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'' 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 ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

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

Koblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he completed his

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

and studied

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

German studies German studies is an academic field that researches, documents and disseminates German language, literature, and culture in its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies therefore often focus on German culture, German h ...

at University of Mainz. 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 states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

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 '' Sportschau'', a prestigious sports show in Germany, which he shaped with his friendly objectivity and unique Comb over 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 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, Johannes B. Kerner, Oliver Welke and Monica Lierhaus. 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: ''Jahrhundertspiel;'' Italian: ''Partita del secolo; Spanish: Partido del Siglo'') between

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on 17 June 1970 at the '' Estadio Azteca'' in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. 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 played for Italian football club A.C. Milan, 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 extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

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 Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

and 1. FC Köln on 23 June 1973, in which Günter Netzer 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 was usually held in early February in Hamburg, but also took place in Berlin on occasion. It has been paused ...

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 ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. 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 aggregator, 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 ...

Literature by Ernst Huberty
at the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; ) 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 collect, permanently archive, comprehens ...

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