Gerd Ruge
The reporter legend has died
In 2014, Federal President Joachim Gauck awarded Gerd Ruge the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany at Bellvue Palace in Berlin.
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Mourning for Gerd Ruge. The Hamburg reporter legend died on Friday at the age of 93 in Munich.
The reporter legend Gerd Ruge (1928-2021) died on Friday. “On the evening of October 15, 2021 the long-time WDR journalist and renowned ARD correspondent Gerd Ruge died at the age of 93 in Munich”, reports the WDR.
“Gerd Ruge was one of the great reporter personalities of the first hour. Profound analyzes, precise interviews and the ability to explain complex contexts in an easily understandable way – that made him stand out. He was a valuable witness to important political events at home and abroad,” says WDR -Intendant and ARD chairman Tom Buhrow on his deceased colleague. And he adds: “His numerous foreign reports and travel reports will remain unforgettable. The audience loved him for that.” For many subsequent generations of journalists, Ruge was a role model and orientation. “I will miss his personable and humble manner,” said Buhrow.
From Cologne to Siberia and back
Gerd Ruge was born on August 9, 1928 in Hamburg. He began his professional career in 1949 as an editor at what was then Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk in Cologne. From 1956 he was ARD correspondent in Moscow, from 1964 America and Washington correspondent. Ruge headed the political magazine “Monitor”, founded and headed the “Weltspiegel”, hosted a talk show (3sat) and was editor-in-chief at WDR television for two years.
On September 1, 1993 he retired and continued to work as a freelance journalist. His popular travel reports “Gerd Ruge on the road (in Siberia, China, etc.)” originated from this time.
Gerd Ruge was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class and received many important awards, including three Grimme Prizes and the Hanns Joachim Friedrichs Prize. Since 2002, the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW has been awarding the “Gerd Ruge Scholarship”, endowed with 100,000 euros, once a year.
He leaves behind a daughter and a son
Gerd Ruge got married three times, as the “Tagesschau” writes in its obituary. He lived with his wife Irmgard Eicher in Munich until her death in 2021 and in Cyprus for two months a year. His son, diplomat Boris Ruge (born 1962), and his daughter, publisher Elisabeth Ruge (born 1960), come from his first marriage to Fredeke Gräfin von der Schulenburg (1934-2010).