Bernard Hammelburg

About Bernard Hammelburg

With more than forty years of experience, Bernard Hammelburg is a veteran in the world of communications, news and documentaries. As a war correspondent he was stationed in Vietnam, the Middle East, Africa and China, as an eyewitness to historical events such as the Six-Day War, the Yom Kipur War, the Chinese Cultural Revolution and the Islamic Revolution in Iran.
In 1979 he became a correspondent in the United States for Algemeen Dagblad, NOS and Flemish VRT. He was co-founder of Dateline Productions Inc., based in Amsterdam and New York, which focuses on the production of documentaries, concerts, international co-productions , providing communication training and advice, and developing program formats.
He produced and directed almost twenty documentaries and received the Dutch Academy Award for Enschede’s Sorrow, about the catastrophic explosion of a fireworks warehouse. For the American station Arts & Entertainment he produced Anne Frank, the last chapter, a globally distributed, revealing documentary about five previously missing text sheets from the famous diary. His documentary Aftermath, about 9/11, was distributed worldwide. In addition, he produced several concerts for PBS and American Public Television: Andiamo, Love from Italy, and Libera in Concert.
Hammelburg caused a great commotion when his interview with the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maxime Verhagen, about a possible extension of the mission in Afghanistan, led to the fall of the Dutch cabinet. He is a foreign affairs commentator and columnist at Financieele Dagblad and BNR Nieuwsradio, presenter of the weekly talk show BNR The World, host of the weekly America Podcast and a regular guest commentator in Dutch and foreign media.

Subjects:
His specialties are Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the United States, but also the role of the media in modern society, particularly since populist outlets have taken on the mainstream media. His comments on the current wars, the changing character of the United States and the rise of China are topics that attract large audiences. He is preparing a theatre tour in the months before the US elections in November 2024. He lives in Amsterdam and New York City.