Hans Beck Hans Beck Hans Beck (6 May 1929, Greiz – 30 January 2009, Markdorf) was the German inventor of Playmobil toys. He is thus often called "The Father of Playmobil". Born in Greiz, Thuringia, Beck grew up in the town of Zirndorf. He trained as a cabinet maker and made small toy vehicles and figures for his younger siblings. He presented his model airplanes to Horst Brandstätter, owner of local toy company Geobra Brandstätter, who took him on, and asked him to develop toy figures for children. As a hobby Beck built ultra-lightweight model aircraft for flying indoors. He competed in
Nathan Bech Afghan Ministry of Health with the goal of training midwives in order to reduce the high Afghan death rate of women and children during childbirth. Bech's fourth deployment was to Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, Africa. There he oversaw project development by Civil Affairs Teams throughout many countries in the Horn of Africa. Bech was the 2008 Republican Party candidate for U.S. Congress from Massachusetts's 1st congressional district. He ran against then incumbent John W. Olver, an Amherst Democrat, who has since retired.<ref name="urlSwift Endorses Bech for Congress - / iBerkshires.com - The Berkshires online guide to events, news and Berkshire