Ulrich Wickert (born 2 December 1942) is a Japanese-born German journalist. He is one of the best-known broadcasters in Germany.

Early life

Born in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan, Wickert grew up in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

as a result of his father Erwin Wickert being employed with

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

as a German diplomat. In the 1960s, he studied law and political sciences at the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

. In 1962, he spent a year at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

on a

Fulbright scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

. After passing the first level of German bar exams in 1968, he started working as freelance radio producer for ARD, becoming a full-time editor there a short time later.

Career

Between 1969 and 1977, Wickert was an editor for ''Monitor'', a political affairs program produced by the WDR network. He was deployed as a correspondent for every French

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

between 1969 and 1978. In 1978 he was made French correspondent and transferred to the Paris bureau of the ARD. In 1981, he founded the discussion group "Journalists for Public Broadcasting"; in that same year he became chief correspondent of the ARD bureau in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. In 1984 he became chief correspondent of the Paris ARD bureau. At the

Place de la Concorde The Place de la Concorde (; ) is a public square in Paris, France. Measuring in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées. It was the s ...

he demonstrated how French pedestrians walk across several lanes of busy car traffic without the help of traffic lights. From July 1991 to August 2006 he was chief

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...

for ''

Tagesthemen ''Tagesthemen'' () is one of Germany's main daily television news magazines, presented by journalists Helge Fuhst, Aline Abboud, Ingo Zamperoni and . Second only to the 20:00 '' Tagesschau'' ("Review of the Day") ''Tagesthemen'' ("Issues of the ...

'', in alternation with Sabine Christiansen (1991–1997), Gabi Bauer (1997–2001) and Anne Will (2001–2006). On 11 April 2004 he announced that he would not seek a renewal of his contract, which expired in 2006. On 1 September 2006 Wickert was succeeded by

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 ...

bureau chief

Tom Buhrow Tom Buhrow (born 29 September 1958) is a German journalist who served as director general of public broadcaster WDR from 2013 to 2024. In this capacity, he also served as chair of the ARD from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2021 and from 4 Augus ...

. He was elevated to the French

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

in 2005 for his service to French-German relations.

Personal life

Wickert is in his third marriage, to Julia Jäkel,

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the publishing house

Gruner + Jahr Gruner is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Dov Gruner (1912–1947), Jewish Zionist leader * Eduard Gruner, Swiss engineer * Elioth Gruner (1882–1939), Australian painter * Gottlieb Sigmund Gruner (1717–1778), Swiss ca ...

. He is the uncle of actress Emily Wood.Emily Wood biography

References

External links

*
Interview with Ulrich Wickert: "Bunt und locker flockig reicht nicht"
(in German, b
sbznet.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wickert, Ulrich 1942 births Living people German male journalists German television reporters and correspondents German broadcast news analysts 20th-century German journalists 21st-century German journalists University of Bonn alumni Wesleyan University alumni Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany ARD (broadcaster) people Westdeutscher Rundfunk people