Claus Spahn (born 15 May 1940 in

Bottrop Bottrop () is a city in west-central Germany, on the Rhine–Herne Canal, in North Rhine-Westphalia. Located in the Ruhr area, Ruhr industrial area, Bottrop adjoins Essen, Oberhausen, Gladbeck, and Dorsten. The city had been a coal-mining and ...

, Germany) is a former TV programme editor of Germany's

Westdeutscher Rundfunk (; "West German Broadcasting Cologne"), shortened to WDR (), is a German public broadcasting, public-broadcasting institution based in the States of Germany, Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a const ...

(WDR) broadcasting corporation, a presenter, producer and author. He was awarded the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2001.

Vita

Spahn studied History of theatre, German language and literature, Philosophy, and History of art at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne () is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1388. It closed in 1798 before being re-established in 1919. It is now one of the largest universities in Germany with around 45,187 students. The Universit ...

. He received his doctorate ('Dr. Phil.') in 1969 for his dissertation ''The history of the theatre of the Ruhr region up to 1933''. He worked as a TV journalist for the WDR from 1969 to 2005. He produced numerous series, portraits and documentaries in the field of cultural and educational policy. He became known both nationally and internationally through chess programmes. Between 1983 and 2005, he presented the annual live broadcast Chess of the Grandmasters (''Schach der Großmeister''), where players including

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and

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competed for the TV Cup. It was on his initiative and under his direction that the WDR regularly reported on the

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Series / Films

The series written and produced by Spahn included ''Keine Angst vorm Fliegen'' (''Don't be afraid to fly'') and ''Der Elternführerschein'' (''The driving licence for parents''). Together with Lida Winiewicz, Spahn wrote the 12-part TV serial ''Wenn die Liebe hinfällt'' (''When love ends''). He was awarded the ''Medal of German Cancer Aid'' for ''Niemand soll der Nächste sein!'' (''Nobody should be the next''). In 1979, Spahn received the ''German Industrial Film Prize'' for the TV series ''Computer können nicht vergessen!'' (''Computers can't forget'') in connection with the Federal Data Protection Act. Under the title and with the TV production ''Don't be afraid to fly'', Spahn and Rainer Pieritz founded seminars to allay the fear of flying in Germany. As author and director, Spahn produced two impressive portraits on

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, the chemist, author, art collector and ''Father of the pill'', and

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, the

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researcher ('' Deutsch Catalog'').

Awards

Claus Spahn was awarded the ''Ehrenteller des Deutschen Schachbundes'' (''Commemorative Plate of the German Chess Federation'') in 1992. He received the ''Deutscher Schachpreis'' (''German Chess Award'') of the German Chess Federation on two occasions (1983/2001) for his commitment to the sport of chess, as well as the Medal of the European Chess Union (ECU) and the Gold Merit Award of the World Chess Federation

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

in 2002. In 2001, he was awarded the ''Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany'' by Federal President

Johannes Rau Johannes Rau (; 16 January 193127 January 2006) was a German politician who served as President of Germany from 1999 to 2004. A member of the Social Democratic Party, he previously served as the Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia fro ...

for his many years of outstanding journalistic and editorial work.Pressemitteilung des WDR zum Bundesverdienstkreuz
(in German)

References

External links

by Gerhard Hund (German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Spahn, Claus 1940 births Living people Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany German television presenters