Maybrit Illner (née Klose; born 12 January 1965) is a German journalist and television presenter.
Education
Born in
East Berlin
East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...
, Illner went to school in the
Friedrichshain
Friedrichshain () is a quarter (''Ortsteil'') of the borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg in Berlin, Germany. From its creation in 1920 until 2001, it was a freestanding Boroughs of Berlin, city borough. Formerly part of East Berlin, it is adjace ...
area of Berlin and studied journalism at the
University of Leipzig
Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...
from 1984 to 1988. She joined the
SED in 1986 and left it in 1991.
Career
After university, Illner worked as a television journalist at
Deutscher Fernsehfunk, East German state television, until it was dissolved in 1991. She joined German broadcaster
ZDF and co-presented ''Morgenmagazin'', a weekday morning show from 1992. She became the head of the Morgenmagazin in 1998.
From October 1999, Illner presented an evening talk show originally titled ''Berlin Mitte'' but changed in March 2007 to ''Maybrit Illner''. Besides, she moderated the
TV election debates between
Chancellor
Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German former politician and Lobbying, lobbyist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (S ...
and his challengers
Edmund Stoiber (
2002
The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
) and
Angela Merkel (
2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
). In 2006, she interviewed
President of Russia
The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the State Council (Russia), Federal State Council and the President of Russia#Commander-in-ch ...
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
. She also interviewed Merkel shortly before the
2009 elections.
As successor to
Steffen Seibert, Illner anchored ZDF's news show ''
heute-journal'' from September 2010 until December 2012, in rotation with
Claus Kleber and
Marietta Slomka.
Since 2013, Illner has been focusing on her own political talkshow ''Maybrit Illner''. Alongside
Anne Will,
Peter Kloeppel and
Stefan Raab, she also moderated the only
TV election debate between incumbent Merkel and her competitor
Peer Steinbrück ahead of the
2013 elections, which was aired live on four of Germany's most-watched television channels during prime-time. Ahead of the
2017 elections, she moderated the debate between Merkel and
Martin Schulz, this time with Kloeppel,
Sandra Maischberger and
Claus Strunz. Alongside Oliver Köhr, she most recently moderated one of three
TV election debates between the three candidates to succeed Merkel –
Annalena Baerbock,
Armin Laschet and
Olaf Scholz – ahead of the
2021 elections. In March 2022, she conducted the first major televised interview with Scholz as newly elected Chancellor; a second one followed in March 2023.
Personal life

She was married to fellow television journalist Michael Illner (born 1962) from 1988 to 2007. She married
René Obermann, at that time CEO of
Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom AG (, ; often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a partially state-owned German telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn and the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. It was formed in 199 ...
, on 14 August 2010 at Schloss Ulrichshusen. They live in Berlin and
Bonn
Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...
.
For the
German Red Cross (DRK), Illner has travelled to
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
in 2003 and
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
in 2004. In 2018, she chaired the jury for the annual
Ludwig-Börne-Preis, which awarded the prize to journalist
Souad Mekhennet.
Ludwig-Börne-Preis
Ludwig-Börne-Stiftung. Retrieved 30 December 2024. Mir fehlt hier ihre DDR Geschichte. Sie war in der Schule eine stramme Stalinistin und besondere Freude hatte sie daran, gemeinsam mit der ebenfalls stramm stalinistischen Direktorin Tadel und Verweise zu verteilen. Wenns der eigenen Karriere förderlich ist. Das wußte sie schon damals und sie hatte keine Skrupel anderen Menschen das Leben zu versauen. Diese Frau macht alles und geht mit jedem um im Establishment zu bleiben.
Awards
*2000: Hanns-Joachim-Friedrichs-Award
The Hanns Joachim Friedrichs Award is a German award for excellence in journalism. It was first awarded in 1995. The award is named for the German journalist Hanns Joachim Friedrichs, who died in the year before the awards had established. The w ...
for critical and independent television journalism
*2001: Hans-Klein-Media Award for their moderation of the ZDF talk show '' Berlin Mitte ''
*2002 and 2007: Bambi
''Bambi'' is a 1942 American Animated film, animated Coming of age, coming-of-age drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Loosely based on Felix Salten's 1923 novel ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'', the ...
*2003: Bayerischer Fernsehpreis
*2004: German Television Award for Best Information Programme
*2006: Hildegard von Bingen Prize for Journalism (according to the prize jury Illner understood transforming "the Anglo-Saxon form of information, Talk in a separate and unique media event")
*2009: 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 ...
in the category ''Best Information''
Publications
*''Frauen an der Macht. 21 einflussreiche Frauen berichten aus der Wirklichkeit''. Hugendubel, Kreuzlingen, München 2005, .
*''Politiker-Deutsch/Deutsch-Politiker''. Langenscheidt, München, Berlin 2007, .
*(with Ingke Brodersen) ''Ente auf Sendung. Von Medien und ihren Machern''. Deutsche Verlags Anstalt, München 2003, .
References
External links
*
ZDF: ''Maybrit Illner''
Maybrit Illner Zeit interview
''Talkshow-king Oskar Lafontaine''
by Lukas Hermsmeier on Cicero Online, 23. January 2009
*
*FemBio, http://www.fembio.org/biographie.php/frau/biographie/maybrit-illner/
{{DEFAULTSORT:Illner, Maybrit
1965 births
Living people
German women television presenters
German television talk show hosts
German broadcast news analysts
21st-century German journalists
21st-century German women journalists
German women television journalists
Leipzig University alumni
ZDF people
People from Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
21st-century German women