[1] At the age of 19, Horst Brandstätter followed in his father's footsteps by joining the family business and successfully modernised it.

In the early 1970s he commissioned inventor and employee Hans Beck to produce a toy system that would eventually become known as Playmobil.

[2] Before joining the business, Brandstätter trained as an apprentice in a mold and die manufacturing company, at his mother's request.

[5] By the age of 78, Brandstätter had been voted Manager of the Year in 2009, was bearer of the German Federal Cross of Merit and honorary citizen of the city of Zirndorf.

The first Playmobil figures were introduced in the toy market in 1974 and included construction workers, Native Americans and knights.

[6] After suffering from a short illness, he died at the age of 81 on 3 June 2015 at his home in Zirndorf, Bavaria.