The German Way: Life in Austria, Germany, Switzerland
Famous People

This index of names includes people from the German-speaking countries who have played a significant role in world history in the areas of politics, science, the arts, and technology.


A-B-C | D-E-F | G-H-I | J-K-L | M-N-O
P-Q-R | S-T | U-V | W-X-Y-Z | Links | Index

Also see
The German-Hollywood Connection

New and Featured Biographies

  • Harmut Esslinger - The legendary German-American industrial designer who helped Steve Jobs design the Apple IIc and the Mac SE.
  • African Americans and Germany - US black history connections
  • Hans J. Massaquoi (1926- ) German-born former editor of Ebony magazine
  • Steffi Graf - German tennis star Stefanie Maria Graf shared the world tennis stage with fellow German Boris Becker until they both retired in 1999.
  • Dirk Nowitzki - German star of the NBA Dallas Mavericks
  • Contemporary German Authors and their works (German literature in the original and in English translation)
  • Martin Kaymer (1984- ) - Pro golfer once ranked world's No. 1 (Feb.-April 2011)
  • Max Raabe - The singer of 1920s classics and his Palast Orchester tour Germany and the world.
  • Walter Gropius (1883-1969) founded the futuristic Bauhaus school of design in 1919.

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A-B-C

  • Konrad Adenauer (1876-1967) First chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.
  • African Americans and Germany - US black history connections
  • Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915)
  • Ursula Andress (1936- ) Swiss actress, Honey Ryder
    in Dr. No (1962), the first James Bond film
  • Arminius (Hermann der Cherusker)
  • Nadja Auermann (1970- )
  • Rudolf Augstein (1923-2002) - German co-founder of the news magazine Der Spiegel in Hanover in 1947 (based in Hamburg since 1952). Noted for his efforts to make German politics more transparent, Augstein was jailed for 103 days as a result of the “Spiegel affair” (1961-62) that forced the resignation of Franz Josef Strauß as German defense minister.
  • Andreas Baader (1943-1977) of the infamous Baader-Meinhof gang.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
  • Michael Ballhaus (1935- ) German cinematographer
  • Albert Ballin (1857-1918) Shipping magnate (Hapag)
  • Karl Baedeker (1801-1859) created the first tourist guidebooks.
  • Franz Beckenbauer (1945- ) - “Kaiser Franz” (Emperor Franz) is a German football (soccer) hero (world champion in 1974) who went on to coach the German national team to victory in 1990.
  • Boris Becker (1967- ) - Former German tennis champ of the 1980s and '90s. Also see: Steffi Graf and Sports in Germany
  • Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
  • Peter Behrens (1868-1940)
  • Karl Benz (1844-1929) and Gottfried Daimler (1834-1900) - Co-inventors of the automobile
  • Heinrich Berger (1844-1929) - Berlin-born musician and leader of the Royal Hawaiian Band in Honolulu.
    See: The German/Austrian-Hawaii Connection (blog)
  • Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898) and Prussia
  • Roy Black (1943-1991) - Famous German singer and pop star of the "Golden '60s" (real name: Gerhard Höllerich). His early death at 48 made him a legend.
  • Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) - Protestant theologian famous for his resistance to the Third Reich. As early as 1933 he was speaking out publicly against Hitler and the Nazi regime. He was arrested by the Gestapo in April 1943 and spent time in various concentration camps. He was executed by the Nazis on April 9, 1945, shortly before the end of the war.
  • Robert Bosch (1861-1942) - German entrepreneur whose top-notch automotive spark plugs (1897) helped him build Robert Bosch GmbH into one of Germany's largest companies.
  • Willy Brandt (1913-1992) - German chancellor, mayor of West Berlin
  • Wernher von Braun (1912-1977) Rocket scientist
  • Martin Buber (1878-1965)
  • Elias Canetti (1905-1994) - German-language author, philosopher; Nobel Prize for literature in 1981.
  • Charlemagne (Karl der Große, 742-814)

D-E-F

G-H-I

Famous Graves in Germany
Where are they buried?

Also see
The German-Hollywood Connection
Find a famous person poster!
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J-K-L

Visit Art.com

M-N-O

  • Ernst Mach (1838-1916) Austrian scientist (mach speed)
  • Thomas Mann (1875-1955) German author
  • Karl Marx (1818-1883) and the Communist Manifesto
  • Hans J. Massaquoi (1926- ) US black history + Germany
  • Kurt Masur (1927- ) - East German orchestra conductor (Gewandhausorchester, Leipzig) who also headed the New York Philharmonic from 1991 to 2002. Masur supported anti-government demonstrators in the period leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
  • Karl May (1842-1912) German writer of westerns and adventure stories
  • Ulrike Marie Meinhof (1934-1976) German terrorist (Baader-Meinhof)
  • Lise Meitner (1878-1968) - Austrian physicist
  • Phillip Melanchthon (Phillip Schwartzerd, 1497-1560)
  • H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) German-American writer
  • Ottmar Mergenthaler (1854-1899)
  • Angela Merkel (1954- ) German chancellor (since 2005)
  • Franz Johann Mesmer (1734-1815)
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
  • F.W. Murnau (1888-1931) - German film director
       Gravesite > Murnau’s Grave
  • Thomas Nast (1840-1902) German-American cartoonist
  • Nena (Susanne Kerner, 1961- ) German singer
  • Richard Josef Neutra (1892-1970)
  • Helmut Newton (1921-2004) German fashion photographer
  • Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
  • Amalie Emmy Noether (1882-1935) - Influential German Jewish mathematician (born in Erlangen, Bavarian) known for her groundbreaking contributions to abstract algebra and theoretical physics. In 1933 she left Göttingen and accepted a position at Bryn Mawr in Pennsylvania. She died of cancer in the US in April 1935.
  • Dirk Werner Nowitzki (1978- ) - German-born NBA basketball star with the Dallas Mavericks. Born and raised in Würzburg, Dirk Nowitzki ("Dirkules") is the first German/European player to be voted MVP in the NBA (2007 and 2011). More...
  • Auma Obama (1960- ) is the president's half-sister.
  • Georg Simon Ohm (1789-1854)
  • Adam Opel (1837-1895) German founder of the company that bears his name
  • Carl Orff (1888-1931) - German composer
       Gravesite > Orff’s Grave
  • Jesse Owens and the 1936 Berlin Olympics

    • Also see:
  • Women - Power-Frauen from Austria, Germany, Switzerland

P-Q-R

Famous Graves in Germany
Where are they buried?

Also see
The German-Hollywood Connection

S-T

U-V

W-X-Y-Z

NEXT > Famous People 1

MORE > Famous Women from Austria, Germany, Switzerland

MORE > Famous Graves in Germany - Where are they buried?

Also see
The German-Hollywood Connection
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