TV cult figure Hermes Phettberg dies at the age of 72

Former TV presenter Hermes Phettberg has died at the age of 72. The host of the cult-alternative “Phettbergs Nette Leit Show” fell asleep quietly in a Vienna hospital on Wednesday, his friend and nurse Hannes Moser told the German Press Agency.

The stage name of the Austrian, who was born Hannes Fenz, referred to the physical size of the odd and clever TV personality, whose talk show ran on the public broadcaster ORF in the 1990s.

The self-confessed sadomasochist lived largely in seclusion after suffering several strokes. Until recently he published a column in the Viennese weekly newspaper “Falter”. In the most recent issue, Phettberg reported that he was in the hospital with pneumonia. “He was a friend, an eccentric, a writer, an intellectual, a satirist, a border crosser and, above all, a dear fellow human being,” wrote “Falter” editor-in-chief Florian Klenk on the Bluesky platform. (dab/sda/dpa)

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