Paul Ronzheimer (born 26 July 1985 in Aurich) is a German journalist and author and serves as the Deputy Editor-in-Chief and a war and crisis correspondent for Bild.[1] Additionally, he is the cross-brand journalistic face for Axel Springer, reporting for various outlets including Welt TV and Politico in addition to BILD. Since August 2023, he hosts a weekly podcast titled "RONZHEIMER.", where he discusses his work, particularly in crisis zones such as Ukraine and Israel, and engages in discussions with prominent guests from politics and journalism about global issues.
Ronzheimer lived in his childhood in East Frisia. He went to Gymnasium Ulricianum in Aurich. After school he worked as journalist for newspaper Emder Zeitung. Since 2008 Ronzheimer works as journalist for the German tabloid Bild.[2] In 2015 he covered the Syrian refugee crisis, live-steaming interviews as he traveled with refugees across Europe.[3] As war correspondent he was in Ukraine, Libya, Turkey, Syria, Afghanistan and in Iraq.[4]
Among his interview partners are Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Benjamin Netanyahu, Angela Merkel, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Viktor Orbán, Andrzej Duda, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and others.
Paul Ronzheimer is a regular guest on all major German political talk shows on television.
Ronzheimer, who is openly gay, evoked attention in 2019 when he asked Iranian politician Mohammad Javad Zarif at a press conference during a trip abroad by former German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas why homosexuals were being executed in Iran.[5]
As of February/March 2022. Ronzheimer is as war correspondent in Kyiv during 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[6] [7] In March 2022 Ronzheimer interviewed in exclusive talks Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy[8] [9] and also Klitschko brothers in Kyiv.[10]
In May 2022, the weekly newspaper Die Zeit referred to Ronzheimer as "one of the most globally renowned war reporters." In 2022, prior to the awarding of the German Television Award, several voices criticized that despite his widely received coverage, he was not on the shortlist for "Journalist of the Year".
In 2023 he was awarded “Journalist of the Year 2022” by the trade journal Medium Magazin.
In 2024 his weekly podcast has been nominated for the German Podcast Award. In March 2024 he conducted one of the first interviews of the year with Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which has been quoted internationally. In April he conducted a world exclusive interview with Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the Russian offensive in the Ukraine war.