NDR announcer Hanni Vanhaiden dies at 88, known for her oversized glasses

Death notice and conflicting ages

Hanni Vanhaiden, a former television announcer at the Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), died on 11 October 2026, according to a death notice published in the Hamburger Abendblatt. The notice ran on 24 October and can also be viewed on the portal Hamburgertrauer.de. Reports published on 25 October by Die Welt, Spiegel Online and NDR all give her age as 88. The 20 Minuten report, however, lists her life dates as 1942 to 2026, states that she was 84, and gives her birth name as Hümpel and her married name as Köchermann.

From ballet to the announcer's desk

Born in Hamburg, Vanhaiden danced from 1956 to 1967 in the ballet of the Hamburgische Staatsoper and became a soloist in her final year there. She then moved to the NDR, where she first announced the afternoon children's programme. NDR dates her rise to a wide audience as an on-air announcer to 1967, while Spiegel Online places her prominence in the 1970s. Announcers of that era introduced programmes and films with short commentary between broadcasts, a job that no longer exists in its earlier form. Her television career ended as the NDR gradually wound down its announcement service in the 2000s.

Glasses and a wider career

Her oversized glasses and white-blonde short haircut became her trademark. Articles describe her as the first announcer in Germany to go on air wearing glasses, and a 2023 retrospective recalled that in the 1970s customers at opticians could simply ask for a 'Hanni-Vanhaiden-Brille'. Beyond announcing, she presented the ARD children's show "Emm wie Meikel", the ARD consumer programme "ARD-Ratgeber: Technik" and the BBC German course "Deutsch Direkt". She appeared as a guest on the Rudi Carrell Show, Dalli Dalli and disco, and took small acting roles, including the 1974 NDR Tatort episode "Kneipenbekanntschaft", which also featured Udo Lindenberg. In the late 1970s she released the album "Nach Sendeschluss" and the single "Fernsehmelodie", recorded with film composer Martin Böttcher. She also lent her voice to several episodes of the audio play series "Die drei ???" and recorded fairy-tale plays for RCA Records in 1979.

Private life and remembrance

Vanhaiden married the actor Rainer Köchermann in 1963, and he died in 2004. She kept her private life largely out of public view. Her long-time colleague Heidrun von Goessel told Bild that the team had shared a happy time together.

“We had a cheerful time, and death hits us all very hard.”

The family and friends announced her death in the notice, which describes a fulfilled life and wishes her peace. People have lit online memorial candles for her on Hamburgertrauer.de.