Preetz
Preetz () is a town southeast of Kiel in the district of Plön, in Schleswig-Holstein, Northern Germany. Preetz is also known as "Schusterstadt" (English: 'shoemaker town') named after shoemakers who used to live and work in this town. Preetz has ...
, Schleswig-Holstein,
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
) is a German journalist and television presenter.
Career
After finishing school in Preetz, Christiansen worked at Lufthansa from 1976 to 1982, then apprenticed in journalism at the Norddeutscher Rundfunk in Hamburg until 1985. She ultimately became a regular presenter for the ARD's national TV news journal ''
Tagesthemen
''Tagesthemen'' is one of Germany's main daily television news magazines, presented by journalists Caren Miosga and Ingo Zamperoni. Second only to the 20:00 ''Tagesschau'' ("Review of the Day") ''Tagesthemen'' ("Issues of the Day") is ARD's most ...
'', in rotation with
Hanns Joachim Friedrichs
Hanns Joachim "Hajo" Friedrichs (15 March 1927 – 28 March 1995) was a German journalist.
Life
Friedrichs was born in Hamm. From 1971 to 1981, he was a sports journalist for the German magazine ''Sportstudio''. 1985 Friedrichs went from ZDF ...
(1987–1991) and
Ulrich Wickert
Ulrich Wickert (born 2 December 1942) is a German journalist. He is one of the best-known broadcasters in Germany.
Early life
Born in Tokyo, Japan, Wickert grew up in Heidelberg and Paris as a result of his father Erwin Wickert being employe ...
(1991–2004).
Upon leaving ''Tagesthemen'' in January 1998, Christiansen hosted her own eponymous talk show, Sabine Christiansen, which aired on '' Das Erste'' until 2007. Along with prominent German political and celebrity guests, Christiansen interviewed international political and business leaders including
Bill Gates
William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...
(1999, 2002),
James Baker
James Addison Baker III (born April 28, 1930) is an American attorney, diplomat and statesman. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 10th White House Chief of Staff and 67th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President ...
(2000),
Enrique Barón Crespo
Enrique () is the Spanish variant of the given name Heinrich of Germanic origin.
Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Enric (Catalan), Enrico (Italian), Henrik (Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian), Heinrich (German), Hendrik, Henk ...
(2000),
Wolfgang Schüssel
Wolfgang Schüssel (; born 7 June 1945) is an Austrian People's Party politician. He was Chancellor of Austria for two consecutive terms from February 2000 to January 2007. While being recognised as a rare example of an active reformer in conte ...
(2000),
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
(2002),
Jean-Claude Juncker
Jean-Claude Juncker (; born 9 December 1954) is a Luxembourgish politician who served as the 21st Prime Minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and 12th President of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. He also served as Finance Minister ...
(2003),
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
(2003),
Donald H. Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, government official and businessman who served as Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under president Gerald Ford, and again from 2001 to 2006 under Preside ...
(2003),
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
(2004),
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founde ...
(2004) and Condoleezza Rice (2004). In 2006, she visited President
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
for an interview at the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
in Washington D.C.; it was the longest interview Bush gave to a foreign TV station
during his presidency.
In addition, Christiansen moderated the TV election debates between Chancellor
Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Fritz Kurt "Gerd" Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German lobbyist and former politician, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germa ...
and his challengers
Edmund Stoiber
Edmund Rüdiger Stoiber (born 28 September 1941) is a German politician who served as the 16th Minister President of the state of Bavaria between 1993 and 2007 and chairman of the Christian Social Union (CSU) between 1999 and 2007. In 2002, he r ...
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...
( 2005).
From 2006 until 2008, Christiansen hosted the 12-part series "Global Players with Sabine Christiansen", which aired around the world on
CNBC
CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...
.
Donald H. Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, government official and businessman who served as Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under president Gerald Ford, and again from 2001 to 2006 under Preside ...
was the first guest of the show on 5 February 2006.
Activism
,Christiansen has been a
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador is an official postnominal honorific title, title of authority, legal status and job description assigned to those goodwill ambassadors and advocates who are designated by the United Nations. The United Nations Intern ...
for Germany since 1997. In 2015 she signed an open letter which the ONE Campaign had been collecting signatures for; the letter was addressed to
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...
and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, urging them to focus on women as they served as the head of the G7 in Germany and the African Union in South Africa respectively, which will start to set the priorities in development funding before a main UN summit in September 2015 that will establish new development goals for the generation.
Other activities
Corporate boards
* MAGNA Real Estate, Member of the Advisory Board (since 2021)
* Arqueonautas GmbH (ARQ), Member of the Advisory Board (since 2012)
* Freenet AG, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2012)
* Hermes Europe GmbH, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2013)
Goldene Kamera
The Goldene Kamera ("Golden Camera") is an annual German film and television award, awarded by the Funke Mediengruppe. The award show is usually held in early February in Hamburg, but has also taken place in Berlin in the past.
The gold-plat ...
,
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 ...
* 1992:
Bayerischer Fernsehpreis
Bayerischer Fernsehpreis (the Bavarian TV award) is an award presented by the government of Bavaria, Germany since 1989. The prize symbol is the "Blue Panther", a figure from the Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory. The prize money is €10,000 (Spe ...
* 1995:
Adolf Grimme Award
The Grimme-Preis ("Grimme Award"; prior to 2011: Adolf-Grimme-Preis) is one of the most prestigious German television awards. It is named after the first general director of Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, Adolf Grimme.Goldener Löwe
* 2001: Bambi, Courage Award
* 2002:
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 ...
,
Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
,
Deutscher Fernsehpreis
The Deutscher Fernsehpreis (''German Television Award'') is an annual German award for television programming, created in 1999 by German television channels Das Erste, ZDF, RTL and Sat.1. It was created to be an equivalent to the Emmy Awards, ...
* 2005:
Women's World Award
Winners of the Women's World Award, sponsored by the World Awards organization headed by former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev, intended for women who have influenced the world by their work in areas such as society or politics. The awa ...