Former ZDF editor-in-chief Klaus Bresser dies in Berlin aged 90
The Berlin-born journalist shaped the "heute journal" and co-created "Was nun, …?". From 1988 he was ZDF's editor-in-chief. Director-General Himmler paid tribute to him.
Archive image · Photo: PantheraLeo1359531 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Former ZDF editor-in-chief Klaus Bresser has died. According to the broadcaster, he died on 7 October aged 90 in Berlin, where he was born on 22 July 1936. Bresser studied German literature, theatre studies and sociology in Cologne and began his career in 1958 as a trainee at the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. In 1965 he moved to WDR, where among other roles he headed the editorial team of the magazine programme "Monitor".
At the end of 1977 Bresser joined ZDF, where he headed the "heute journal" from 1981 and presented it for six years. He co-developed the interview series "Was nun, …?" and in 1988 became the broadcaster's fourth editor-in-chief. His tenure saw the launch of the "ZDF-Morgenmagazin" and "Frontal", as well as the acclaimed broadcasts on German unity from Berlin's Reichstag in October 1990.
ZDF Director-General Norbert Himmler said: "We mourn a determined champion of public broadcasting's duty to inform." Editor-in-chief Bettina Schausten said: "Klaus Bresser stands for precise journalistic craftsmanship." Among other honours, Bresser received the Goldene Kamera award.