Maiwald is one of the founders of the award-winning German children's television program, Die Sendung mit der Maus.

[2] From decades of narrating the program's educational film shorts (Sachgeschichten), Maiwald's voice is widely recognized[3] even when he merely orders a cup of coffee[4] or a beer.

Maiwald was previously the director of other children's programs, Der Spatz vom Wallrafplatz and Robbi, Tobbi und das Fliewatüüt[6] as well as the first episodes of the puppet series, Hallo Spencer.

[7] He has also created the Bibliothek der Sachgeschichten (library of educational film shorts) from his productions for "The Mouse".

[3][16] They found black-and-white photos from the past and located the sites, shooting them in color as they looked years later.

[5] At one point, his mother was nearly shot—with Maiwald and his sister standing right there—when American soldiers found her with a photo of her husband, in Nazi uniform.

[5] In the aftermath of the war, life was a daily struggle for survival, of finding food, shelter, clothing, water and fuel.

Books were banned because of denazification, so the teacher wrote everything on a board in front of the room and the children used erasable tablets to copy everything down.

[5] To this day, he always goes to bed with a set of clothing within reach, because it was so ingrained in him as a child, the necessity of being prepared to leave home at a moment's notice.

For Maiwald and other German children born during the 1940s, "normal life" was forced evacuations hundreds of kilometers from home, makeshift clothing and furniture, and food from CARE Packages.

Appearing on WDR's program, Streitfall, during which the discussion was on European Union laws to protect non-smokers, he stated that it was better to smoke than to be fat.