Ruprecht Eser has been a well-known face on ZDF for many years. The TV audience knows him as a correspondent, talk show host at "half 12 - Eser and guests" or "heute journal" moderator. Now the journalist has died at the age of 79.
The television journalist Ruprecht Eser is dead. He died on Friday night at the age of 79, as ZDF confirmed. "We mourn the loss of a full-blooded journalist and persistent interviewer who shaped the political reporting of ZDF for decades, especially during the years of German reunification," said ZDF editor-in-chief Bettina Schausten.
Eser had remained loyal to the station for many years. For ZDF, he once ran the talk show "half 12 - Eser und guests" and for several years also the news flagship "heute journal".
Before Eser, who was born in Lutherstadt Wittenberg in 1943, took root at ZDF, he studied journalism, political science and sociology at the Freie Universität Berlin until the late 1960s. He also worked in the BBC's Berlin office. After graduating, he finally moved to London, where he worked as an editor at the BBC in the "German Service" department.
From 1970 Eser was part of ZDF, initially in the "Politics and Current Affairs" editorial department in Mainz. In the mid-1980s he moved to the "Domestic Politics" and "Reports / Documentaries" editorial offices. After a trip to London as a correspondent, Eser was hired as a moderator for the "heute journal" in 1985. Three years later he was the editorial director of the format. Eser later counted the fact that he was able to experience the turning point in this function as one of the highlights of his professional career.
A detour to private television was short-lived. From 1993 Eser was part of the ZDF team again, where he led the way through his Sunday show "Half 12 - Eser and guests". The show ran until 2003.
For a time, Eser also held positions as ZDF chief reporter, ZDF chief editor for "Social and Educational Policy" and head of the ZDF studio in London. From 2008 he taught at various universities. From 2011 he worked as a professor for television journalism at the University of Leipzig.
In his long TV career, Eser has received several awards. In 1982 he received the Golden Gong and in 1990 the Golden Camera.
Since 1992 Eser was married to the ZDF presenter Marina Ruperti in his second marriage. The two have two children. Altogether, Eser was the father of four children.
