Sabine Christiansen

Sabine Christiansen (born 20 September 1957) is a German journalist and television presenter.

Career

After finishing school in Preetz, Christiansen worked at Lufthansa from 1976 to 1982, then trained in journalism as an apprentice at the Norddeutscher Rundfunk in Hamburg until 1985. She ultimately became a regular presenter for the ARD's national TV news journal Tagesthemen, in rotation with Hanns Joachim Friedrichs (1987–1991) and Ulrich Wickert (1991–2004).

Upon leaving Tagesthemen in January 1998, Christiansen hosted her own eponymous talk show, Sabine Christiansen, which aired on Das Erste until 2007. Along with prominent German political and celebrity guests, Christiansen interviewed international political and business leaders including Bill Gates (1999, 2002), James Baker (2000), Enrique Barón Crespo (2000), Wolfgang Schüssel (2000), Tony Blair (2002), Jean-Claude Juncker (2003), Hillary Clinton (2003), Donald H. Rumsfeld (2003), Bill Clinton (2004), Kofi Annan (2004) and Condoleezza Rice (2004). In 2006, she visited President George W. Bush for an interview at the White House in Washington D.C.; it was the longest interview Bush gave to a foreign TV station during his presidency.

In addition, Christiansen moderated the TV election debates between Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and his challengers Edmund Stoiber (2002) and Angela Merkel (2005).

From 2006 until 2008, Christiansen hosted the 12-part series "Global Players with Sabine Christiansen", which aired around the world on CNBC. Donald H. Rumsfeld was the first guest of the show on 5 February 2006.