Eduard Zimmermann (4 February 1929 – 19 September 2009) was a German journalist, television presenter and security expert.

Life

Eduard Zimmermann was born on 4 February 1929 in Alte Heide in the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

of Schwabing-Freimann in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, Germany to a

teenage mother Teenage pregnancy, also known as adolescent pregnancy, is pregnancy in a female adolescent or young adult under the age of 20. This includes those who are legally considered adults in their country. The WHO defines adolescence as the period bet ...

who worked as a waitress. Shortly before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Zimmermann moved to his grandparents house in Ottobrunn. At the end of the war Zimmermann moved to the city of

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

where his mother had married a

hotelier A hotel manager, hotelier, or lodging manager is a person who manages the operation of a hotel, motel, resort, or other lodging-related establishment. Management of a hotel operation includes, but is not limited to management of hotel staff, bu ...

, and where Zimmermann was first employed at his stepfather's hotel. Following the Second World War the man who would later be known as a 'criminal hunter' and 'crook's bane' eked out a living as a

thief Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...

and black market trader, for which he served a sentence at Fuhlsbüttel Prison. With a false identity and diploma he finally found work as a roadworks engineer in Sweden. Zimmermann returned to the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a ...

in Germany on an assignment for ''

Dagens Nyheter ''Dagens Nyheter'' (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record. History and profile ' ...

'' newspaper. There he was charged with espionage in 1950 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He served five years of his sentence in

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budi ...

and was released early on 17 January 1954 in the run-up to the

Berlin Conference The Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, also known as the Congo Conference (, ) or West Africa Conference (, ), regulated European colonisation and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period and coincided with Germany's sudden emergenc ...

. Subsequently, he worked as a journalist and editor at NDR and

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

. From 20 October 1967 to 24 October 1997 Zimmermann presented 300 episodes of the ZDF TV series '' Aktenzeichen XY... ungelöst'' (''Case number XY … Unsolved''), whom he also co-hosted with his adopted daughter

Sabine The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines di ...

from 6 November 1987 until 24 October 1997 (Sabine would remain at the said programme until 7 December 2001), as well as 180 episodes from 1964 to 1997 of ''Vorsicht Falle! – Nepper, Schlepper, Bauernfänger'' (''Beware, Trap! – Scammers, Hustlers, Conmen''). He then retired from the television business and maintained an Internet security portal in co-operation with

. Zimmermann was a co-founder of e.V. (White Ring), an organisation that assists victims of crimes, and was its chairman for many years. On the occasion of ''Aktenzeichen XYs hundredth episode on 7 October 1977 Zimmermann received the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

on ribbon, presented by Federal President

Walter Scheel Walter Scheel (; 8 July 1919 – 24 August 2016) was a German statesman. A member of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP), he first served in government as the Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development from 1961 to 1966 and l ...

, and was subsequently awarded the Order of Merit First Class on 16 June 1986, presented by Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker. In 1982 he received the Humanitarian Award of the German Freemasons. Zimmermann himself revealed his past as a criminal in 2005 through his autobiography, titled ''Auch ich war ein Gauner'' (''I was a crook too''). In a newspaper interview he said that the time had made him tough: Zimmermann's last appearance on TV was on the 400th episode of ''Aktenzeichen XY'' on 10 May 2007, and died on 19 September 2009 in

from

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

*
Eduard Zimmermann's security portal
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zimmermann, Eduard 1929 births 2009 deaths German male journalists German television journalists 20th-century German journalists 21st-century German journalists Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany German male writers ZDF people