Famous People from Germany

99 notable historical figures from Germany, including leaders, artists, scientists, and other influential people.

Albert Einstein

1879 – 1955

German-born theoretical physicist (1879–1955)

Born March 14

Angela Merkel

1954 – Present

chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021 (born 1954)

Born July 17

Benedict XVI

1927 – 2022

265 th pope of the Catholic Church (2005–2013)

Born April 16

Rosa Luxemburg

1871 – 1919

Polish-German Marxist revolutionary (1871–1919)

Born March 5

Max Weber

1864 – 1920

German sociologist, philosopher, and political economist (1864–1920)

Born April 21

Hermann Hesse

1877 – 1962

Nobel Prize winning German-Swiss poet, novelist and painter (1877–1962)

Born July 2

Erwin Schrödinger

1887 – 1961

Austrian physicist (1887–1961)

Born August 12

Johannes Brahms

1833 – 1897

German composer (1833–1897)

Born May 7

Konrad Adenauer

1876 – 1967

German politician, Chancellor of West Germany (1949–1963), Zentrum and CDU

Born January 5

Joseph Goebbels

1897 – 1945

Nazi politician and Propaganda Minister (1897–1945)

Born October 29

Günter Grass

1927 – 2015

German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, and sculptor (1927-2015)

Born October 16

Rainer Maria Rilke

1875 – 1926

Austrian poet and writer (1875–1926)

Born December 4

Wilhelm II

1859 – 1941

as last King of Prussia German Emperor from 1888 to 1918 (1859–1941)

Born January 27

Helmut Kohl

1930 – 2017

Chancellor of West Germany and reunified Germany (1982–1998)

Born April 3

Sandra Bullock

1964 – Present

American actress and film producer

Born July 26

Herta Müller

1953 – Present

German-Romanian novelist, poet and essayist (born 1953)

Born August 17

Olaf Scholz

1958 – Present

German politician (SPD), ninth Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (2021–2025), Member of the Bundestag

Born June 14

Willy Brandt

1913 – 1992

German politician (SPD), chancellor of West Germany (1969–1974) and Nobel Peace Prize laureate

Born December 18

Erich Maria Remarque

1898 – 1970

German-born novelist (1898–1970)

Born June 22

Gerhard Schröder

1944 – Present

Chancellor of West Germany (1998–2005)

Born April 7

Franz Beckenbauer

1945 – 2024

German sports official and association football player (1945–2024)

Born September 11

Ursula von der Leyen

1958 – Present

President of the European Commission since 2019

Born October 8

Frank-Walter Steinmeier

1956 – Present

German politician, president of Germany since 2017

Born January 5

Johann Gottlieb Fichte

1762 – 1814

German philosopher (1762–1814)

Born May 19

Helmut Schmidt

1918 – 2015

Chancellor of West Germany (1974–1982)

Born December 23

Hermann Göring

1893 – 1946

German Nazi politician, military leader, and convicted war criminal (1893–1946)

Born January 12

Nelly Sachs

1891 – 1970

Jewish German poet and playwright (1891-1970)

Born December 10

Paul von Hindenburg

1847 – 1934

Prussian-German field marshal of the German Empire, statesman and president of Weimar Germany and Nazi Germany (1847–1934)

Born October 2

Clara Zetkin

1857 – 1933

Communist activist, and advocate for women's rights (1857–1933)

Born July 5

Erich Fromm

1900 – 1980

German sociologist and psychoanalyst (1900–1980)

Born March 23

Charles Bukowski

1920 – 1994

German-American writer (1920–1994)

Born August 16

Mesut Özil

1988 – Present

Turkish-German association football player

Born October 15

Theodor W. Adorno

1903 – 1969

German philosopher, sociologist and theorist (1903–1969)

Born September 11

Sebastian Vettel

1987 – Present

German racing driver

Born July 3

Wassily Kandinsky

1866 – 1944

avant-garde painter of Russian origin (1866-1944)

Born December 4

Maria Goeppert Mayer

1906 – 1972

German-born American theoretical physicist (1906-1972)

Born June 28

Kirsten Dunst

1982 – Present

American actress (born 1982)

Born April 30

Miroslav Klose

1978 – Present

German professional football manager and former player

Born June 9

Philipp Lenard

1862 – 1947

German physicist (1862-1947)

