(1957-2007)
Benno said this about himself...
Born 1957 in Munich, where I have always lived since then.
Learned to game at the age of 6 or 7, from my grandmother and her two widowed sisters, who had a beautiful house in the countryside, where I usually spent my summer holidays. Ever since then, Christmas has been a depressing if I did not get at least one new game...

I created my first own games at the age of 15 or 16 for me and my two younger brothers. These games were... ehm, like games were those days. For some years, I forgot completely about gaming. Came back to it in the beginning of the 80’s, when the "Spiel des Jahres"-mania began. And in the beginning of the 90’s, I started again to try to invent new games of my own - now with real enthusiasm and eagerness. Which had to be, as it took from 1991 (when I sent my first game to a company) to 1998 (when I signed my first contract) or even 1999 (when this first game, Big City, finally appeared in Nürnberg). Now it looks as if the whole thing got some steadiness. With the three releases of Nürnberg this year (Manila, Fjorde, Trans Europa), there are 10 games of mine that are (or have been) in the shops. When I don’t game, I work as a judge in Munich. I am married and have a little girl of 5. And I just hope life goes on for the coming years, just the way it goes at present.
Taken from his interview with Tom Vassel : http://www.thedicetower.com/thedicetower/index.php?page=611