Historical Figures

Uncomfortable and undeterred - the border crosser Günter Gaus

Günter Gaus was a journalist, politician and the first "permanent representative" of the Federal Republic in the GDR. With his interview series "Personal Information" he wrote a piece of television history.

by Carina Werner

Whether Hans Magnus Enzensberger or Jürgen Habermas, the year 1929 produced numerous personalities who shaped the Federal Republic. Günter Gaus is one of them. He was born on November 23, 1929 in Braunschweig. His parents run a fruit and vegetable shop there. The Second World War did not stop at the 15-year-old:Shortly before the end of the war he was drafted, had to dig trenches in Holland and roam the Braunschweig area with rocket-propelled grenades and pistols, but he experienced the war without "contact with the enemy".

Gaus starts his career at the "Badische Zeitung"

The journalist and politician Günter Gaus in 1974.

The Allies come to Braunschweig, and with them the post-war years. Günter Gaus does his Abitur and sits in on the "Braunschweiger Zeitung". Then he moves to Munich, to the journalism school there. "Being a journalist seemed like a mixture of the wide world, sophisticated private investigator, political arbiter and moderate bohemian," he later wrote in his autobiography. In 1952 he received his first post as an editor at the "Badische Zeitung", four years later he went to the "Deutsche Zeitung und Wirtschaftszeitung". He marries Erika Butzengeiger and has a daughter with her. The career of the political journalist developed rapidly:Courted by Rudolf Augstein, Günter Gaus became political editor of the "Spiegel" in Hamburg in 1958. Three years later he switched to the "Süddeutsche Zeitung".

The most famous back of Germany

Günter Gaus (right) in an interview with Berlin mayoral candidate Klaus Schütz in 1967.

At the beginning of the 1960s, the newly founded ZDF became aware of the exceptional young journalist. Günter Gaus received the offer to create his own series of interviews entitled "On the Person - Portraits in Questions and Answers". The first program was broadcast on April 10, 1963. The guest was Ludwig Erhard, Minister for Economic Affairs at the time. Even if titles and broadcasters (SWF, WDR, DFF, ORB) change over time, Günter Gaus has remained true to the series for over 40 years. "Looking back, I know that my television interviews were an essential part of my life," he writes in his memoirs.

Gaus conducts interviews with personalities from politics and culture

Günter Gaus interviewed over 250 personalities from politics, culture and science - from Franz Josef Strauss to Christian Klar, Hannah Arendt to Rudi Dutschke. His questions are sharp, analytical and sometimes so naive that they disarm some guests. "In fact, after almost every conversation, you have the feeling that you now know a person better, about whom you knew this or that; just as if you had read a differentiated biography," writes the weekly newspaper "Freitag". As an interviewer, Günter Gaus is a purist. The TV studio has a minimalist design. Only two people can be seen, sitting in armchairs, in front of a dark background. One of them, Günter Gaus, is only shown from behind, earning him the nickname of "German television's most famous backmind".

In 1965 Günter Gaus became program director for radio and television at the SWF. In 1969 he went back to "Spiegel", this time as editor-in-chief. In the years that followed, he became one of the most influential supporters of Willi Brandt's Ostpolitik, even without a party membership.

Negotiator at the Permanent Representation in East Berlin

Günter Gaus (left) signing the inner-German contract for the construction of the Hamburg-Berlin autobahn in 1978.

In 1973 the journalist entered the political arena:Günter Gaus was appointed the first "permanent representative" in East Berlin. This is "the most fascinating job I've ever had and that I can imagine," he later says. As the central negotiator, he succeeds in negotiating many innovations for German-German contacts. His merits include 17 agreements that, among other things, enable the construction of the Hamburg-Berlin autobahn and simplifications in transit traffic. The writer Christoph Hein characterizes Günter Gaus as "uncomfortable, unwavering and upright", not only in his interviews but also in the diplomatic negotiations. Through his work in East Berlin, Gaus gained deep insights into life in the GDR like no other West German. He likes a lot, especially that there are hardly any social hierarchies.

In 1976 Günter Gaus became a member of the SPD. After disagreements with the new chancellor, Helmut Schmidt, he was replaced in office in 1981. For a short time he was Senator for Science and Art in Berlin.

Thinking about his homeland Germany

In the 1980s, Günter Gaus wrote a series of books. Whether "Germany in June" or "Where Germany lies", the titles of his books already reveal how much his thinking revolves around his home country. "My father had found his life theme that would not let go of him until the end:love for his own country - and concern about where it is headed," writes his daughter Bettina Gaus, who has followed in her father's footsteps and now works as a political correspondent for the "tageszeitung".

Gaus is against a quick reunion

Günter Gaus is not one of those who became delirious with joy after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Again and again he warns not to rush the reorganization and not to let the unit degenerate into a "fair with free beer." Instead, he proposes founding a "Central European Confederation" with the two German states, Poland, the Czechoslovakia and Hungary, in which German-German relations can develop cautiously, but his suggestions are not listened to.

In 1990 Günter Gaus became co-editor of the leftist weekly newspaper "Freitag". He left the SPD after Chancellor Gerhard Schröder announced "unconditional solidarity" with the USA in autumn 2001.

Christa Wolf describes him as "decent" and "helpful"

While Günter Gaus was writing his memoirs, he fell ill with cancer. On May 14, 2004 he died in Reinbek near Hamburg, where he had lived for many years. He is buried in the Dorotheenstadt Cemetery in Berlin. In her obituary, his longtime friend Christa Wolf writes:"You have to use old-fashioned words for him:He was decent. He had civil courage. He was compassionate and helpful. He stood up for many a forgotten person behind the scenes. He was a noble person ."