Heribert Prantl

Early life and family

Prantl was born in Nittenau in Bavaria on 30 July 1953. A stipendiary of the Catholic "Cusanuswerk", he studied law, philosophy and history at the University of Regensburg and earned his juris doctor. Afterwards he studied journalism and worked as a judge as well as a public prosecutor.

Prantl lives together with journalist Franziska Augstein.

Work as a journalist

In 1988, Prantl started working for the Süddeutsche Zeitung in the department for domestic policy with focus on legal policy. In 1992 he was promoted to deputy head of the department and 1995 he became the head of the department where he works until today.

Considered a social liberal by many, Prantl has achieved a reputation of being a defender of a liberal and cosmopolitan society that respects the basic rights of all people.

Other work

Apart from his work as a journalist, Prantl is a critically acclaimed author of political commentary, especially concerning basic liberties and the rule of law. He also appears often on ARD radio stations as a commentator for current domestic affairs.

Prantl is also a lecturer for journalism at the Akademie für Publizistik in Hamburg and at the Institut zur Förderung publizistischen Nachwuchses in Munich as well as a member of the PEN center of Germany. Since 2002 he is lecturer for law at the University of Bielefeld and since 2004 he is on the advisory board of "Pro Justitia".

In addition, Prantl hold the following honorary positions:

Awards