Claus Kleber


Claus-Detlev Walter Kleber is a German journalist and former lawyer. He was the anchor of the Heute-journal, an evening news program on the German public television station ZDF. Kleber has reported on international politics, including U.S. affairs and German-American relations, themes covered in his published book Amerikas Kreuzzüge in 2005.

Early life

Claus Kleber was born in Reutlingen, Germany. He attended the Otto-Hahn-Gymnasium in Bergisch Gladbach and completed his Abitur in 1974. During his school years, he worked as a freelance reporter for the local newspaper Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. In 1974, Kleber began studying law at the University of Tübingen and spent two semesters abroad at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. Kleber passed his first Staatsexamen in law in autumn of 1980 and completed his legal training in Stuttgart. In 1983, he passed his second Staatsexamen, after which he conducted doctoral research in New York City and Washington, D.C., supported by scholarships from the Studienstiftung and the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD. He worked as a lawyer in Stuttgart, specializing in commercial law and competition law. In 1986, he completed his PhD in law under Thomas Oppermann at the University of Tübingen.

Career

Radio and television

While completing his law degree and PhD, Kleber gained experience as a freelance radio reporter and anchor. After earning his doctorate, he transitioned fully into journalism, initially working for public broadcasting before becoming a foreign correspondent. In the 1980s, Kleber served as Washington correspondent for the German public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk, reporting on U.S. politics and international affairs. In the spring of 1989, Kleber returned to Germany as the Chief Editor of RIAS, a broadcaster in Berlin under the control of the United States Information Agency.
From 1990, he worked for 12 years as Senior Correspondent and Bureau Chief for ARD, a nationwide German public television network. He conducted interviews with U.S. Presidents of that period, as well as Donald Rumsfeld and Colin Powell. In June 2002, Kleber moved to London as ARD Bureau Chief.
A few months later, he became managing editor and principal anchor of Heute-journal, a 30-minute late-evening news programme produced and televised by ZDF, a nationwide public television channel in Germany. In 2014, he interviewed U.S. President Barack Obama. In June 2021, he announced his departure from ZDF at the end of the year.

Documentaries

Kleber has produced documentary films in partnership with Angela Andersen, including India – Unstoppable which was released for the DVD market in 2006.
They later also made documentaries for broadcasting, such as The Bomb, about nuclear threats in the 21st century; Machtfaktor Erde on climate change; and HUNGER! and DURST!, a two-part documentary that explored the global challenge and efforts to feed 10 billion people by 2050.
In 2017, their 90-minute report on human rights, Unantastbar, won the Silver Award at the New York Film Festival and was nominated for Best Documentary at the Monaco International Film Festival.
In 2021, ZDF aired "We have the better story," a 40-minute conversation between Kleber and U.S. President Barack Obama discussing his achievements and shortcomings.

Books

Kleber's book Amerikas Kreuzzüge won the 2005 Corine Literature Prize for Best Non-Fiction. Shortly before the 2008 presidential election, Kleber published an updated edition reflecting more recent developments and candidates. In 2012, Kleber published Spielball Erde about the global strategic consequences of Climate Change.

Further information

Since 2015, Kleber has been an Honorary Professor at his alma mater, the University of Tübingen. He is a member of Atlantik-Brücke, an organization promoting cultural, economic, and military cooperation between Germany and the United States.

Recognition

Kleber is the recipient of several awards, including the Media prize of the Johanna Quandt Foundation for economic reporting, the RIAS TV prize, and the Deutscher Fernsehpreis in 2005, 2006 and 2013. Claus Kleber and his ZDF partner anchor Marietta Slomka, were awarded the Grimme-Preis in 2009 for their merits in the evolution of television. In 2010, he won the Hanns Joachim Friedrichs Award for Outstanding Journalism. His documentary work on global challenges received the Deutscher Fernsehpreis for The Bomb in 2009 and the Bayerischer Fernsehpreis for HUNGER! DURST! in 2015. In a 2018 survey conducted by Forsa Institute, he was voted Germany's most trusted news presenter.

Awards

  • 1998: Preis der RIAS Berlin Kommission für die Fernsehproduktion Pioneer Square
  • 1999: Fernsehpreis der RIAS Berlin Kommission für die Produktion Oh Gott, Amerika! Glaube, Seelen, Scharlatane
  • 1999: Herbert Quandt Medien-Preis der Johanna-Quandt-Stiftung
  • 2004: Hildegard von Bingen Prize for Journalism
  • 2004: Fernsehpreis der RIAS Berlin Kommission für die Produktion Allmacht Amerika. Die Welt im Griff
  • 2005: Corine, internationaler Literaturpreis für das Buch Amerikas Kreuzzüge – Was die Weltmacht treibt
  • 2006: Carl-Schurz-Plakette der State Legislative Leaders Foundation
  • 2005: Deutscher Fernsehpreis für die beste Moderation einer Informationssendung
  • 2006: Deutscher Fernsehpreis für die Moderation der „Besten Informationssendung“
  • 2006: Luchs des Monats für das Jugendbuch Nachrichten, die Geschichte machten. Von der Antike bis heute
  • 2008: Nominierung für den Bambi 2008
  • 2008: Politikjournalist des Jahres 2008 von Medium Magazin
  • 2009: Adolf-Grimme-Preis des Jahres 2009 – Besondere Ehrung des Deutschen Volkshochschul-Verbandes
  • 2009: Deutscher Fernsehpreis für die beste Reportage , gemeinsam mit Angela Andersen
  • 2010: Hanns Joachim Friedrichs Preis für Fernsehjournalismus
  • 2010: Krawattenmann des Jahres
  • 2013: Goldene Kamera
  • 2013: Karl-Carstens-Preis des Freundeskreis der Bundesakademie für Sicherheitspolitik e. V.
  • 2015: Bayerischer Fernsehpreis zusammen mit Angela Andersen als Autoren der zweiteiligen Dokumentation Hunger! Durst!
  • 2017: Schöne Neue Welt – Wie Silicon Valley unsere Zukunft bestimmt, New York Film Festival 2017, nominiert „Beste Dokumentation“ beim TV Festival Monte Carlo, „Science Film Festival“