Waldemar Hartmann

Waldemar Hartmann was born in 1948 in Nuremberg, Germany. After completing a newspaper traineeship in Augsburg, he joined Bayerischer Rundfunk in Munich, where he initially worked in radio as a presenter and reporter covering politics and current affairs. In the mid-1980s, he transitioned into sports broadcasting, and for ARD he covered ten Olympic Games, was front and center at eight Football World and European Championships, and became a familiar face at World Championships in Nordic and Alpine skiing, as well as biathlon. Together with Harald Schmidt, he celebrated major ratings success with “Waldi und Harry”, a much-loved mix of sports and entertainment. Since the "Summer Fairytale" of 2006, he hosted “Waldis Club” after German national football matches, offering witty and engaging football analysis alongside celebrity guests on ARD. In 2009, he launched his own cabaret-style stage show titled “Born to be Waldi”, which even drew praise from the cultural press (Feuilleton). His autobiography, “Dritte Halbzeit” (The Third Half), was published by Heyne in 2013. Der SPIEGEL praised it in its bestseller list as: "gritty, honest, and entertaining."