Sign Up for Our Monthly Family Getaways Newsletter Playmobil FunPark features a variety of life-size Playmobil worlds and activity zones designed to encourage movement and imaginative play Children can roam the 22-acre grounds filled with castles a line of plastic toys (similar to Legos) founded in the 1970s fans can play with Playmobil toys currently in production and also immerse themselves in the classics Kids can pretend to be buccaneers exploring a stranded shipwreck heroically defend the Knight’s Castle and more they can imagine they’re mermaids swimming through a crystal grotto at the new Mermaid Kingdom while daring older kids can test out go-karts in the Playmobil Police Station Clients shouldn’t miss the park’s gigantic bouncing pillows and trampolines or a visit to see the unicorns roaming the Magical Fairyland Playmobil FunPark’s motto is “Get Active,” and children certainly will — but there’s plenty for adults to enjoy parkgoers can head inside to Cafe-Bar for pastries and espresso drinks One-day tickets range from about $10 to $14 Playmobil FunPark is located next to Playmobil’s headquarters in Brandstatterstrasse where the beloved toys have been in production since 1974 recommend they catch the Spielwarenmesse international toy fair in nearby Nuremberg Where to Stay: Playmobil-Hotel is located directly next to Playmobil FunPark and is designed with children in mind venture to the family-owned Hotel Elch in Nuremberg The DetailsPlaymobil FunParkwww.playmobil-funpark.de Hotel Elch in Nurembergwww.hotel-elch.eu Copyright © 2025 Northstar Travel Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 301 Route 17 N, Suite 1150, Rutherford, NJ 07070 USA | Telephone: (201) 902-2000 a group of extremely patient people have spent the past 16 years doing the world's most difficult jigsaw They are Referat AR 4 Projektgruppe Manuelle Rekonstruktion and their life's work is to foil attempts made by the East German secret police in their dying days to destroy the enormous archives they had built up during their 39 years of existence Sitting alone in one office last week was Sybilla Reichert brightening up the bland surroundings in a pink top On her desk was a pile of torn-up bits of paper acid-free mending tape and a Ferrero Rocher for later "Today I am piecing together the story of a West German family who made a visit to the East," she said "This is a record of how they were put under surveillance as they made their way across the border and took a bus to Jena I've had a lot of these recently," she said "people visiting the GDR for weddings and birthdays." Anja Kräker was taping together an architectural plan she had found in the sack by her desk "I don't know what it is exactly," she said I've always been into arts and crafts." These women are just two of 1,800 people still employed by the German government to work with the files the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (Stasi) left behind when the Berlin Wall came crashing down in 1989 Twenty years since two Germanys became one the ghosts of the divided past still loom large The reunified German government recently promised to fund the archives until 2019 and each month 5,000 people still ask to see their own files A total of 2.75m requests have been made to view files since the 1991 Stasi Records Act was passed which allowed controlled access to the archives "I'm not surprised that so many people are only now asking to see their files," said Roland Jahn who on Monday becomes the new federal commissioner for the Stasi files "A lot of people were too frightened in the early days "They were afraid that they would find out that they were betrayed by their friends and family But now they are finding that their children Were you a victim or a perpetrator?'" Though he has worked in the archives in Berlin's Alexanderplatz since reunification in 1990 only decided to look at his own file eight years ago "I wasn't even sure there would be a file and as I had never felt disadvantaged by something the Stasi might have done to me "So when I requested my file and found that there wasn't just an index card but 50 pieces of paper and numerous photos taken secretly of me and my family Reichert and Kräker are part of a 10-strong team who are working full-time on an extraordinary project to piece together 15,500 sacks full of ripped-up bits of paper each scrap a part of a file kept by the Stasi on its people and enemies When it became clear that the iron curtain was being torn aside they used a particularly fiendish kind of shredder that used steam to turn shreds into unreadable mush the officers used their bare hands to rip up the files they had spent so many years painstakingly compiling Such is the scale of the material the Stasi left behind – 111km of paper stored spine to spine videos and audio recordings and an astonishing 39m index cards – that the authorities recently admitted they haven't even read half of the files themselves yet In Zirndorf the so-called "puzzlers" have managed to piece together the contents of just 500 sacks – around a million pieces of paper – since 1995 For how much longer they will do so is questionable The current crop of puzzlers only have contracts until December and last week in Berlin Jahn suggested the half a million or so euros spent on manual reconstruction each year might be better invested elsewhere "Perhaps we should spend money on personnel working with the files we already have compiled," he said in Berlin Almost four years ago, a new computer system was unveiled by Berlin's Fraunhofer Institute which, its designers boasted, could piece