Fritz Ferdinand Pleitgen (21 March 1938 – 15 September 2022) was a German television journalist and author. He was correspondent in Moscow, East Berlin and Washington. Pleitgen was a supporter of Willy Brandt'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 Republ ...
. In 1988, Pleitgen became editor-in-chief of television of Germany's then-largest public broadcaster,
Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln (''West German Broadcasting Cologne''; WDR, ) is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the conso ...
(WDR), and was director of WDR from 1995 to 2007. He is regarded as one of the most influential German journalists and media makers. In 2010, he was the manager of
Ruhr.2010
Ruhr.2010 – Kulturhauptstadt Europas was the name of the campaign in Germany's Ruhr region that earned it recognition as a European Capital of Culture in 2010. This was the first time a region was considered, as Essen represented all 53 towns ...
, a project of
European Capital of Culture.
Life and career
Pleitgen was born in
Duisburg
Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in Nor ...
-
Meiderich
Meiderich is a quarter of the city of Duisburg. It is divided into Unter-, Mittel- and Obermeiderich.
Meiderich belongs to the city district Meiderich/Beeck, which started in 1975, during the course of municipal reorganization. On 31 December 2004, ...
on 21 March 1938,
the fifth child of a technical draftsman working at Krupp.
He grew up in
Bünde
Bünde (Low German ''Buine'') is a town in the Herford district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
Bünde is situated between Osnabrück (west), Hannover (east) and Bielefeld (south).
Waterways
The town is crossed from west to east ...
in East Westphalia
and left high school without completing his programme, because he was already working for the Bünde local editorial office of
Bielefeld
Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...
's ' as a sports and court reporter.
In 1961, he volunteered to become an editor.
In 1963, Pleitgen began working as a journalist at the German broadcaster
WDR;
he started as a reporter for ''
Tagesschau
(German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality ...
''.
His duties included reporting from Brussels and Paris covering the
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...
and
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
. In 1967, he broadcast from the Middle East on the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...
between Israel and its Arab neighbours.
From 1970, Pleitgen reported as
ARD's foreign correspondent from Moscow, where he accompanied Soviet leader
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet Union, Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Gener ...
on trips abroad.
Without his own camera crew, he needed approval from the
Soviet Foreign Ministry
The Ministry of External Relations (MER) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) (russian: Министерство иностранных дел СССР) was founded on 6 July 1923. It had three names during its existence: People's Co ...
for almost all reports.
Under constant
KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
surveillance,
he was the first Western journalist to have an interview with the General Secretary of the Communist Party.
He also established contacts with dissidents like
Andrei Sakharov
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov ( rus, Андрей Дмитриевич Сахаров, p=ɐnˈdrʲej ˈdmʲitrʲɪjevʲɪtɕ ˈsaxərəf; 21 May 192114 December 1989) was a Soviet nuclear physicist, dissident, nobel laureate and activist for nu ...
,
Lev Kopelev
Lev Zalmanovich (Zinovyevich) Kopelev (russian: Лев Залма́нович (Зино́вьевич) Ко́пелев, German: Lew Sinowjewitsch Kopelew, 9 April 1912, Kyiv – 18 June 1997, Cologne) was a Soviet author and dissident.
Early ...
,
Yuri Orlov
Yuri Fyodorovich Orlov (russian: Ю́рий Фёдорович Орло́в, 13 August 1924 – 27 September 2020) was a particle accelerator physicist, human rights activist, Soviet dissident, founder of the Moscow Helsinki Group, a founding ...
, and
Andrei Amalrik
Andrei Alekseevich Amalrik (russian: Андре́й Алексе́евич Ама́льрик, 12 May 1938, Moscow – 12 November 1980, Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain), alternatively spelled ''Andrei'' or ''Andrey'', was a Russian writer ...
.
From 1977, Pleitgen served as correspondent in East Berlin,
but his work was restricted by the
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the Intelligence agency, state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990.
The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maint ...
.
His predecessor was expelled from the
GDR
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
.
Erich Honecker
Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. He held the posts ...
invited Pleitgen to hunt rabbits in 1981,
in contrast Pleitgen was also in contact with the dissidents
Stefan Heym
Helmut Flieg or Hellmuth Fliegel (10 April 1913 – 16 December 2001) was a German writer, known by his pseudonym Stefan Heym (). He lived in the United States and trained at Camp Ritchie, making him one of the Ritchie Boys of World War II. In ...
,
and
Robert Havemann
Robert Havemann (; 11 March 1910 – 9 April 1982) was an East German chemist and dissident.
Life and career
He studied chemistry in Berlin and Munich from 1929 to 1933, and then later received a doctorate in physical chemistry from the Kaiser ...
.
From 1982, he reported as ARD studio chief from Washington and New York and excelled in critical reporting on
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
.
In 1988, director of WDR
Friedrich Nowottny
Friedrich Nowottny (born 16 May 1929) is a German television journalist.
Life
Nowottny worked as director of German broadcaster WDR. He lives in Swisttal-Buschhoven near Bonn.
Awards
*1973: Goldene Kamera in category ''Politischer Journali ...
called Pleitgen back to the parent company in Germany to be editor-in-chief of WDR television in
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
, and in 1994 he became director of radio.
He moderated for ARD television ',
', and ''
Presseclub''.
Known for his work during the Cold War, he became the television face of reunification.
Pleitgen was director of the WDR from 1995 to 2007, succeeding his former boss Nowottny;
from 2001 to 2002, he was chairman of the ARD.
His motto was "" (through quality to ratings).
He played a key role in the launch of the event and documentary channel
Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
.
