Eckart von Hirschhausen (born 25 August 1967) is a German Doctor, talk show host and comedian.
Academic career
Born in Frankfurt, von Hirschhausen studied medicine, supported by a scholarship from the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (German Academic Scholarship Foundation), at the Free University of Berlin, the University of Heidelberg and the University of London. The subject of his doctoral thesis was 'Efficiency of intravenous immunoglobulin therapy on pigs in the hyperdynamic phase of endotoxemia' and he graduated magna cum laude from the University of Heidelberg. From 1996 to 1997, he studied scientific journalism at the Free University of Berlin, but without taking a degree.
Journalism and television
In 1996, von Hirschhausen started writing, mainly for Focus and Der Tagesspiegel. His first appearance on television is believed to have been as a guest contestant performing magic tricks in Jürgen von der Lippe's show Geld oder Liebe ('Money or Love'). From 1998 to 2003, he hosted the weekly health advisory show Service: Gesundheit ('Service: Health') on Hessischer Rundfunk Television. Since 2004 he has been a weekly contributor to Stern: Sprechstunde ("Stern: Consultation Hour"): his column is called Die Etwas Andere Medizinkolumne ("The Somewhat Different Medicine Column").
Since the mid-1990s, von Hirschhausen has performed as a stand-up comedian, show host and magician in variety. He is also a cabaret artist performing his own, and other, cabaret programmes. He was a guest artist in Berlin, in London and at the Cologne Comedy Festival 1997. Hirschhausen was also a member of the panels of contributors to the Knoff-Hoff-Show on ZDF and 7 Tage, 7 Köpfe ('7 days, 7 heads') on RTL. Since 21 January 2004, he has been answering viewers' questions in his column Dr. von Hirschhausen wills wissen ('Dr. von Hirschhausen wants to know') in the scientific television show W wie Wissen ('K for Knowledge') on ARD. In Hirschhausens Wissensbisse ('Hirschhausen's knowledge-bites') he also presents strange news and facts from the world of scientific research. Hirschhausen is a regular on the cabaret show Ottis Schlachthof ('Otti's Slaughterhouse') on Bayerisches Fernsehen and Quatsch Comedy Club on Pro Sieben. In 2007, he was a frequent guest on the ARD show 'Schmidt and Pocher'. He is also a speaker specialising in communication and motivational training.
