Entertainment

Dr. Peter Frey, born in 1957, served as Editor-in-Chief of ZDF from 2010 to 2022. On the program heute journal, he regularly provided commentary on national and international politics. He hosted numerous shows, including Berlin direkt, auslandsjournal, and ZDF-Morgenmagazin, and, together with Bettina Schausten, interviewed all key figures in German politics as part of the series Was nun? (What Now?). Since the 1990s, he conducted 48 interviews with Angela Merkel. Highlights of his television career include the coverage of Barack Obama’s election as U.S. President, the elections and funerals of Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis, as well as the ceremonies surrounding the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Frey also served as a correspondent in Washington and authored the book Von Bagdad nach St. Petersburg, published by Hoffmann und Campe. He began his journalistic career in his early twenties at Südwestfunk radio and for the newspaper Die Zeit, where one of his first features was a report on the writer Anna Seghers and her novel The Seventh Cross. Between 1978 and 1986, he studied political science, Romance studies, and education in Mainz and Madrid, earning a doctorate on Spain’s accession to the European Union. As Editor-in-Chief, Frey actively engaged in dialogue with viewers and critics of public broadcasting. Since his retirement, he has been involved in German-Polish initiatives.