Foreign correspondent
Mourning for Gerd Ruge – WDR changes program
ARD reporter Gerd Ruge (r) speaks to young shepherds. The program “Gerd Ruge on the Road – Through South Africa” was broadcast in December 2001. Photo: Irmgard Eichner-Ruge / WDR / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
He interviewed many powerful politicians and produced memorable foreign reports. Gerd Ruge was a reporter legend. Now he’s died.
Long-time ARD correspondent and reporter Gerd Ruge is dead. He died on Friday at the age of 93 in Munich, as Westdeutsche Rundfunk (WDR) announced on Saturday. Ruge reported for many years as a correspondent from countries such as Russia and the USA. He was considered a reporter legend.
The WDR changes the TV program on Saturday because of the death. At 9.45 p.m., the third program, WDR TV, broadcasts the Gerd Ruge night program “Around the World in 80 Years” and then one of his last reports “Gerd Ruge on the move – Summer on the Colorado”.
The ARD chairman and WDR director Tom Buhrow said: “Gerd Ruge is one of the great reporter personalities of the first hour. Profound analyzes, precise interviews and the ability to explain complex relationships in an easily understandable way – that was what made him stand out. ” He was a valuable contemporary witness of important political events at home and abroad. «His numerous foreign reports and travel reports will not be forgotten. The audience loved him for it, »added Buhrow. For many subsequent generations of journalists, he was a role model and orientation.
Representatives from the media industry expressed their condolences on Twitter. The head of the ARD capital studio, Tina Hassel, wrote about Ruge: “What a loss! I learned a lot from him and later I was allowed to supervise some of his foreign documentaries. There’s a really big one! Cosmopolitan, courageous, incorruptible and always full of humor and warmth towards the people around him ». The editor-in-chief of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin”, Timm Klotzek, wrote: “Gerd Ruge died, he was always one of my favorite people on television”.
Ruge was born on August 9, 1928 in Hamburg. His professional career is mainly shaped by his work for ARD. The WDR journalist worked in various positions for public broadcasters. A few stations: in the 1950s he went to Moscow as an ARD correspondent, and in the 1960s he worked in the USA. In the early 1970s, the ARD chief correspondent took over the management of the WDR studio in Bonn. For a few years in the 1970s he worked for the daily newspaper “Die Welt” in China, after which he worked again for ARD.