Bernward Thole

Bernward Thole (born November 2, 1936 in Fulda ) is a retired media scientist and German games critic as well as the founder and former director of the German Games Archive .

Life

After graduating from high school in Fulda Cathedral in 1958, Thole studied German and Latin at the universities of Marburg and Bonn. From 1965 he worked as a research assistant at the Institute for Modern German Literature with a focus on theater studies. In 1972 he did his doctorate at Fb 09 Modern German Literature and Art Studies at the Philipps University of Marburg with a dissertation on The Chants in the Pieces of Bertolt Brecht: on the history and aesthetics of the song in drama . Thole ended his work at the university in 2001 as an academic senior counselor with a focus on media studies.

From 1973 he also worked as a freelance journalist and mainly in the then new division of game reviews. At first, articles appeared sporadically during the period and then for about thirty years regularly in constant columns in the Frankfurter Rundschau , in the Oberhessische Presse and a number of other newspapers. In 1978 Thole was a founding member of the jury for Game of the Year and served as speaker until 1994. The current honorary member headed the office of the jury until 2007.

In 1983, Bernward Thole founded the German Games Archive at Marburg, his permanent residence since 1960. With over 30,000 board games, a specialist library, numerous card archives and a large pool of game accessories, it developed into a well-known institution and was taken over by the city of Nuremberg in 2010 as a municipal institution. Under the new name of the association “Die Spielebrücke eV”, Thole is continuing his work in Marburg today with a focus on game advice, game criticism and game education. Thole is married and has three children.

Works (selection)

• The “chants” in the plays Bertolt Brecht. On the history and aesthetics of the Lied in Drama , Göppingen: Kümmerle, 1973 (= Göppingen works on German studies. 102.)
• Award-winning games: Yearbook of the jury “Game of the Year” Munich : Don Bosco, 1999, ISBN 3-7698-1193-3
• The award-winning games: a guide through the game jungle , Reinbek near Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1992, ISBN 3-499-18927-5
• Game of the year: Advisor d. Jury with Tom Werneck , Munich: Hugendubel, 1988, ISBN 3-88034-380-2
• The domino game: proven rules, new variations for beginners and advanced players * together with Tom Werneck, Ravensburg: Otto Maier, 1982, ISBN 3-473-42618-0
• Fun and games with dominoes together with Tom Werneck; Munich: Humboldt-Taschenbuchverlag 1986 (humboldt-taschenbuch 522), ISBN 3-581-66522-0
• Domino games. With puzzles and patience together with Tom Werneck, Cologne: Fleurus 2006, ISBN 3-89717-412-X

honors and awards

• 1986 Bamberg Journalist Prize
• 1996 honorary membership in the game designers guild
• In 1997 he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for his services to promoting the game as a cultural asset in family and society
• 2003 Göttinger Inno-Spatz for his long-term commitment to parlor games
• 2004 honorary member of the jury game of the year
• 2006 Golden Badge of Honor of the City of Marburg

Web links

• Literature by and about Bernward Thole in the catalog of the German National Library
• Event for his 70th birthday ( Memento from December 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
• Interview with Thole about his activities on Die Pöppelkiste , September 2003.
• Interview with Bernward Thole , 2009, DIE Zeitschrift für Adultbildung, III / 2009, pp. 26–28.
• Video interview with Bernward Thole

Individual evidence

1. ^ Keyword catalog of Upper Austria. State Library
2. ↑ On the development of the German Games Archive
3. ↑ Dates and figures for Bernward Tholes' 70th birthday ( Memento from December 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) at Game of the Year