Heinz Florian Oertel is dead. The best-known GDR sports journalist died on March 27 in Berlin. His family confirmed this to the German Press Agency on Wednesday. First the “image” had reported. Oertel was 95 years old.
The television and radio journalist, who received his doctorate in Leipzig in 1981, reported on 17 Olympic Games and eight soccer World Cups, among other things. He was considered a multi-talent of speaking and took his listeners with him into his emotional life. Oertel had a great deal of specialist and general knowledge and was not only fixated on sport. He acted as a moderator of television programs such as “Ein Kessel Buntes” and also hosted radio and television programs such as “He, he, he – Sport an der Spree”, “Schlager eines Große Stadt” and “Portrait by Telephone”.
His “Waldemar, Waldemar!” had made the reporter with the high forehead and the flowery language famous forever: with three concise sentences in nine seconds, Oertel set himself a monument on August 1, 1980 – unintentionally and unexpectedly. “Dear young fathers or prospective fathers – have courage! Feel free to call your newcomers today Waldemar! Waldemar is here!” For the second time since 1976, the native of Lausitz commentated on the Olympic gold race of marathon runner Waldemar Cierpinski in Moscow.
After the reunification, in December 1989, Oertel commented on the Bundesliga game between VfB Stuttgart and 1. FC Köln for Südwestfunk. He was the author and editor of numerous Olympia books and taught at universities in East and West.
Further source: “Bild.de”.
