Caren Miosga leaves the “Tagesthemen”: Legendary appearances by the presenter

Farewell after 16 years
“Good evening, Ms. Slomka”: Six legendary “Tagesthemen” moments by Caren Miosga

She was the longest-serving presenter on the “Tagesthemen”: Caren Miosga is quitting after 16 years. Since her first show in 2007, the 54-year-old has delivered some legendary television moments. These six appearances are part of it.

She started on July 16, 2007 and ended on October 5, 2023: journalist Caren Miosga says goodbye to “Tagesthemen”. The 54-year-old hosted her last show on Thursday evening. Long-time colleagues such as Jens Riewa and Ingo Zamperoni praised Miosga’s work and her “infinite sympathy and empathy.” “You made our soul dance,” said Riewa. In fact, Miosga has provided some legendary moments during her 16 years at “Tagesthemen”.

Caren Miosga barefoot on the studio table

One of Caren Miosga’s most memorable performances was her moderation on the occasion of the death of actor Robin Williams in August 2014. At the end of the program, she suddenly stood barefoot on the table and said: “With this gesture we bow to one of the greatest actors. O Captain ! My captain!” She imitated one of the most famous scenes from Williams’ film “Dead Poets Society”. In the film, Williams played a teacher who taught his students at a US boarding school in the late 1950s to think for themselves and to perceive the world from a different perspective. This is a message that “also suits us media people very well,” said Miosga in one ARD interview on her farewell. However, it wasn’t her who came up with the idea, but rather an editor from her team. “We were a bit lucky that there was no one in the studio who would have had any major concerns and said that this wasn’t possible for insurance reasons. There was a team there that wanted to implement it immediately,” revealed Miosga.

Interview with Clueso during the Corona pandemic

The situation in the culture and music industry during the Corona pandemic also concerned the “Tagesthemen”. In autumn 2020, Die Ärzte appeared on the news program, and a year later Caren Miosga welcomed the singer Clueso. At the beginning of the program he sang a song accompanied by a pianist and a saxophonist. In an interview with Miosga, he spoke about his personal situation as an artist during the corona pandemic and criticized the “#allesdichtmachen” campaign. It was initiated in spring 2021 by several artists around the actors Volker Bruch and Jan Josef Liefers as a criticism of the federal government’s Corona policy. “I didn’t get it. Maybe they should have provided a small leaflet with it. This is a sensitive topic and you have to treat it sensitively. I didn’t think it was smart,” said Clueso.

“Good evening, Mrs. Slomka”

One of the funniest moments in Caren Miosga’s “Tagesthemen” career is an interview with Wolfang Ischinger from January 2022. Ischinger was head of the Munich Security Conference at the time and was supposed to speak to Miosga in a broadcast about the escalating Ukraine conflict. After greeting him, Ischinger replied: “Good evening, Ms. Slomka.” She tried to clear up the faux pas and explained: “My name is Miosga. It doesn’t matter.” But Ischinger was undeterred and continued to call Caren Miosga Ms. Slomka throughout the interview, like her ZDF colleague Marietta Slomka from “heute journal.” In the Interview with ARD Miosga now revealed that she had to pull herself together so as not to “pee her pants laughing.” Wolfgang Ischinger later apologized to her and sent flowers.

“Daily Topics” from Kyiv

In August 2022, Erste broadcast a special “Tagesthemen” edition: Caren Miosga greeted viewers not from the studio in Hamburg, but from the Ukrainian capital Kiev. The occasion was Ukraine’s Independence Day and the war against Russia, which lasted exactly six months to the day. Miosga and her team had previously traveled through the country and visited the towns of Butscha, Moschchun and Irpin, among others. With the 45-minute program, the “Tagesthemen” wanted to focus on Ukraine, “because after half a year of this conflict, our attention in Germany seems to be turning back to our own concerns,” said Caren Miosga. For this effort, she and her team were recently awarded the German Television Prize in the “Best Information” category.

Record set by Ulrich Wickert

Last year, Caren Miosga celebrated a special anniversary: ​​She equaled the record set by “Tagesthemen” presenter Ulrich Wickert. Wickert presented the news format from 1991 to 2016, i.e. 15 years. Miosga has now been in action for a year longer. In September 2022, Wickert appeared in the studio again and made a surprise appearance. “An important message is still missing from this program today. It reads: Hamburg, record broken in the television studio. The all-time record holder in the ‘Tagesthemen’ presenter Ulrich Wickert, i.e. me, has to accept defeat today,” said the 80-year-old and announced that Miosga has now caught up with him. “That’s life, but I’ll get over it. Caren Miosga is the most popular presenter,” said Wickert and drank a schnapps with Miosga to celebrate the day.

Ernie and Bert as guests on the “Tagesthemen”

At the beginning of this year, Caren Miosga had the puppets dance in the “Tagesthemen” studio. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the German Sesame Street, she welcomed the characters Ernie, Bert and Grobi. While Ernie appeared in his pajamas, Bert appeared in a tie and suit. “But you know that in this studio you don’t necessarily have to wear a tie anymore,” said Miosga. Grobi took on the role of a cleaning man and played with it legendary “Tagesschau” scene by Susanne Daubner at. In 2000, the announcer read out the news while a cleaning man walked through the screen behind her.

During her last “Tagesthemen” appearance, Caren Miosga said, referring to the new Nobel Prize winner for literature: “Now I feel a bit like a character from a Jon Fosse play: heavy, wistful that I’m saying goodbye here after 16 years , but of course at the same time very happy to have been part of an editorial team for so long that tries every day to understand this world and make it understandable for you.” Viewers don’t have to do without Miosga completely: starting next year, she will replace Anne Will and take over the talk show on Sunday evenings on ARD. Miosga on “Tagesthemen” is followed by presenter Jessy Wellmer.