Sandra Maischberger

Sandra Maischberger (born 25 August 1966) is a German journalist, talk show host, and author. She is the sister of German archeologist Martin Maischberger.
Born in Munich, Maischberger spent five years of her childhood in Frascati, near Rome, Italy and also grew up in Garching, near Munich. Her father was a physicist for the Max Planck Society and her mother was a tour guide. Her initial career choices while growing up were to become a veterinarian or a detective. From 1987 to 1989 she trained at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich School of Journalism. During that time, she started her career at the Bayerischer Rundfunk and has since been working for various television stations including Premiere, RTL, VOX, n-tv, and ARD.
Maischberger has written several books including Hand aufs Herz (an interview with Helmut Schmidt) and Die musst Du kennen — Menschen machen Geschichte, an encyclopaedia of the most prominent scientists, artists and politicians from classical times to the present.
Maischberger has been awarded numerous prizes, including the Golden Camera from the German magazine Hörzu for her Helmut Schmidt interview. Her husband is cameraman Jan Kerhart. After 12 years of marriage, their first child, son Samuel, was born on February 24, 2007. The family has homes in Hamburg and in Berlin. Maischberger likes to travel and also enjoys mountain climbing and diving. In 2008, she founded an organization called Vincentino, which helps expose underprivileged children to the arts through sponsoring cultural projects in schools. Moreover, she supports the work done by the Freya von Moltke Foundation and the Kreisau Initiative in the running of the New Kreisau in regards to the opportunities that are given to the younger population throughout Europe.
In 2001, Maischberger and many other famous Berliners took part in the street art activity Buddy Bear Berlin Show. The proceeds raised from auctioning many bears were given to several children’s and youth projects in Berlin. The bear designed by Maischberger in homage to the sculptures of Niki de Saint Phalle was auctioned in 2003 at Mercedes World at the Salzufer in Berlin. The total proceeds came to over € 171,000. Today, the bear can be found at the museum in Bad Pyrmont.

• Golden Camera
• 2000: Hanns-Joachim-Friedrichs-Award