Dr Hans-Peter Siebenhaar

Chief Writer and Member of the Editorial Board, Focus Money

Dr Hans-Peter Siebenhaar is chief writer and member of the editorial board at the business and finance magazine Focus Money in Munich since December 2022.

From December 2021 to December 2022, he worked as a freelance writer for Süddeutsche Zeitung, Manager Magazin, Table Media, and Focus.

In June 2021, he took on the role of Senior Vice President Communications at the Austrian energy group OMV in Vienna until December 2021. From July 2020 to April 2021, he worked as European correspondent for the business newspaper Handelsblatt in Brussels, reporting on EU economic and financial policy. From September 2013 to June 2021, he served as Handelsblatt's correspondent for Austria and Southeast Europe in Vienna, focusing on business, finance, and economic policy in countries such as Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Slovenia.

From September 2000 to August 2013, he worked as a media expert, editor, and later team leader in the Business & Markets department at Handelsblatt in Düsseldorf. He ran the blog “Mediawatcher” (2006–2011), founded and moderated the podcast “Bel Etage” (2006–2008), and wrote the weekly column “Medien-Kommissar” on Handelsblatt.com (2013–2019). For four decades, he has been publishing travel books with Michael Müller Verlag on destinations such as the Peloponnese, Corfu, Rhodes, Madrid, and Lake Constance.

After studying theater and communication sciences, sociology, and modern history at Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen-Nuremberg, Kalamazoo College (USA), and Universidad Complutense in Madrid (Spain), he earned his master's degree (M.A.) in 1989 and my doctorate (Dr. phil.) in political science from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in 1994.

From November 2015 to June 2021, he served as president of the Foreign Press Association in Vienna, a journalists' association with around 100 members from over 50 countries, organizing and moderating events such as the European Media Summit in Austria.

After stepping down as president, he became an honorary member of the Foreign Press Association in Vienna. In January 2026, he was elected to the board of the Munich Business Press Club, where he serves as secretary.