One of his tasks was the establishment of regional studios.
During his tenure, the surreptitious advertising scandal occurred.
From 2006 to 2008, he was head of the
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...
.
![Fritz Pleitgen Ruhrv](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Fritz_Pleitgen_Ruhrv.jpg)
After leaving WDR in 2007, Pleitgen took over the management of the ''European Capital of Culture 2010'' project in Essen (
Ruhr.2010
Ruhr.2010 – Kulturhauptstadt Europas was the name of the campaign in Germany's Ruhr region that earned it recognition as a European Capital of Culture in 2010. This was the first time a region was considered, as Essen represented all 53 towns ...
)
and officially retired in 2010.
He took moral responsibility for the
Love Parade disaster
On 24 July 2010, a crowd disaster at the 2010 Love Parade electronic dance music festival in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, caused the deaths of 21 people from suffocation as attendees sought to escape a ramp leading to the festival ...
.
Considered one of the most influential German journalists and media makers,
Pleitgen interviewed Ronald Reagan, Erich Honecker,
Egon Krenz
Egon Rudi Ernst Krenz (; born 19 March 1937) is a German former politician who was the last Communist leader of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) during the Revolutions of 1989. He succeeded Erich Honecker as the General Secretary ...
,
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
, and
Helmut Kohl
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longes ...
.
Political views
Pleitgen appreciated the value of a free press, because of his own experiences with censorship in totalitarian states.
According to Pleitgen, the German broadcaster ARD had features of a
state media
State media or government media are media outlets that are under financial and/or editorial control of the state or government, directly or indirectly. There are different types of state and government media. State-controlled or state-run media a ...
in the early years, but emancipated later.
Pleitgen was a supporter of Willy Brandt'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 Republ ...
and in conflict with the
Christian Social Union in Bavaria
The Christian Social Union in Bavaria (German: , CSU) is a Christian-democratic and conservative political party in Germany. Having a regionalist identity, the CSU operates only in Bavaria while its larger counterpart, the Christian Democratic ...
.
In 2019, he criticised the homogeneous reporting and warned of the decay of democracy.
He stated in May 2021, that a concept for a policy with Russia is missing, Russians are Europeans.
In March 2022, he admitted to having underestimated the danger posed by Russian President
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
.
Activities
* Member of the
SPD
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been the ...
* Patron of , a children's hospice in Bielefeld
* 1998–2017 Chairman and 2017–2022 Honorary Chairman of the Board of the Lev Kopelev Forum
* 2007 Member of the Board of Trustees of Reporter ohne Grenzen (
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...
)
* 2010–2021 President of the
German Cancer Aid
The German Cancer Aid (german: links=yes, Deutsche Krebshilfe) is a not-for-profit organization to fight cancer in all its forms. The institution was founded on September 25, 1974 by Dr. Mildred Scheel (1932–1985). She was the wife of Walter ...
* 2013–2020 Member of the Board of Trustees of the
Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation
__NOTOC__
The Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation (german: Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung) is a major German philanthropic foundation, created by and named in honor of Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, former owner ...
Personal life
In 1969, Pleitgen married Gerda Lichtenberg;
the couple had four children.
One of his sons is journalist
Frederik Pleitgen.
Pleitgen lived in
Bergisch Gladbach
Bergisch Gladbach () is a city in the Cologne/Bonn Region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and capital of the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis (district).
Geography
Bergisch Gladbach is located east of the river Rhine, approx. 10 kilometers east of ...
.
In 2020, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer,
and died on 15 September 2022 in Cologne at the age of 84.
Works
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Awards
* 1995: Saure Gurke,
mocking award by feminist media professionals
* 1999: Närrisches Steckenpferd by Krefeld-based carnival association
* 1999: for professional training
* 2003: by Düsseldorf's Jewish community
* 2004: Culture award by
Free Masons
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
* 2005:
* 2006: Ambassador for 2006
INAS World Football Championships
The INAS World Football Championship is an international association football competition for athletes with intellectual disabilities. It takes place every four years, typically in the country that also hosts the FIFA World Cup. It is organized by ...
in Germany
* 2006: Honorary doctorate from
Dortmund University
* 2007: awarded by
German Cultural Council
The German Culture Council, or Deutscher Kulturrat in German, is the umbrella organization of the German cultural associations and has its headquarters in Berlin. It is a political and lobbying association, member, for example, of Europ ...
* 2007:
Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia
The Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Verdienstorden des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen) is a civil order of merit, of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia was founded on 11 March 1 ...
* 2007:
Willi Ostermann Wilhelm "Willi" Ostermann (1 October 1876 – 6 August 1936) was a lyricist, composer and singer of carnival songs and songs about Cologne, primarily in the German dialect of Kölsch. The tune ''Homesick for Cologne'' is counted amongst his most fa ...
Medal in Gold, the highest
Cologne Carnival
The Cologne Carnival (german: Kölner Karneval) is a carnival that takes place every year in Cologne, Germany.
Traditionally, the "fifth season" (carnival season) is declared open at 11 minutes past 11 on the 11th of the 11th month November. Th ...
honour
* 2009: by the Association of German Surveying Engineers
* 2012: Commander's Cross of 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 ...
* 2019: Brost Ruhr Prize
Notes
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pleitgen, Fritz
1938 births
2022 deaths
20th-century German journalists
21st-century German journalists
German male journalists
German television presenters
German television reporters and correspondents
German broadcast news analysts
German male writers
Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Members of the Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia
People from Duisburg
ARD (broadcaster) people
Westdeutscher Rundfunk people
Deaths from pancreatic cancer
Deaths from cancer in Germany