together all 15,500 sacks in around five years The "unshredder" virtually reconstructs the documents by looking for matching colours The plan was that the machine would process the smallest scraps who in the 1990s would sometimes spend months piecing together 90 tiny snippets to form just one page would concentrate on the "easier" work: files only ripped into quarters or perhaps eighths The pilot virtual reconstruction project should have already reported its findings by now the computer did not originally understand holes made in the margin of a document by a hole punch It thinks there is a section missing and tries to look for it," he said So far the multimillion-euro machine has processed just 400 sacks Many question the value of the reconstruction but Petter says those who do have a "precarious" relationship with the past "Victims of the Stasi have the right to decide whether they want to know what happened to them under the dictatorship But people who say we should throw the sacks into the river Spree and be done with it are trying to prescribe how other people live." said his work was important to give people peace – and in some cases former East German citizens have been able to prove that they deserve higher pensions," he said "Whenever I find a scrap of paper with a victim's name on it I think of how they will feel when they read their reassembled file." the work of the archives is essential to maintain the "political hygiene" of Germany "We can't let people who worked for the Stasi keep quiet and get top jobs while their victims suffer," he said "I simply won't let it be the case that lying pays." some public figure is outed as one of the Stasi's "unofficial collaborators" the office manager of the head of Die Linke (Left) party was named and shamed by Berlin's BZ tabloid the head of human resources at the Stasi archives resigned after it become known he had been recruited by the Stasi at the age of 17 around 50 people still employed by the archive have been found to have worked for the secret police in a previous life Though members of the public only have the right to view their own files reporters and researchers can make requests to view files of ex-Stasi employees this means a lot of journalistic "fishing expeditions" every time anyone gets an important job who for almost 30 years has worked as a journalist for German state television says it is his job to ensure that what the Stasi did should not be forgotten just as Germany should never forget the crimes committed during the Third Reich "We must continue this duty of remembrance to ensure there is no nostalgia for East Germany." There is perhaps no man better qualified to look after the Stasi's mammoth archives than Roland Jahn who takes over as federal commissioner today The 57-year-old from Jena was imprisoned in East Germany for daring to question the regime and was kicked out of the country in 1983 He moved to West Berlin and became a journalist smuggling cameras into the East to report on life under the dictatorship for the [then] West German state broadcaster ARD Jahn became the first East German citizen to read his own Stasi file which incorporated 30 box files documenting every aspect of his life on both sides of the wall He discovered word-for-word transcripts of phone conversations and surveillance records showing the Stasi followed his eight-year-old daughter to school "Even now I ask myself: what did they want from her Did they want to kidnap her?" he said Jahn discovered friends had informed on him had signed the form sanctioning his deportation A hundred Stasi officers were deployed to ensure his removal ran to plan He also found evidence officers had run a smear campaign against him sending anonymous letters to his friends and family in the GDR describing his treachery.They even made a collage with a thousand Deutschmark note with Jahn's face stuck in the middle of it telling the recipient that he had taken bribes from the Stasi in return for informing on his loved ones he is making a living from your suffering," said Jahn Jahn's goal is simple: "I want everyone who co-operated with the Stasi to know that even though it's 21 years since the wall fell This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page The history of the Federal Office began in 1946 at the end of the Second World War with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) organising accommodation for homeless foreign nationals in the premises of the former prisoner of war camp at Langwasser it was primarily Latvians and Estonians who were accommodated in the premises made available by the US armed forces after the border town that was divided between the Latvians and Estonians following the First World War With most of the original inmates having emigrated to America by 1947 the UNRRA's successor organisation passed the Valka Camp to the newly founded German refugee authorities With the adoption of the Convention concerning the Legal Status of Refugees the Federal Authority for the Recognition of Foreign Refugees was founded which was subsequently to become the Federal Office and its 40 employees were responsible from this point on for refugees' asylum applications These refugees also lived in the Valka Camp in the new federal holding camp for foreigners where they were looked after until a decision was made about where they would finally live The remaining refugees were then accommodated in the former police barracks at Zirndorf which had been used for the purpose of accommodating refugees since as early as 1955 The Government had set up two new accommodation buildings