Born June 7

Jürgen Habermas

1929 – 2026

German sociologist and philosopher (1929-2026)

Born June 18

Torsten Haß

1970 – Present

German librarian and author (born 1970)

Born November 21

Erich Honecker

1912 – 1994

former leader of East Germany, General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party (1976-1989)

Born August 25

Karl Jaspers

1883 – 1969

German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher (1883–1969)

Born February 23

Manuel Neuer

1986 – Present

German association football player

Born March 27

Joachim Gauck

1940 – Present

German Protestant pastor and politician, Federal President of Germnay 2012–2017 (born 1940)

Born January 24

Friedrich Merz

1955 – Present

German politician, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany

Born November 11

Horst Köhler

1943 – 2025

German politician (CDU); president of Germany, 2004–2010

Born February 22

Max von Laue

1879 – 1960

German physicist, Nobel laureate and anti-Nazi (1879–1960)

Born October 9

Adolf Eichmann

1906 – 1962

German-Austrian SS officer and one of the major organizers of the Holocaust (1906–1962)

Born March 19

Christian Wulff

1959 – Present

10th German Federal President

Born June 19

Gottlob Frege

1848 – 1925

German philosopher, logician, and mathematician (1848–1925)

Born November 8

Leni Riefenstahl

1902 – 2003

German filmmaker (1902–2003)

Born August 22

Gerd Müller

1945 – 2021

German association football player (1945–2021)

Born November 3

Richard Strauss

1864 – 1949

German composer and orchestra director (1864–1949)

Born June 11

Wilhelm Wundt

1832 – 1920

German physician, physiologist, philosopher and professor (1832-1920)

Born August 16

Ludwig Erhard

1897 – 1977

Chancellor of West Germany (1963–1966)

Born February 4

Lukas Podolski

1985 – Present

German association football player (born 1985)

Born June 4

Oswald Spengler

1880 – 1936

German historian and philosopher (1880-1936)

Born May 29

Alfred Wegener

1880 – 1930

German climatologist and geophysicist (1880–1930)

Born November 1

Walter Gropius

1883 – 1969

German-American architect (1883–1969)

Born May 18

Joachim von Ribbentrop

1893 – 1946

German Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany (1893–1946)

Born April 30

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

1886 – 1969

German architect (1886–1969)

Born March 27

Karl Dönitz

1891 – 1980

German admiral and former president of Nazi Germany in 1945 (born 1891-1980)

Born September 16

Johannes Stark

1874 – 1957

German physicist (1874-1957)

Born April 15

Herbert Marcuse

1898 – 1979

German philosopher, sociologist, and political theorist (1898–1979)

Born July 19

Lothar Matthäus

1961 – Present

German association football player, manager, and pundit (born 1961)

Born March 21

Richard von Weizsäcker

1920 – 2015

President of Germany from 1984 to 1994

Born April 15

Hermann von Helmholtz

1821 – 1894

German physicist and physiologist (1821-1894)

Born August 31

Jürgen Klopp

1967 – Present

German association football manager (born 1967)

Born June 16

Arnold Schoenberg

1874 – 1951

Austrian-Jewish American composer (1874-1951)

Born September 13

Albert Speer

1905 – 1981

German Nazi architect, Government Minister of Armaments and War Production for Nazi Germany and convicted Nazi War Criminal (1905–1981)

Born March 19

Gustav Stresemann

1878 – 1929

German politician, statesman, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1878-1929)

Born May 10

Arno Allan Penzias

1933 – 2024

German-born American physicist

Born April 26

Heinrich Mann

1871 – 1950

German writer (1871–1950)

Born March 27

Oliver Kahn

1969 – Present

German association football player (born 1969)

Born June 15

Friedrich Ebert

1871 – 1925

German politician, president of Germany (1871-1925)

Born February 4

Michael Ballack

1976 – Present

German association football player (born 1976)

Born September 26

Walther Bothe

1891 – 1957

German physicist, mathematician and chemist (1891-1957)

Born January 8

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

1906 – 1945

German Lutheran pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident (1906–1945)

Born February 4

Christoph Waltz

1956 – Present

Austrian and German actor

Born October 4

Martin Buber

1878 – 1965

German Jewish Existentialist philosopher and theologian (1878–1965)

Born February 8