 He has held this post since 1 May 2001 when he took over from Moritz de Hadeln.Born in Pforzheim and raised in Ispringen, Dieter Kosslick studied Communication, Politics and Education at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.After receiving his master's degree, he stayed on at the university in the Bavarian capital as a research assistant before moving to Hamburg in 1979 to work as speechwriter and office administrator for the First Mayor of Hamburg Hans-Ulrich Klose and later as press spokesman for the "women's equality" unit.