Rostock (dpa/mv) – The television captain Gerd Peters, known to millions of viewers in the GDR, is dead. As a family friend told the German Press Agency on Friday, Peters died in Rostock on Thursday shortly after his 89th birthday.
Born in Berlin in 1934, Peters trained as a steel shipbuilder, but then decided on a military career as a naval officer. In the 1960s he switched to civil shipping. As a nautical officer, later as a captain, he sailed, among other things, on the vacation ship of the GDR trade union FDGB, “Friendship of Nations”.
From 1972 onwards, Gerd Peters worked more frequently for radio and television, but remained employed at Deutsche Seerederei. In the “Stammtisch der Fahrensleute” he chatted about seafaring on GDR radio and later moderated the television program “Musik und Snacks vorm Hafen”, which was produced in Rostock.
In his mid-fifties, Peters left the shipping company and worked as a journalist and author. His books were published by Hinstorff-Verlag in Rostock. “With Gerd Peters we are losing a renowned author who is valued above all else. His books, in which he reported on the life of the drivers with great expertise and fine humor, found a large audience,” a publisher spokeswoman said in recognition of Peters’ work.
