Born in 1940, in the former Sudeten region, he is a journalist, diplomat and writer. Between 1974 and 1978 he was Willy Brandt's press officer and editor of his speeches. In the eighties he collaborated as an author with the ARD and ZDF networks. Between 1998 and 2002 he held the position of Secretary of State with Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, being director of the press and information office. In 2004 he published his memoir Vom Glück nur ein Schatten, focusing on the years of flight and postwar childhood and which in 2011 were brought to the screen under the title Schicksalsjahre. In recent decades he has been actively engaged in the fight against racism and xenophobia, as well as in denouncing actions and states of opinion linked to extreme right-wing currents.