Ulrich Kienzle


Ulrich Kienzle was a German journalist and author. He was known for specializing in the politics and culture of the Middle East. He worked for several broadcasters, including German public television networks ARD and ZDF. He was one of the few Western journalists to interview Muammar Gaddafi in the 1970s and, in 1990, Saddam Hussein. Kienzle was known for appearing on Frontal, a ZDF series of political discussions also featuring broadcast journalist Bodo Hugo Hauser.

Life

Kienzle was born in Neckargröningen, Württemberg, today part of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany. He was 9 years old when World War II ended and 13 when the Federal Republic of Germany was founded. Kienzle earned a university degree in political science, studying at the University of Munich and University of Tübingen with from 1956 to 1963.
From 1956 to 1967, he worked first as a freelancer, then beginning in 1963 as a permanent contributing editor of the Abendschau of the Stuttgart-based regional broadcaster Süddeutscher Rundfunk. After a stint working for Westdeutscher Rundfunk in 1967 and 1968, he returned to SDR, becoming lead anchor of the Abendschau from 1968. From 1972 to 1974, he was co-host and co-editor of Kompass, a joint foreign affairs broadcast of SDR and Bayerischer Rundfunk.
In 1974, Kienzle started working for the national public broadcaster ARD as a correspondent, from 1974 to 1977 covering the Middle East and stationed in Beirut. He was among the first journalists to interview Muammar Gaddafi, then a young rebel. From 1977 to 1980, he was ARD's correspondent for Southern Africa. From 1980 to 1990, he was chief editor of North German regional broadcaster Radio Bremen.
From 1990 to 1993, Kienzle was chief editor for foreign affairs at Hessischer Rundfunk and anchor for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, presenting the foreign affairs magazine Auslandsjournal. In this position, in 1990 he was one of the few Western journalists allowed to interview Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. From 1993 to 2000, he was one of the "combatants" in the weekly ZDF political magazine , which 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 Hugo Hauser, usually taking the position of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany.
In the 2000s, Kienzle hosted a ZDF program on German political campaigns in the run-up to the 2002 federal election, and beginning in 2003 contributed to a ZDF broadcast 'magazine' on the economy.
He was interviewed on events in the Middle East, such as the Iraq War, the War in Afghanistan and the Arab Spring revolts.
Kienzle died in Wiesbaden, Hesse, on 16 April 2020, aged 83.

Honours

Kienzle's publications are held by the German National Library, including: