Ulrich Kienzle (; 9 May 1936 – 16 April 2020) was a German

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and author. He was known for specializing in the politics and culture of the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

. He worked for several broadcasters, including German public television networks ARD 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 ...

. He was one of the few Western journalists to interview Muammar Gaddafi in the 1970s and, in 1990,

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

. Kienzle was known for appearing on ''Frontal'', a ZDF series of political discussions also featuring broadcast journalist Bodo Hugo Hauser.

Life

Kienzle was born in Neckargröningen,

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...

, today part of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

in southwest Germany. He was 9 years old when

World War II 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 opposing ...

ended and 13 when the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

was founded. Kienzle earned a

university degree An academic degree is a qualification awarded to students upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions commonly offer degrees at various levels, usually including unde ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

(with minors in German studies and

history of art The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetic visu ...

), studying at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

and

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...

with from 1956 to 1963. From 1956 to 1967, he worked first as a freelancer, then beginning in 1963 as a permanent

contributing editor A contributing editor is a newspaper, magazine or online job title that varies in its responsibilities. Often, but not always, a contributing editor is a "high-end" freelancer, consultant, or expert who has proven ability and has readership dra ...

of the ("Evening News") of the Stuttgart-based regional broadcaster Süddeutscher Rundfunk (SDR). After a stint working for

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) in 1967 and 1968, he returned to SDR, becoming lead anchor of the from 1968. From 1972 to 1974, he was co-host and co-editor of , a joint foreign affairs broadcast of SDR and

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

(BR). In 1974, Kienzle started working for the national public broadcaster ARD as a

correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

, from 1974 to 1977 covering the

and stationed in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

. He was among the first journalists to interview Muammar Gaddafi, then a young rebel. From 1977 to 1980, he was ARD's correspondent for

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...

. From 1980 to 1990, he was chief editor of North German regional broadcaster

Radio Bremen Radio Bremen (RB), Germany's smallest public radio and television broadcaster, is the legally mandated broadcaster for the city-state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (which includes Bremerhaven). With its headquarters sited in Bremen, Radio Brem ...

(RB). From 1990 to 1993, Kienzle was chief editor for foreign affairs at

Hessischer Rundfunk Hessischer Rundfunk (HR; "Hesse Broadcasting") is the German state of Hesse's public broadcasting corporation. Headquartered in Frankfurt, it is a member of the national consortium of German public broadcasting corporations, ARD. Studios Do ...

(Hessian Broadcasting) and anchor for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), presenting the foreign affairs magazine . In this position, in 1990 he was one of the few Western journalists allowed to interview

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

i dictator

. From 1993 to 2000, he was one of the "combatants" in the weekly ZDF political magazine ', which always featured a controversial debate between the more leftist Kienzle, usually taking the position of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), and the more rightist Bodo Hugo Hauser, usually taking the position of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU). In the 2000s, Kienzle hosted a ZDF program on German political campaigns in the run-up to the 2002 federal election, and beginning in 2003 contributed to a ZDF broadcast 'magazine' on the economy (). He was interviewed on events in the Middle East, such as the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...

, the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...

and the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econo ...

revolts. Kienzle died in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

, Hesse, on 16 April 2020, aged 83.

Honours

* 1977:

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 ...

(15 November 1976), for reports from the

Lebanese civil war The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

* 1983: Eduard Rhein Prize, award for "outstanding achievements in research and/or development in the areas of radio, television and information technology", Culture Prize for the report ''Blutiger Sommer – Wiedersehen mit Beirut'' * 1995:

BAMBI ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American animated drama film directed by David Hand (supervising a team of sequence directors), produced by Walt Disney and based on the 1923 book ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'' by Austrian author and hunter Felix Salten ...

, German media prize, together with Hauser * 2004: ("journalist prize of the German "), for critical journalism on bargain hunters

Publications

Kienzle's publications are held by the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

, including:Participations by Ulrich Kienzle

* . Droemer Knaur, München 1985, . ("South Africa. Whites in the

wagon fort A wagon fort, wagon fortress, or corral, often referred to as circling the wagons, is a temporary fortification made of wagons arranged into a rectangle, circle, or other shape and possibly joined with each other to produce an improvised milit ...

"). * . Hofmann & Campe, Hamburg 1995, (together with Bodo H. Hauser). ("Any more questions, Kienzle? Yes, Hauser! The official German opinion guide"). * . Hoffmann & Campe, Hamburg 1997, (together with Bodo H. Hauser). (" Black-Red-Gold. The official German guidebook on the market") * . Heyne, München 1999, (together with Bodo H. Hauser). ("Totally head-on. Quotations and controversies from seven years on TV"). * . Heyne, München 2000, (together with Bodo H. Hauser). ("Please be quite hostile! Better living and debating in the new

millennium A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...

"). * . Heyne, München 2001, (together with Bodo H. Hauser). ("

Kitchen Cabinet Kitchen cabinets are the built-in furniture installed in many kitchens for storage of food, cooking equipment, and often silverware and dishes for table service. Appliances such as refrigerators, dishwashers, and ovens are often integrated ...

. Eating and drinking with rightists and leftists.") * . Edition Sagas, Stuttgart 2008, (mit Audio-CD). (an essay on the cultural history of the Swabian people). * . Edition Sagas, Stuttgart 2011, . ("A farewell to '' A Thousand and One Nights''. My attempt to understand the

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

").

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kienzle, Ulrich 1936 births 2020 deaths People from Ludwigsburg (district) People from the Free People's State of Württemberg Writers from Baden-Württemberg German television journalists German male journalists 20th-century German journalists 21st-century German journalists German male writers ZDF people ARD (broadcaster) people Radio Bremen people University of Tübingen alumni Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany