Overview

• His daughter, Fenn Troller, confirmed he died early Saturday, 27 September, in Paris at the age of 103.
• Across roughly 2,000 interviews and more than 170 films, he introduced a distinctive “human touch” that centered people’s lives without sensationalism.
• He created landmark formats including WDR’s Pariser Journal (1962–1971) and ZDF’s Personenbeschreibung (1972–1993), which set new standards for television portraits.
• Born in Vienna in 1921, he fled Nazi persecution in 1938, later served in the US Army, and took part in the 1945 liberation of the Dachau concentration camp.
• Condolences praised his legacy, with President Frank‑Walter Steinmeier calling him a great journalist and documentarian; WDR and ZDF leaders also lauded his influence as he wrote a monthly Literarische Welt column until late in life.