Our honorary member Bernward Thole passed away peacefully on December 18 at the age of 86. He was a founding member in 1978, spokesperson until 1994 and later Honorary Chairman of the Spiel des Jahres jury, founder of the German Games Archive in Marburg, which is now based in Nuremberg, and a tireless campaigner for games as a cultural asset.

The GamesCafé at the Nuremberg Toy Fair, where the SAZ, the Illustrators Organization and the German Games Archive Nuremberg now present themselves, is also due to his initiative – a point of reference for all creatives and authors at this fair. In 1996, he was awarded honorary membership of the SAZ together with Friedhelm Merz.

For a long time, Bernward Thole was a driving force in the Spiel des Jahres jury, without whom today's high standard of analog games in Germany and Europe would certainly look different. In 1997, he was even awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for his promotion of games as a cultural asset in families and society. We are not only losing an always very committed comrade-in-arms in our fight for games as a cultural asset, but also a good friend and long-time companion of many game authors.