| Eduard Zimmermann | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 4, 1929 Munich, Germany |
| Died | September 19, 2009 (aged 80) Munich, Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Occupation | Journalist, Television Presenter |
Eduard Zimmermann (4 February 1929 – 19 September 2009) was a German journalist, television presenter and security expert.
Following the Second World War the man who would later be known as a 'criminal hunter' and 'crook's bane' eked out a living as a thief and black market trader, for which he served a sentence at Fuhlsbüttel Prison. With a false identity and diploma he finally found work as a roadworks engineer in Sweden.
Zimmermann returned to the Soviet occupation zone in Germany on an assignment for Dagens Nyheter newspaper. There he was charged with espionage in 1950 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He served five years of his sentence in Bautzen and was released early on 17 January 1954 under the Viermächtekonferenz (Conference of the Four Powers).
Subsequently he worked as a journalist and editor at NDR and ZDF.
From 20 October 1967 to 24 October 1997 Zimmermann presented 300 episodes of the ZDF TV series Aktenzeichen XY... ungelöst (File Sign XY … Unsolved), as well as 180 episodes from 1964 to 1997 of Vorsicht Falle! - Nepper, Schlepper, Bauernfänger (Beware, Trap! - Scammers, Hustlers, Conmen). He then retired from the television business and maintained an Internet security portal in co-operation with ZDF.
Zimmermann was a co-founder of Weißer Ring e.V. (White Ring), an organisation that assists victims of crimes, and was its chairman for many years.
On the occasion of Aktenzeichen XY's hundredth episode on October 1977 Zimmermann received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany on ribbon, and was later awarded the Order of Merit First Class. In 1982 he received the Humanitarian Award of the German Freemasons.
Zimmermann himself revealed his past as a criminal in 2005 through his autobiography, titled Auch ich war ein Gauner (I was a crook too). In a newspaper interview he said that the time had made him tough:
| “ | "You might say I am living proof that one can come back down from the crooked tracks if that's really wanted." | ” |
He died on 19 September 2009 in Munich.