Schmidt Spiele is a German games publisher for a wide variety of games, especially German-style board games. Founder

Josef Friedrich Schmidt Josef Friedrich Schmidt (24 November 1871 – 28 September 1948) was a German board game inventor. Schmidt was the inventor of board game A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in pa ...

developed

Mensch ärgere dich nicht ''Mensch ärgere Dich nicht'' (English: ''Man, Don't Get Angry'') is a German board game (but not a German-style board game), developed by Josef Friedrich Schmidt in 1907/1908. Some 70 million copies have been sold since its introduction in 1 ...

in 1907/1908, based on antique forerunners. Five years later his new publishing firm began the game's serial production. The firm expanded their range of products to include a very wide range of games of all kinds. In the 1980s, Schmidt Spiele published the highly successful German

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

'' Das Schwarze Auge'' (The Dark Eye). Josef Friedrich Schmidt's son Franz founded his own independent enterprise named Schmidt Spiele in

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

prior to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(seated in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

after the war). The two enterprises maintained a shared channel of distribution, and merged in 1970. The firm's complete archives were lost in a fire in the 1970s. Schmidt Spiele went

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the de ...

in 1997 and were bought up by the Blatz-Gruppe who subsequently maintained the vastly better known

brand name A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

''Schmidt Spiele'', publishing their own games under this name as well. Schmidt Spiele is run as a

GmbH (; ) is a type of Juridical person, legal entity in German-speaking countries. It is equivalent to a (Sàrl) in the Romandy, French-speaking region of Switzerland and to a (Sagl) in the Ticino, Italian-speaking region of Switzerland. It is a ...

(Schmidt Spiele GmbH). In 2006 their turnover was reportedly 33.5 million

Euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

External links

* http://www.schmidtspiele.de/ (Schmidt Spiele homepage - German) Board game publishing companies Publishing companies of Germany Manufacturing companies established in 1907 Design companies established in 1907 1907 establishments in Germany Companies based in Nuremberg Jigsaw puzzle manufacturers