Claus Hinrich Casdorff

Claus Hinrich Casdorff (born August 6, 1925 in Hamburg ; † February 6, 2004 ) was a German radio and television journalist .

life and work

Casdorff's career began in 1947, after he had returned wounded from Soviet captivity in 1945, in the news department of the Northwest German Broadcasting Corporation (NWDR) in Hamburg. From 1956 he was editor at Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) in Cologne and until 1963 head of the radio news service. First television moderation in 1961 for Hier und Heute , a regional information magazine in the WDR's evening program. From 1963 to 1965 he was editor-in-chief of the political magazine Report .

Casdorff became known with the time-sensitive magazine Monitor , which he founded and which he directed and moderated from 1965 to 1973 and again from 1975 to 1981.

“Claus Hinrich Casdorff embodied the type of independent journalist in an Anglo-Saxon laconic manner. He truly knew no fear of princely thrones. His crossfire interviews with Rudolf Rohlinger were legendary. Claus Hinrich Casdorff was never fobbed off with excuses or even intimidated by the greatness of our state. "

- Fritz Pleitgen

The program Monitor , which has won many awards over the years , is continued under different management in Das Erste to this day.

In addition to the management of Monitor , Casdorff took over the moderation of the WDR edition of the international magazine Weltspiegel from 1965 to 1977 and since 1972 the management of the program group magazine on WDR television. From 1977 to 1982 he was head of the domestic policy program group and deputy editor-in-chief for the regional programs of the WDR. During this time he founded the current hour , a regional news magazine that is still broadcast today.

Gravesite (July 2018)

From 1980 to 1993 Casdorff moderated the WDR show Ich stelle mich , in which he interviewed celebrities, and from 1981 to 1990 the talk show " Schlag nach Schlag" . In 1982 he was appointed regionalization officer of the WDR and editor-in-chief of the WDR state programs.

Claus Hinrich Casdorff wrote columns in several daily newspapers. In 1981 he published the book "Christmas 1945". In 1983 he was editor of the book “Democrats. Profiles of our republic ”.

After his retirement in autumn 1990, Claus Hinrich Casdorff worked as a management consultant and organized television seminars for managers in German business. He lectured regularly and chaired the discussion groups. Since 1994 Casdorff was the first chairman of the Cologne press club.

He was married to Ursel geb. Ten Pfenning (1928-2018). Their son is the journalist Stephan-Andreas Casdorff . Claus Hinrich Casdorff died in 2004 at the age of 78 and was buried in the Melaten cemetery in Cologne (Lit. J No. 269).

Awards

In 1979 Casdorff was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit, First Class, for his journalistic services . In 1990 he received the Theodor Heuss Gold Medal, and in 1991 the Order of Merit of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia .

Publications

• Claus Hinrich Casdorff / Rudolf Rohlinger: Crossfire. Interviews from Kolle to Kiesinger. Berlin: Lenz, 1971.
• Claus Hinrich Casdorff (ed.): Christmas 1945: A book of memories . Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1989 (new edition, original edition from 1981), ISBN 978-3423250283 .
• Claus Hinrich Casdorff (ed.): Democrats. Profiles of our republic. Königstein: Athenaeum 1983. ISBN 978-3761082638 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Claus Hinrich Casdorff in the catalog of the German National Library
• Short video tour of the Melatenfriedhof, a brief outline of its history and explanation of some selected grave sites, including from 3:18 am the one by Claus Hinrich Casdorff. Accessed March 31, 2013.