 2023), Settlers of Catan: Creator of board game dies aged 70, BBC
- Redaktion (4 April 2023). "Trauer um Klaus Teuber". Spiel des Jahres (in German). Retrieved 4 April 2023.
- Brown, Andy (4 April 2023). "'Catan' creator Klaus Teuber has died". NME. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
- "Timberland". BoardGameGeek. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
- "Ludography: 1988-1990". catan.com.
- Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. p. 179. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
- "Pop Belly". BoardGameGeek. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
External links
- "Special K", article on Klaus Teuber's impact on the game industry
- "Monopoly Killer: Perfect German Board Game Redefines Genre", article on the process through which Klaus Teuber refined Settlers of Catan