Ernst Huberty (born Ernest Rodolphe Huberty; 22 February 1927 – 24 April 2023) was a Luxembourgish-German sports journalist and television presenter. Huberty was best known for hosting the sports magazine ''

Sportschau ''Sportschau'' is a German sports magazine on broadcaster ARD, produced by WDR in Cologne. The magazine started in 1961. In its Saturday' edition, the ''Sportschau'' shows a summary of the Bundesliga, whereas the Sunday edition reports on the la ...

'' on German public broadcaster ARD, earning him the nickname "Mister Sportschau". As a commentator, he was known for his calm and objective style.

Life and career

Huberty was born in

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

on 22 February 1927 to a Luxembourgish father. In 1932 he and his family moved to Koblenz. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he completed his Abitur and studied Philosophy and German studies at

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (german: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. With approximately 32,000 stud ...

. During studies, Huberty volunteered for ''Koblenzer Zeitung'' before beginning his career as a sports journalist with regional broadcaster Südwestfunk of

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the Rhine, the border with Fra ...

in 1950, where he hosted a television show called "Sport am Montag" (Sports on Monday) until December 1956. In January 1957, Huberty joined the " Hier und heute" (here and today) editorial team of Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), and from 1960, he transferred to WDR's sports department. Since its inception on 4 June 1961, Huberty hosted the ARD ''

'', a prestigious sports show in Germany, which he shaped with his friendly objectivity and unique

Comb over A comb over or combover is a hairstyle commonly worn by balding men in which the hair is grown long and combed over the bald area to minimize the appearance of baldness. Sometimes the parting is lowered so that more hair can be used to cover the ...

hairstyle. In January 1970, Huberty became the head of WDR's sports department. After 12 years, Huberty was forced to give up his position as sports chief in March 1982 due a disagreement of business expenses. Subsequently, he was transferred to WDR's third program regional broadcast. He was replaced by Heribert Faßbender. In April 1991, Huberty joined the then newly launched

pay-TV Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, but ...

channel ''Premiere'', and briefly commentated for one Bundesliga match in October 2002 on free-to-air channel Sat.1. Huberty also worked as a moderator coach, having coached moderators such as

Reinhold Beckmann Reinhold Beckmann (born 23 February 1956) is a German journalist and television presenter. He was born in Twistringen, Lower Saxony. After school in Syke, he studied German, film and theatre in Cologne. In 1980, Beckmann began to work for bro ...

Johannes B. Kerner Johannes Baptist Kerner (born 9 December 1964) is a German television host, journalist, and former sportscaster. Early life Born in Bonn, Kerner was raised in Hersel, Bornheim, in a Catholic household. He attended boarding school at Aloisiu ...

Oliver Welke Oliver Welke (born 19 April 1966) is a German television presenter, journalist, satirist, comedian and voice actor. Biography Welke was born in Bielefeld and studied journalism at the University of Münster, graduating in 1993. He then worke ...

and

Monica Lierhaus Monica-Christiane Lierhaus (born 25 May 1970 in Hamburg) is a German sports journalist. In 1989 she passed her ''Abitur'' at the Charlotte-Paulsen-Gymnasium in Hamburg. She studied English and German literature at the University of Hamburg duri ...

. Huberty was a live commentator for many major sporting events from 1960 to 1982, including what is known as the " Game of the Century" (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: ''Jahrhundertspiel;''

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

: ''Partita del secolo;

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: Partido del Siglo'') between

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

on 17 June 1970 at the ''

Estadio Azteca Estadio Azteca () is a multi-purpose stadium located in Mexico City. It is the official home of Association football, football clubs Club América and Cruz Azul as well as the Mexico national football team. The stadium sits at an altitude of a ...

'' in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

. In his commentary of this match Huberty famously exclaimed ''"Schnellinger, of all people!"'' (in German: ''"Schnellinger! Ausgerechnet Schnellinger!"''), hinting at the fact that German player

Karl-Heinz Schnellinger Karl-Heinz Schnellinger (born 31 March 1939) is a German former footballer who played as a defender. An athletic and hard-tackling player, with a strong physique, he was nicknamed the "Volkswagen" for his continuity of performance, both in qu ...

played for Italian football club

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

, for whom he had never scored. Huberty also provided the commentary for the live broadcast of the World Cup match between

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

on 3 July 1974, which went down in football history as the "Water Battle of Frankfurt" (German: Wasserschlacht von Frankfurt) due to heavy rain and an almost unplayable pitch, as well as the European Championship final on 20 June 1976, known as the "Night of Belgrade" (German: Nacht von Belgrad). He also commented on the DFB Cup final between Borussia Mönchengladbach and 1. FC Köln on 23 June 1973, in which

Günter Netzer Günter Theodor Netzer (born 14 September 1944) is a German former professional football player, executive and pundit. He achieved great success in Germany with Borussia Mönchengladbach in the early 1970s and, after moving to Spain in 1973, w ...

substituted himself in towards the end of the game before scoring the winning goal. In 1972 Huberty was awarded the

Goldene Kamera The Goldene Kamera ("Golden Camera") is an annual German film and television award, awarded by the Funke Mediengruppe. The award show is usually held in early February in Hamburg, but has also taken place in Berlin in the past. The gold-plat ...

television award as "most popular sports journalist". For his lifetime achievements, he received the German Sports Journalists Award (German: Deutscher Sportjournalistenpreis; formerly: Herbert-Award) in 2011. Huberty was married and lived in Frechen near

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

. He died on 24 April 2023, at the age of 96.

Awards

* 1972

television award as "most popular sports journalist" * 2011 Herbert-Award for sports journalists for his lifetime achievements

References

External links

*
Ernst Huberty
at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

Literature by Ernst Huberty
at the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huberty, Ernst 1927 births 2023 deaths 20th-century German journalists 21st-century German journalists German journalists German sports journalists German sports broadcasters German male journalists German male writers ARD (broadcaster) people Westdeutscher Rundfunk people People from Trier