Biographie
She grew up in her hometown and attended school there until 1976, graduating from high school. She then worked as a stewardess for Lufthansa for seven years. She got her start in the media in 1983 with a traineeship at Norddeutscher Rundfunk in Kiel and Hamburg. Christiansen then became a business editor at NDR, where she also presented the "Hamburg-Journal" from 1985 to 1987. In August 1987, shortly before she turned 30, she was appointed co-presenter of "Tagesthemen" alongside Hans Joachim Friedrichs, succeeding Ulrike Wolf.
Here Christiansen became a recognized presenter, who was particularly noticeable for her objectivity-driven style and was promoted to "Miss Tagesthemen". For her journalistic achievements she received the "Golden Camera" from "HÖRZU" and the "Bavarian Television Prize" in 1993. In September 1993, her six-part report series "Report: Sabine Christiansen", produced by WDR, began. A year later her book was published: "Hope has many faces - encounters from Tibet to Sicily" (second edition 1995). In the book, the television reports on Tibet, Sicily, Guatemala, Los Angeles, Burma and Lebanon are joined by reports on Romania, Kenya and Belfast.
In 1995, Christiansen received the "Special Honor" from the Adolf Grimme Institute, the highest honor the institute can bestow. The reasoning was that her "presentation of the daily topics is particularly impressive due to her excellent mastery of the journalistic craft and her exceptional stylistic confidence." In 1995 Christiansen married Theo Baltz. The marriage was divorced at the beginning of 2003. In September 1997, Christiansen made the decision to finally leave the "Tagesthemen" and create his own program format. This was launched on January 4, 1998 under the name "Sabine Christiansen".
The Sunday talk show, designed between information and entertainment, established itself within a very short time and, with an average of more than four million viewers, was one of the most successful formats on German television. The political talker made her film debut on January 4, 2004: Christiansen played herself in "Tatort". In the public debate about the social significance of neo-Nazi parties such as the NPD and DVU, which were significant in the state elections of September 2004 in Brandenburg and Saxony After winning votes, Christiansen spoke out clearly against inviting right-wing radical politicians to her talk show.
She moderated a chancellor duel with Maybrit Illner twice: in 2002 between Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and his challenger Edmund Stoiber, and in 2005 between Schröder and Angela Merkel. As a Unicef ambassador, in connection with the flood disaster in South Asia at the turn of the year 2004/05, she also increasingly campaigned for aid programs for the benefit of the numerous children who had lost their families and homes as a result of the seaquake. In May 2006 she conducted the first interview with US President George W. Bush on German television. In June 2006, Sabine Christiansen announced that she would give up her political talk show in 2007 and move to Paris for personal reasons.
On June 24, 2007, she hosted her last show "Sabine Christiansen" on ARD after 447 episodes. Anne Will took over this format on September 16, 2007. On June 30, 2008, she married the textile manufacturer Norbert Medus in Paris. Medus is divorced and has two children.
