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Claus Kleber is known as a news anchor on German television. However, his career began in a different field.
Mainz – Claus Kleber (69) is best known on TV as a former presenter and studio manager at the “heute journal” on ZDF. However, the journalist’s career path initially led him into a different field, where he even achieved titles that are probably unknown to most viewers.
Claus Kleber came to television via a detour
For almost 20 years, presenter Claus Kleber was one of the well-known faces who presented the news daily on ZDF, alongside his colleague Gundula Gause (59). He was there from 2003 to 2021, until 2009 he headed the Mainz studio for the news format and was even considered the best-paid German news presenter despite working freelance. Since January 2022, Claus Kleber’s colleague Christian Sievers (55) has been the main presenter of the ZDF “heute journal”, who even receives touching fan mail. Kleber only came to television in 1985, where he was allowed to report directly from Washington as an ARD correspondent the following year and later became studio manager there.
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Until he changed his field, the Reutlingen native worked in a different industry. What many viewers may never have heard: Claus Kleber has two titles, a professor and a doctorate, and his correct name is “Prof. Dr. Claus Kleber.” He earned both titles as part of his doctorate as a lawyer, because he had been practicing law until he changed his field. As a scholarship holder of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), he got a taste of the media world in 1984 with a research stay in the USA, which he enjoyed.
Claus Kleber has always been drawn to journalism
According to the DAAD, he actually “always wanted to be a journalist”. His career path proves him right: he has received several awards for his contributions, including the “Golden Camera” in 2013 and the Bavarian Television Award in 2015. After leaving ZDF, he is still involved in media work. Since 2015, he has been teaching as an honorary professor at the Institute for Media Studies at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen. He also publishes non-fiction books that deal, for example, with the USA as a world power.
Claus Kleber was the face of the “heute journal” on ZDF until 2021. He switched to journalism from another field. © IMAGO/Thomas Bartilla
Kleber has two children with his wife Renate (*1986 and *1988), and the family has adopted Wiesbaden as their home. His wife is the daughter of former football player Lothar “Lotze” Grziwok (96), who played for FC Bayern Munich as well as SSV Reutlingen. Another ZDF show recently made headlines because of its moody presenter. “Fernsehgarten” star Andrea Kiewel (59) was not in the best mood in the current episode. Sources used: Wikipedia, daad.de, gala.de
