Biography

After his father was killed in the Second World War and the family was expelled, Nowottny lived in Westphalia. In the immediate post-war years, Nowottny initially worked as an interpreter for the British occupying forces. He then worked from 1948, first as a trainee and then as an editor for the "Freie Presse" in Bielefeld. In the 1950s he made a name for himself as a freelancer for various radio and television companies. In 1962, Nowottny joined the Saarland Radio, for which he was employed in Saarbrücken as head of the department for economic and social policy. Here in 1963 he was involved in founding the television series "The Market - Economy for Everyone", through which the journalist became known to a larger television audience for the first time.

In 1965, Nowottny was promoted to deputy editor-in-chief of Saarland Radio. Two years later he went to Bonn as deputy head of the WDR television studio, where he began working for the "Report from Bonn" series. In 1973, Nowottny was promoted to chief correspondent for ARD and head of the WDR studio in Bonn. In this role, he was remembered by the media as the presenter of the political series "Report from Bonn", of which he hosted 1,000 editions by 1985. Through his intensive reporting from the federal capital, coupled with irony and captivating humor, the correspondent, presenter and commentator became one of the best-known and most popular journalists in German television culture. In mid-1985, Nowottny handed over his duties in Bonn to his successor Ernst Dieter Lueg in order to move to Cologne as WDR director.

In 1989 he was re-elected for another six-year term as head of Germany's largest television company. In this role, Nowottny was able to defend the independence of WDR against an initiative by the CDU/CSU and FDP parliamentary groups, which was rejected in court in 1991. During his term of office, the TV offering was also expanded, with WDR becoming the first German television channel to broadcast a daily 24-hour program from the beginning of 1994. In addition to being director of WDR, he also served as chairman of ARD in 1991/92. In this role, he primarily pushed forward the merger of the broadcasters of the new federal states with ARD. Nowottny also prepared the merger of "Deutschlandfunk" in Cologne with "RIAS Berlin" and "Deutschlandsender Kultur" to form "Deutschlandradio".

In mid-1995, Nowottny handed over the role of WDR director to his successor Fritz Pleitgen. Nowottny's journalistic work has been recognized by numerous awards. In 1973 and 1982 the magazine "HörZu" awarded him the "Golden Camera". In 1986 he received the Federal Cross of Merit. In 2006 he was awarded the Honorary Prize of the Founders of the German Television Prize. In 2007 he made his debut as a talk show host when he took over pregnancy cover for Sandra Maischberger.

Friedrich Nowottny is married to Gisela Gück and has two children.
- IMDb mini biography by: Christian_Wolfgang_Barth