Ulrich Kienzle

Ulrich Kienzle (born May 9, 1936 in Neckargröningen, Free People's State of Württemberg, today part of Remseck, Ludwigsburg District, Baden-Württemberg, Germany) is a German journalist and publisher. He is renowned in Germany as an expert on politics and culture of the Near and Middle East.

Life

Kienzle, who grew up in late-World War II and post-war Swabia and the early Federal Republic of Germany, earned a university degree in political science (with minors German studies and history of art), studying at Munich University and Tübingen University from 1956 to 1963.

From 1956 to 1967, he worked, first as freelancer, then as a permanent contributing editor of Abendschau (i.e. evening news) for the TV program of the Stuttgart-based regional broadcaster Süddeutscher Rundfunk (SDR). After a stint working for Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) in 1967 and 1968, he returned to SDR, becoming lead anchor of Abendschau from 1968. From 1972 to 1974, he was co-host/co-editor of Kompass, a common foreign affairs broadcast of SDR and Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR).

In 1974, Kienzle started working for the national public broadcaster ARD as correspondent, from 1974 to 1977 for the Near East (stationed in Beirut). In this function, he was one of the few Western journalists that were allowed to interview then Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. From 1977 to 1980, he was ARD's correspondent for Southern Africa. From 1980 to 1990, he was chief editor of North German regional station Radio Bremen.

From 1990 to 1993, Kienzle was chief editor for foreign affairs at Hessischer Rundfunk and anchor for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), presenting foreign affairs magazine Auslandsjournal. From 1993 to 2000, he was one of the "combattants" in the weekly ZDF political magazine Frontal, that always featured a controversial debate between the more leftist Kienzle (usually taking the position of the Social Democratic Party of Germany) and the more rightist Bodo H. Hauser (usually taking the position of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany).

In the 2000s (decade), Kienzle hosted a ZDF program on the German political party's campaigns in the run up to the German federal election, 2002, and is contributing to a ZDF magazine on the economy (WISO) since 2003.

Today, he is occasionally interviewed on matters of the Near and Middle East, e.g. the Iraq War, the War in Afghanistan and the Arab Spring.

Honours

Works

External links

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