At 85 years old
Longtime presenter Claus Seibel died
Claus Seibel died at the age of 85. Photo: Oliver Berg/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Once he was even tie man of the year. But Claus Seibel is primarily remembered as the serious face of the “Today” show. ZDF mourns the loss of its longtime news presenter.
He shaped the “heute” show on ZDF for more than three decades: TV journalist Claus Seibel is dead. He died on Tuesday at the age of 85, as his former employer ZDF in Mainz announced. The VRM newspapers had previously reported on Seibel’s death.
Born in Giessen, he had presented the ZDF news program at 7 p.m. for more than 30 years from 1971. This made him the longest-serving German newsreader at the time. The ZDF honored him as the “grand seigneur of the news”.
Restrained liability
“As a reliable and memorable companion, he informed viewers about world events, from the times of the Cold War to the historical change after 1989,” said ZDF editor-in-chief Peter Frey. “His face will be remembered, his style of reserved commitment sets standards to this day.”
In 2002, Seibel officially handed over the moderation of the “heute” show at 7 p.m., his successor at the time was Caroline Hamann. But until 2005 he could still be seen regularly on ZDF. For the last time after 34 years as a news presenter, on April 3, 2005 he presented a “heute” program for the public broadcaster.
He prevailed against around 370 applicants
After completing his studies in Marburg and Berlin, Seibel initially completed a traineeship at Hessischer Rundfunk. He worked there until 1971, most recently as head of the radio news service and head of broadcasting. He then took part in a selection process at ZDF and prevailed against around 370 applicants.
In 1988 – it was a different time – the Necktie Institute in Krefeld even voted Seibel the tie man of the year. At the time, the institute quoted Seibel as saying that the tie was “absolutely part of city and work clothing”.