Gerhard Prager

This article is about the editor and former program director of ZDF Gerhard Prager. The article Gerd Prager deals with the actor and voice actor Gerd Prager .

Gerhard Otto Prager , sometimes referred to as Gerd Prager , (born February 1, 1920 in Oberplanitz ; † July 17, 1975 in Mainz ) was a German editor , publisher , television producer and writer . Prager was program director of ZDF from 1973 to 1975 .

life and career

Gerd Prager, born 1920 in Oberplanitz, Saxony, was a lieutenant in the Air Force in World War II . After studying theater studies, he worked as a dramaturge at the Stuttgart theater and editor for a publishing house. Between 1948 and 1953 he worked as chief and radio dramaturge at the Süddeutscher Rundfunk in Stuttgart . In 1948, Allied control officers employed Gerhard Prager, who was completely inexperienced in this field, as a freelancer for the Stuttgart radio station. From 1949 he held the position of chief dramaturge and, as such, implemented a radio play program that received much attention due to its demands until 1953 and supported authors like Günter Eich . Then he filled the post of editor-in-chief of the Protestant media magazine and information services "Church and Radio" and "Church and Television" in Bethel near Bielefeld from 1953 to 1958 . From 1958 to 1962 he was the responsible television producer at Süddeutscher Rundfunk and from 1962 to 1972 he was head of the main department for television plays and film and finally headed the program department at ZDF .

In the period between 1956 and 1962, Prager was an assessor or later deputy chairman of the film evaluation board in Wiesbaden . He was also a co-founder of the literary cabaret Die Mausefalle .

writer

As early as 1946, Prager published a volume of poetry with its own poetry. Another was published in 1957 under the title Geiger counter .

With About I sing and say will (1960), in which the writer explains "how well-known Christmas carols were created", he wrote his best-known work, which was read by Robert Lembke and was also distributed on a record.

" These stories are neither written for the honor of literature nor for the benefit of scholarly folk song research. At the same time, the listener can trust that nothing will be whispered to him in the arrogance of storytelling. The web of literary imagination envelops a core of verifiable facts and true events, " wrote Prager for the cover for the release of the record a year before his death.

In addition, a number of media studies essays and speeches belong to the publications of the writer Prager, who from time to time also worked as an editor.

literature

• Gerd Prager. In: Knut Hickethier: Film and television analysis. , JB Metzler, 2001, p. 185

Web links

• Literature by and about Gerhard Prager in the catalog of the German National Library
• Prager's role on Günter Eich's path to becoming a successful radio play author (PDF; 223 kB)
• Gerhard Prager in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Paul S. Ulrich: Biographical directory for theater, dance, etc. Musik , Vol. 2 M – Z, Berlin-Verlag Spitz, 1997, p. 1455