Since the desired university study of history was not possible for financial reasons, Hörhager started as a trainee at the Vossische Zeitung in Berlin.
When this was discontinued after the National Socialists seized power, Hörhager went to Belgrade as a correspondent for the Graf Reischach newspaper service.
In this context, the Fort Kearney special camp in Rhode Island played a central role, and Hörhager's achievement was highlighted in a letter dated 1 December 1945 from Provost Marshal General of the Army Service Forces Archer L.
German newspapers that he represented there for many years are the Kölnische Rundschau, the Allgemeine Zeitung Mainz, the Rheinpfalz Ludwigshafen, the Südkurier in Konstanz as well as the St. Galler Tagblatt and the Luxemburger Wort.
He witnessed the Hungarian uprising of 1956 in Budapest, the Prague Spring of 1968 in what was then CSSR, as well as the numerous reform efforts and finally the disintegration of Yugoslavia.