there The Federal Authority's employees followed a year later to work in the newly built administration building With the passing of the Foreign Nationals Act on 28 April 1965 the Federal Authority was renamed the Federal Office for the Recognition of Foreign Refugees Apart from the events of the "Prague Spring" the number of asylum applications remained at a low level for the employees The number of asylum applications drastically increased with the civil-war-like circumstances in Turkey in 1974 and reached a record of over 100,000 applications in 1980 of which 55,000 applications were from Turkish nationals alone The holding camp with officially only 450 places was regularly overcrowded With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent flood of refugees the numbers of asylum applications continued to increase approximately 438,000 people applied for asylum in the Federal Republic of Germany This high number of asylum applicants resulted in organisational changes and an increase in staff The Federal Office set up a total of 48 branch offices in the Federal Länder and employed over 4,000 staff in this period Having leased several different office buildings for the headquarters in the municipal area of Nuremberg the Federation moved the main offices to Nuremberg-Langwasser with effect from 1993 the Federal Office moved its 800 staff to its present headquarters in Frankenstraße – an address steeped in history; known throughout the town as the "Südkaserne" (Southern Barracks) the number of asylum applications has fallen sharply An extensive restructuring process for the Federal Office for the Recognition of Foreign Refugees followed reaching its climax with the implementation of the Immigration Act in 2005 The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees evolved out of the Federal Office for the Recognition of Foreign Refugees As a result of the Immigration Act (Zuwanderungsgesetz) the new Federal Office for Migration and Refugees also took on extensive tasks in integration and migration Some existing tasks were also centralised at the Federal Office such as maintaining the Central Register of Foreigners and other tasks in the area of voluntary return the Federal Office has developed from being purely an asylum authority to a centre of excellence for migration and integration The Federal Office is represented all over Germany via its decentralised structure comprising branch offices arrival centres and decision-making centres in each of the Federal Länder The Federal Office's staff was increased to 7,300 full-time-equivalent posts in 2016 The staff included individuals who were directly employed by the BAMF almost 1,600 full-time-equivalent posts allocated and seconded from different Federal agencies the Bundeswehr and the Federal Employment Agency provided temporary support in reducing backlogs The number of asylum-seekers has rapidly increased in recent years with 442,000 refugees entering the country in 2015 © 2025 Federal Office for Migration and Refugees Cookies make it easier for us to provide our services A Microsoft software developer is donating 20 percent of the profits from his debut novel “Revolution,” toward a community recreation center at Redmond’s Washington Cathedral and Project Transformation a Christian mission sponsored by the church Monday (May 5) for more than 3,200 seats on city councils The prosecutor reported that Chase Jones was traveling at 112 mph when he crashed into the victims Bob Ferguson says federal funds are needed to address $34 million in damage caused by the storm Plasteurope.com is a business information platform for the European plastics industry It is part of KI Kunststoff Information and PIE Plastics Information Europe one of the leading content providers for the European plastics industry We offer daily updated business news and reports polymer prices and other services for the international plastics industry News | Polymer Prices | Suppliers Guide | Jobs | Register | Advertising Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker who launched the popular Playmobil range of plastic toys in the 1970s Playmobil manufacturer geobra Brandstaetter Stiftung said in a statement Monday that he died on June 3 He initiated the Playmobil range during the oil crisis of the early 1970s and later said that the success of the figures The company says that 2.8 billion of the figures It has more than 4,000 employees worldwide Germany — Pastor Markus Bomhard has learned that you can’t just crucify a doll and get away with it the German clergyman has been setting up Playmobil toys in biblical scenes and photographing them to illustrate his online version of the Good Book But he has recently received signs of displeasure from the toys’ maker The manufacturers of the 3-inch tall line of Playmobil figures Zirndorf-based Geobra Brandstaetter GmbH & Co. accused Bom-hard of copyright infringement and asked him last month to stop customizing them and using their trademarked name on his Web site they said they were willing to work with him to find a way he can keep the site without violating the company’s rights “We are working on a compromise together,” spokeswoman Gisela Kupiak told the Associated Press which range from farm animals to dinosaurs The evangelical pastor first built the scenes for his three daughters in their home in Steinbach and gained an online following after uploading pictures to a Web site He later posted a note from Pope Benedict XVI congratulating him on “facilitating access to scripture in a playful manner.” Playmobil does not object in principle to biblical scenes “We