Christoph von Marschall (born 1959) is a German journalist working for the daily Berlin newspaper ''
Der Tagesspiegel
''Der Tagesspiegel'' (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington D.C. and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, ...
.'' He is currently titled the diplomatic correspondent of the newspaper's editorial offices.
During the period 2005 to 2013 he was the only German in the
White House press corps
The White House press corps is the group of journalists, correspondents, and members of the media usually assigned to the White House in Washington, D.C., to cover the president of the United States, White House events, and news briefings. Its o ...
. Again in 2017–2018 he reported on the White House from Washington, D.C.
Biography
Christoph von Marschall was born in 1959 in
Freiburg im Breisgau. From there, he studied Eastern European history and political science in Freiburg,
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
, and
Cracow, and earned a
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...
in Eastern European history from
Freiburg University
The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemb ...
in 1988. Soon afterwards, he became a
foreign correspondent in Hungary for the ''
Süddeutsche Zeitung'' and remained in this job until 1991. While there, he also worked for the ''Deutschlandfunk'' radio service and the magazine ''Cicero''. In 1999, Marschall was awarded a Kellen Fellowship that enabled him to spend one month working at ''
The New Republic
''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...
'' and a further month at ''The Wisconsin State Journal''.
In 2002, Marschall received the
George F. Kennan
George Frost Kennan (February 16, 1904 – March 17, 2005) was an American diplomat and historian. He was best known as an advocate of a policy of containment of Soviet expansion during the Cold War. He lectured widely and wrote scholarly hist ...
''German-American Commentary Award'' of the Foreign Office for a commentary post related to the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
.
In 2007, Marschall wrote a book about the presidential candidate
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
, ''
Barack Obama: Der schwarze Kennedy''. The literal translation of its German title is "Barack Obama. The Black Kennedy". The book was a best seller in Germany, where other commentators had also compared Obama with
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
.
In 2007 and 2008 Marschall covered the Obama campaign for the German newspaper ''Der Tagesspiegel''. He was often interviewed in the American press about Obama's popularity in Europe. Towards the end of the campaign he wrote an op-ed column in ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' in which he complained about the lack of access Obama had granted to foreign journalists.
His latest book, published in German in 2018, is titled "Wir verstehen die Welt nicht mehr. Deutschlands Entfremdung von seinen Freunden", and deals with current German foreign policy in relationship to its European and transatlantic allies.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marschall, Christoph von
1959 births
German journalists
German male journalists
Living people
German male writers