Peter Merseburger (9 May 1928 – 15 February 2022) was a German journalist and author. After working for newspapers and the magazine ''

Der Spiegel (, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'', he moved to the broadcaster

Norddeutscher Rundfunk (; "North German Broadcasting"), commonly shortened to NDR (), is a public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR broadcasts for the German states of Lower Saxony, ...

(NDR) in 1965. He became known as

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces or hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people ...

of the political magazine ''

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...

'' that he moderated from 1967 to 1975, presenting controversial themes. From 1977, he was correspondent of the ARD in several capital cities such as Washington, D.C.,

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 ...

and London. After retirement in 1991, he turned to writing biographies of influential persons including

Kurt Schumacher Curt Ernst Carl Schumacher, better known as Kurt Schumacher (13 October 1895 – 20 August 1952), was a German politician and resistance fighter against the Nazis. He was chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany from 1946 and the fir ...

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and concurrently served as the Chancellor ...

Rudolf Augstein Rudolf Karl Augstein (5 November 1923 – 7 November 2002) was a German journalist, editor, publicist, and politician. He was one of the most influential German journalists, founder and part-owner of magazine. As a politician, he was a member o ...

, and

Theodor Heuss Theodor Heuss (; 31 January 1884 – 12 December 1963) was a German liberal politician who served as the first president of West Germany from 1949 to 1959. His civil demeanour and his cordial nature – something of a contrast to German nati ...

Life

Merseburger was born in

Zeitz Zeitz (; , ) is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river White Elster, in the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Saxony. History First a Slavic pagan settlem ...

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, the second child of the artist and his wife Gertrud, née Troeger. After World War II, he was arrested when he distributed posters for the CDU before an election. He studied

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 ...

modern history The modern era or the modern period is considered the current historical period of human history. It was originally applied to the history of Europe and Western history for events that came after the Middle Ages, often from around the year 1500, ...

(''Neuere Geschichte'') and

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

at the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...

. Merseburger moved to

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 ...

, became a member of the

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together wi ...

in 1950, and completed his studies at the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Prote ...

. He began journalist work with the '. He moved on to

(NDR) in 1956, and then to the '' Neue Ruhr-Zeitung''. From 1960, he was

correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

for the magazine ''

'', researching in Berlin and Brussels. He returned to NDR in 1965. From January 1967 to April 1975, he was television presenter of the political magazine ''

'', succeeding

Joachim Fest Joachim Clemens Fest (8 December 1926 – 11 September 2006) was a German historian, journalist, critic and editor who was best known for his writings and public commentary on Nazi Germany, including a biography of Adolf Hitler and books about A ...

. It was produced by NDR and broadcast by ARD. The broadcasts, leaning towards the student movement of the 1960s, often caused controversies. The popular magazine, with ratings often more than 30%, covered topics such as the dark side of the "economic miracle" ''(Wirtschaftswunder)'', chancellor

's ''

Ostpolitik ''Neue Ostpolitik'' (German for "new eastern policy"), or ''Ostpolitik'' () for short, was the normalization of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, or West Germany) and Eastern Europe, particularly the German Democratic Re ...

'', and the desire for social liberalisation. In 1974, a contribution by

Alice Schwarzer Alice Sophie Schwarzer (born 3 December 1942) is a German journalist and prominent feminist. She is founder and publisher of the German feminist journal '' EMMA''. Beginning in France, she became a forerunner of feminist positions against anti-ab ...

about abortion was cancelled, and Merseburger refused to moderate the broadcast. From 1969, he was also chief editor and head of the department of current affairs () of the NDR. From 1977, he was correspondent and studio director of the ARD in capital cities such as

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

(1977–1982),

(1982–1987) and London (1987–1991). From Berlin, he ran a series (German affairs from the other republic) which enlightened audiences in West and East about unknown aspects of everyday life in the

GDR East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

. He retired in 1991, and then worked as a freelance writer, living in Berlin and southern France. He was a member of the

PEN-Zentrum Deutschland PEN Centre Germany is part of the worldwide association of writers founded in London in 1921, now known as PEN International. One of over 140 autonomous PEN centres around the world, PEN Centre Germany is based in Darmstadt, Hesse. Work PEN Ce ...

. He focused on biographies of persons influential in his lifetime, such as

, one of the founding fathers of postwar German democracy,

, the chancellor who prepared

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

, the founder and publisher of ''Der Spiegel'', and

, the first Bundespräsident after World War II. For the Augstein biography, written over four years, he was the first journalist to research Augstein's correspondence, a prerequisite for depth, balance and authenticity. He also interviewed people from Augstein's publishing house, friends and family. Merseburger published an autobiography in 2021, (Departure to the uncertain).

Personal life

Merseburger was married in second marriage to Sabine Rüdiger and was the father of two children. Merseburger's son is also a journalist. Merseburger died in Berlin on 15 February 2022, at the age of 93. , intendant of NDR, said that his contributions were "rhetorically brilliant, combative and courageous" ("") and added that his passion, acumen and resilience would remain remembered ("").

Awards

The jury of the 2008 Leuchtturm Prize noted that Merseburger was "a meticulous researcher and courageous publicist who does not conform to the zeitgeist but always enlivens public discourse with clever arguments and interesting ideas. With his sheer tireless creative power and analytical brilliance, Merseburger acts as a role model for independent quality journalism" (""). * Das politische Buch from the

Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung The Friedrich Ebert Foundation (''German: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.; Abbreviation: FES'') is a German political party foundation associated with, but independent from, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Established in 1925 as t ...

for the Schumacher biography (1996) * Deutscher Bücherpreis for the Brandt biography (2003) * from for the Augstein biography and his lifetime achievements (2008) * Honorary Citizen of

(2008) * Officer's Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

(2018)

Publications

* ''Die unberechenbare Vormacht. Wohin steuern die USA?'' dtv, Munich 1985, . * ''Grenzgänger. Innenansichten der anderen deutschen Republik''.

Bertelsmann The Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Bertelsmann (), is a German privately held company, private multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, ...

, Munich 1988, . * ''Der schwierige Deutsche Kurt Schumacher. Eine Biographie''. DVA, Stuttgart 1995, . * with

Hermann Lübbe Hermann Lübbe (born 31 December 1926) is a German philosopher. He is considered a member of the Ritter School. Biography Lübbe was born in Aurich. From 1947 to 1951, he studied philosophy, theology and sociology in Göttingen, Münster and Fre ...

, Jürgen Kocka et al.: ''Von der Bonner zur Berliner Republik: Öffentlichkeit und öffentlicher Raum zu Berlin''. 1998, * ''Mythos Weimar. Zwischen Geist und Macht''. Munich 2013, . * ''Willy Brandt, 1913–1992. Visionär und Realist''. DVA, Stuttgart 2002, . * ''Rudolf Augstein''. DVA, Stuttgart 2007, . * ''Theodor Heuss. Der Bürger als Präsident''. DVA, Munich 2012, . * ''Aufbruch ins Ungewisse. Erinnerungen eines politischen Zeitgenossen.'' DVA, Munich 2021, . Reviews *

Hellmuth Karasek Hellmuth Karasek (4 January 1934 – 29 September 2015) was a German journalist, literary critic, novelist, and the author of many books on literature and film. He was one of Germany's best-known feuilletonists. Biography Karasek was born in ...

Zur Biographie Rudolf Augsteins: ''Der Mantel der Geschichte''
(in German), ''

'' 21 September 2007.

References

External links