Born in Hanover in 1959 as the child of refugees from central Germany. Married, 5 children, 6 grandchildren
Studied history and political science at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg and the University of Oxford
Doctorate with a thesis on the role of the Länder in German European policy at the University of Oxford
Graduate of the Advanced Management Program at the IESE Business School in Barcelona
Journalistic work for the daily newspaper Die Welt as a freelance correspondent from Poland during the period of martial law, close contacts with opposition intellectuals in the GDR, the Polish trade union Solidarność and Charta 77 in Czechoslovakia. From 1988 to 1996 editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 1990 political correspondent in the GDR, 1991 political correspondent in Bonn, 1996 to 1998 managing editor of the Berliner Zeitung, 1998 to 2001 political correspondent of Focus in Bonn and Berlin. 2001 to 2003 head of the politics department and managing editor of Welt am Sonntag. 2003 to 2005 Media Research Institute Medientenor
2000 Publication of the first biography of Angela Merkel
In 2006, he invented and produced the video podcast of German Chancellor Angela Merkel
2004 to 2005 Deputy to the Chair of Journalism at Justus Liebig University Giessen, later lecturer at Alice Salomon University, Berlin and for many years lecturer at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder) and the IST University of Applied Sciences for Management in Düsseldorf
2012 to 2017 Managing Director of Christburg Campus Berlin (formerly Freie Evangelische Schulen Berlin)
2012 to 2023 Member of the Executive Board of the Evangelical Alliance in Germany, since 2023 Member of the Convention of the Evangelical Alliance in Germany
General Secretary of the Association of Protestant Denominational Schools and Daycare Centers since 2017