have ascertained massive manipulation of the figures,” the company said in a statement their arms were deformed with a candle flame or hair dryer to nail them on the cross.” He also says he painted figures of Adam and Eve a flesh color and added plastic leaves for modesty Playmobil says it has known about Bomhard’s site for a year and only decided to act against him when they decided that his distortion of the figures was going too far and that he could encourage children to do the same “We cannot accept such displays for security reasons because our products are made of plastic and are flammable,” the company said Bomhard replaced the online book with a notice that he had “neither money nor energy nor time” to redo the project according to the toymaker’s strict conditions But it is back up after the company said it would work with him Bomhard has now renamed the site “Klicky-Bibel” from “Playmo-Bibel,” and said he is willing to accommodate the company in other ways “I would even photograph the cross from behind so that you couldn’t see the objectionable figure anymore,” Bomhard told the AP But he estimates that more than half of the toys in his scenes are modified so any compromise must allow for at least some disfiguration Horst Brandstätter had worked at his toy company for over six decades and oversaw initial production of now-famous plastic figures during 1970s oil crisis Horst Brandstätter, the head of the German toy company that produces Playmobil, the small plastic figures loved by children the world over, has died aged 81, the company has announced. Known as Herr Playmobil, or to colleagues simply as HOB, Brandstätter joined the family firm at the age of 19, in 1952, when it was run by his two uncles. He soon recognised that the future of toy manufacturing lay more in plastic products than metal ones and set about restructuring the company’s production facilities, developing the hula hoop in 1958 that became a worldwide hit. But when the oil crisis of the 1970s drove up the cost of manufacturing plastic products, the company’s mould designer Hans Beck came up with the idea of making the small 7.5cm figurines using minimal amounts of plastic. Under Brandstätter’s leadership, the company, based in Zirndorf in southern Bavaria, initially made just three models – a knight, a workman and a Native American. But figures today range from police and pirates to fairies and clowns. Brandstätter paved the way for his succession in the mid-1990s by establishing a foundation to manage the company in accordance with his wishes after his death. 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Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience The best toys are made from high-quality materials that make them resilient through repeated use but this isn’t helpful unless the toy will also grow with the child Good toys will start with a simple concept and then allow the child to experiment and build on this concept as they age They will challenge the child to play in new and different ways A great toy that interests a girl at age six will remain with her until age eight We love toys like this for their play value which can make them great tools for engaging a child in their own learning (These are often referred to as STEM or STEAM toys — for their focus on Science Some of the simplest and silliest toys that we carry are bestsellers for all ages: They might feel weird or they might just offer a bit of stress relief Q: How do kids and parents look at toys differently Your weekday lunchtime roundup of curated links By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc The next issue of Noon News Roundup will soon be in your inbox Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Q: What are some of the trends in toys you’re seeing in toys in recent years? In terms of trends in toy content, I’ve noticed that magnets are being used in toys more. Sometimes they are the focus of the toy, such as in magnetic building sets like Magformers. Sometimes, though, they just serve to enhance a classic play set. In either case, it’s great that kids are being exposed to science concepts like magnetism as early as when they are one year old. Building sets in general, as well, come in so many forms at the moment. Brands like GoldieBlox have great kits that encourage spatial thinking and teach engineering concepts while catering to the way girls learn. Quercetti is an Italian-made brand with excellent marble run construction sets. These are the STEAM toys, where kids are having fun while secretly learning at the same time. transmission or republication strictly prohibited This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy You can manage saved articles in your account By Stephen Grey and Amina Ismail Reuters the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been the target of bitter criticism and even violent protest this year Protests at the agency’s Cairo headquarters – including one man setting himself on fire – have been led by Oromos the single biggest ethnic group in Ethiopia The Oromos say the UNHCR – which by agreement with the Egyptian government has responsibility for determining asylum applications in Egypt – has routinely rejected their asylum claims The Oromos claim the UN agency has been hostile to their allegations of discrimination persecution and even torture by the government of Ethiopia Protests and a government crackdown in Ethiopia have left 140 (the government estimate) or 314 (Human Rights Watch) dead since July and pushed thousands of people to flee the country It conceded there had been delays to processing