Manfred Erdenberger

Manfred Erdenberger (born August 30, 1941 in Münster ) is a German journalist . From 1969 to 2006 he worked as a radio and television presenter for Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) in Cologne and was one of the station's most prominent voices.

Life

The “Westphalian by birth and out of conviction”, as he describes himself, initially worked as an editor for several newspapers in the Ruhr area after completing his internship. In 1969 he came to WDR and started working as a reporter in the Dortmund studio. In 1972 he started his long career at the studio microphone: as editor and presenter, he took on various radio and television programs.

In 1973 Erdenberger moved to the WDR headquarters in Cologne. In the following decades he worked there mainly for the information wave WDR 2 , among other things as a presenter of the current programs "Morgenmagazin", "Mittagsmagazin" and " Zwischen Rhein und Weser ". With his distinctive voice, his dry sense of humor and his broad professional spectrum, he became one of the station's most popular radio journalists. The Westphalian greeting "Guat goahn", with which he said goodbye at the end of each broadcast, became his trademark.

From 1980 Manfred Erdenberger headed the reporting department in the current department, from 1982 the chief off duty office in the radio editor-in-chief. Since 1988 he has also held the post of deputy radio editor-in-chief. At the same time, he was also in front of the camera for television for many years: Among other things, he moderated the talk shows " Wednesdays in ... " and " Wednesdays with ... " as well as the " Current Hour " on the WDR television program and performed the classic show " Spiel without borders ”on ARD .

In 1992 Erdenberger took over as editor-in-chief of the WDR program area politics. In 1996 WDR director Fritz Pleitgen appointed him chief political correspondent. In this function, he reported for eight years in reports and commentaries on important events at home and abroad, especially in the Middle East . As “Team Principal Radio”, he had also been at the Olympic Games, European and World Cups for ten years since 1994.

In 1979 he was awarded the gold medal by the police union (GdP) for his journalistic and union political commitment and in 1985 with the journalists' prize by the food and drink restaurant union (NGG).

On September 1, 2004, he officially retired from active service. As a freelancer, Manfred Erdenberger still moderated current programs on WDR 2, including the “Mittagsmagazin” and “MonTalk”. It was not until August 30, 2006, his 65th birthday, that he finally said goodbye to his listeners.

Erdenberger has lived in Cologne for decades. He is married and has three grown children; his son Ralph Erdenberger is also a radio journalist for WDR.

Social Commitment

From 2006 to 2014, Manfred Erdenberger was the spokesman for the non-partisan, interreligious “German Initiative for the Middle East” (DINO), which he founded and which advocates civil society contributions to peace in the region. DINO was awarded the Mohammad Nafi Chelebi Peace Prize in November 2013 . Erdenberger has been honorary chairman of the initiative since mid-2015.

The active rider was president of the Oranjehof riding club for three years .

He is still connected to his hometown Münster : For his commitment to the city, several carnival societies honored him with their traditional medals, including a. the "Coerder Carnevals Club" 2005 with the "Mückenstich-Orden" and the Münster KG "Böse Geister" with the title "Ehrenratsherr" (1982), but also the Düsseldorf Carnival Society "Knaasköpp von 1929" with the Jacob-Hermes-Order.

Erdenberger has also been a member of the Lazarus Order in the rank of commander since 2006 . In 2007 he was honored with the Crusaders Medal Award , the pilgrim medal of the Order of Lazarus. The award was given to him by Patriarch Gregory III. Laham for his commitment to peace efforts in the Middle East. In October 2008 Erdenberger was knighted at an investiture ceremony of the order in Maastricht . Because of his excellent connections to the countries in the Middle East and his good knowledge of the situation there, he was appointed to the religious chapter of the Lazarus Grand Priory in Europe.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.dino-muenster.de/ueber-uns/personen-und-programme/
2. ↑ "High distinction for DINO speakers" ( Memento of the original from November 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Dino Münster, May 2, 2007 

Web links

• Manfred Erdenberger's farewell to WDR 2 ( Memento from September 6, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
• Website of the German Initiative for the Middle East (DINO)