Sandra Maischberger (; born 25 August 1966) is a German journalist, talk show host, and author.

Early life and education

Born in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Maischberger spent five years of her childhood in Frascati, near

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Italy, and also grew up in Garching, near Munich. Her father was a physicist for the

Max Planck Society The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (; abbreviated MPG) is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes. Founded in 1911 as the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, it was renamed to the M ...

and her mother was a tour guide. (in German) She is the sister of German archeologist Martin Maischberger. Maischberger's initial career choices while growing up were to become a

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet) or veterinary surgeon is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a role in animal r ...

or a detective. (in German) She later attended

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

School of Journalism but dropped out after 3 days in order to start her media career directly.

Career

upleft, Maischberger in 2002 Maischberger started her career at the

Bayerischer Rundfunk (; "Bavarian Broadcasting"), shortened to BR (), is a public broadcasting, public-service radio and television broadcaster, based in Munich, capital city of the Bavaria, Free State of Bavaria in Germany. BR is a member organization of the ARD (b ...

and has since been working for various television stations including

Premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...

, RTL, VOX, n-tv, and ARD. From 1992, she moderated '' 0137'', a live-broadcast talk show, in rotation with Roger Willemsen. Maischberger has written several books including ''Hand aufs Herz'' (an interview with Helmut Schmidt) and ''Die musst Du kennen — Menschen machen Geschichte'', an encyclopaedia of the most prominent scientists, artists and politicians from classical times to the present. Since 2003, Maischberger has been moderating the talk show '' maischberger. die woche'' on ''

Das Erste Das Erste (; "The First") is the flagship national television channel of the ARD (broadcaster), ARD association of public broadcasting corporations in Germany. ''Das Erste'' is jointly operated by the ARD (broadcaster)#Institutions and member org ...

''. In 2009, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Federal Republic of Germany, she interviewed

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 ...

Angela Merkel. Alongside

Maybrit Illner Maybrit Illner (née Klose; born 12 January 1965) is a German journalist and television presenter. Education Born in East Berlin, Illner went to school in the Friedrichshain area of Berlin and studied journalism at the University of Leipzig fr ...

, Peter Kloeppel and Claus Strunz, Maischberger later moderated the only TV election debate between Merkel and her competitor Martin Schulz ahead of the 2017 elections, which was aired live on four of Germany's most-watched television channels during prime-time. In her talk show, she has also interviewed international guests, including Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis of

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

(2016), Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of Austria (2018) former

President of the European Commission The president of the European Commission, also known as president of the College of Commissioners is the Head of government, head of the European Commission, the Executive (government), executive branch of the European Union (EU). The president ...

Jean-Claude Juncker Jean-Claude Juncker (; born 9 December 1954) is a Luxembourgish politician who was List of prime ministers of Luxembourg, prime minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and president of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. He also was List ...

(2020) and

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend ...

(2021). Maischberger co-hosted the annual German Television Award ceremony in 2002, 2010 and 2014. She served on the award's jury in 2001, 2002 and 2006.

Other activities

In addition to her work as a journalist, Maischberger holds a variety of honorary positions, including the following: * Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2017) * Freya von Moltke Foundation for the New Kreisau, Member of the Advisory Board * ''Jugend debattiert'', Member of the Board of Trustees In 2001, Maischberger and many other famous Berliners took part in the street art activity Buddy Bear Berlin Show. The proceeds raised from auctioning many bears were given to several children's and youth projects in Berlin. The bear designed by Maischberger in homage to the sculptures of Niki de Saint Phalle was auctioned in 2003 at ''Mercedes World'' at the Salzufer in Berlin. The total proceeds came to over €171,000. Today, the bear can be found at the museum in Bad Pyrmont. In 2008, Maischberger founded an organization called Vincentino, which helps expose underprivileged children to the arts through sponsoring cultural projects in schools. Moreover, she supports the work done by the Freya von Moltke Foundation and the Kreisau Initiative in the running of the New Kreisau in regards to the opportunities that are given to the younger population throughout Europe. Launched at the 81st Venice International Film Festival in

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 ...

, Sandra produced the documentary directed by Andres Veiel, '' Riefenstahl'', a documentary about the German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl.

Recognition

Maischberger has been awarded numerous prizes, including the Golden Camera from German magazine '' Hörzu'' for her Helmut Schmidt interview. * 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 ...

* 2001: Bavarian TV Award * 2002: Ernst Schneider Prize * 2002:

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 ...

* 2004: Medienpreis für Sprachkultur, Association for the German Language (GfdS) * 2008:

* 2013:

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 ...

* 2016: Romy

Personal life

Maischberger is married to cameraman Jan Kerhart. After 12 years of marriage, their first child, son Samuel, was born on 24 February 2007. (in German) The family has homes in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

and in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. Maischberger likes to travel and also enjoys mountain climbing and diving. She speaks Italian, Spanish, English and French.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maischberger 1966 births Living people German television talk show hosts German women television journalists German television reporters and correspondents German broadcast news analysts 20th-century German journalists 21st-century German journalists Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany ARD (broadcaster) people Westdeutscher Rundfunk people 20th-century German women 21st-century German women