applications but said those were caused by a shortage of resources It was “absolutely not true to say we reject everyone,” said Tariq Argaz an increasing number of Oromos in Cairo have tried to get to Europe this year Almost half of the estimated 150 Ethiopians who drowned in a sinking on April 9 joined the voyage straight from the UNHCR protest who said the UN agency effectively pushed them to risk the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean it is Europe or death!” said Arafat Abdulrahman an Oromo who lost several friends in the April disaster He set off for Italy himself and arrived safely in July Read full story on Reuters Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Hans Beck's invention, Playmobil, transformed a small, little-known toy firm into one of the leading brands worldwide, and brought great pleasure to generations of children. The town was also an important military centre and, at the end of the Second World War, the German army was ordered to blow up its base to avoid capture by the Americans. On 18 April 1945 the mayor saved what was left of Zirndorf by raising the white flag as the Americans advanced towards it. Liberated former forced labourers plundered the town, and Zirndorf's inhabitants also had to make room for German refugees. Beck was then 16 and an enthusiastic model maker, especially for his brothers and sisters. Yet there seemed little prospect of finding work inthe battered toy industry which was no longer allowed to make war toys. Instead, he served his time as acabinet maker, a much sought-after skill as West Germany worked to resurrect its economy. In 1958, however, Beck was picked from 20 candidates to work as aproduct designer at the family-owned toy manufacturer Geobra Brandstätter, which had been making toyssince 1921. His enthusiasm and skills were recognised by the owner, Horst Brandstätter, and by 1971 he was head designer. Beck retired in 1998, but it was not a happy retirement. He felt thathis work had not been properly recognised, and that he had not receivedthe fame and wealth due to him. Up to the time of his death, he was still involved in a legal battle with his former employer. Hans Beck, toy designer: born Thuringia, Germany 6 May 1929; married (oneson); died Markdorf am Bodensee, 30 January 2009. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies the German company behind the popular plastic figures is hoping that pop megastar Taylor Swift can help it shake off a slump in fortunes Zirndorf, Germany - As Playmobil turns 50, the German company behind the popular plastic figures is hoping that pop megastar Taylor Swift can help it shake off a slump in fortunes Playmobil has in recent years lost ground to rivals the world's number one toymaker whose sales are 10 times greater than those of its German competitor The Danish company has been way ahead in the licensing business and a more recent addition – Barbie – in its portfolio Its greatest ever success is a 3-inch figure of German Protestant firebrand Martin Luther Boss Bahri Kurter said contacts have been made with people close to Swift – one of pop music's most dominant forces – and creative work has started "We will see how that develops," he told AFP adding that a figure of the star "would be a huge dream." Kurter admitted that Playmobil "started late" in the licensing business But this is far from the only reason the maker of plastic figures – whose headquarters are in Zirndorf rural Bavaria – has been through a period of turbulence Rising energy prices and inflation exacted a heavy toll as well as lingering supply chain woes in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic with about 700 jobs worldwide – almost 20% of the workforce – to be axed had to scramble to reorganize after the death of its founder who accused the new management of "trampling" the group's heritage Kurter took charge of Playmobil in April last year and in its early years manufactured products like toy telephones and money boxes The 1973 energy crisis hit the company hard as the price of oil Designer Hans Beck was ordered to come up with a new product that used less pricey plastic Three models were initially launched – a Native American Numerous new characters and accessories have since been introduced although the company traditionally sought to keep the toys simple giving youngsters the chance to use their imaginations more than 3.9 billion figures have been sold worldwide although they are less common in children's bedrooms than they used to be "The toy market is subject to enormous competition," particularly nowadays from games on computers or tablets a specialist in educational games at the University of Wuerzburg which has lost a third of its sales among four- to eight-year-olds in the past eight years As well as tie-ups with popular figures like Swift the company is targeting nostalgic adults and so-called "kidults" – grown-ups who still enjoy playing with toys Playmobil is increasing its range of celebrities and athletes to appeal to an older generation a 57-year-old who became an avid Playmobil collector in his 40s Playmobil brings back "childhood memories" and evokes an era when toys "weren't as elaborate," he told AFP he has collected hundreds of Playmobil models Playmobil prides itself on manufacturing its products in Europe – Germany It is also seeking to burnish its sustainability credentials at a time companies face mounting pressure to show they are green "The toddler range is moving to 90% plant-based raw materials," said Kurter Cover photo: Collage: JOEL SAGET / AFP & Robyn BECK / AFP More on Taylor Swift: