52.5167° N, 13.3817° E

BERLIN

Most Famous People Born in Berlin, Germany

Notable people
15,664
Peak decade
1930s
Median birth year
1921
Most distinctive
Author 3.6×

A city where the 20th century happened twice. Berlin's notables are heavily clustered between the 1880s and the 1930s, then again from the 1960s onward — a shape that maps almost exactly onto Weimar collapse, division, and reunification. Authors, academics, chemists, physicists, and mathematicians dominate the older half; the younger half tilts toward actors, painters, and the film and historian trades of a rebuilt European capital.

Through the Centuries

One face per century — the most globally famous figure born in Berlin during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1930s with 1,548 notable births.

What Berlin Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Actor is Berlin's biggest profession — 12% of all notables (1,953).

Berlin over-indexes on author3.6× the global rate.

Berlin under-produces football — only 0.2× the global rate.

  1. Actor1,953
  2. Politician1,573
  3. Painter629
  4. Writer585
  5. Author491
  6. Academic474
  7. Football395
  8. Lawyer313
  1. Author4913.6×
  2. Chemist1673.1×
  3. Academic4743.0×
  4. Physicist1852.8×
  5. Actor1,9532.4×
  6. Mathematician1622.1×
  7. Historian3051.8×
  8. Sculptor1801.8×
  1. Football3950.2×
  2. Singer1910.6×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Berlin's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

15001550160016501700175018001850190019502000
  • Film & TV
  • Writing
  • Politics & Law
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Art & Design
  • Other
All15,664
Sort By

Showing 52 of 15,664 notable people

0024 MONARCH

Frederick William II of Prussia

1744 - 1797

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0049 ZOOLOGIST

Peter Simon Pallas

1741 - 1811

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0427 PAINTER

Johann Sebastian Bach (painter)

1748 - 1778

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0768 PHILOSOPHER

Markus Herz

1747 - 1803

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0957 SON

Prince Henry of Prussia (1747–1767)

1747 - 1767

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0970 PRINCESS

Adelheid Amalie Gallitzin

1748 - 1806

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1883 CARTOGRAPHER

Friedrich Wilhelm Carl von Schmettau

1743 - 1806

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2106 ACTOR

Gustav Friedrich Wilhelm Großmann

1746 - 1796

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2433 COMPOSER

Francesco Petrini

1744 - 1819

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2519 PRINCESS

Princesse Moustache

1744 - 1837

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2637 ENGRAVER

Daniel Berger (engraver)

1744 - 1825

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2934 WRITER

Christian Wilhelm Kindleben

1748 - 1785

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3465 AUTHOR

Christoph Euler

1743 - 1808

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4058 MUTTER

Marie-Elisabeth von Humboldt

1741 - 1796

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4188 DIPLOMAT

Leopold Heinrich von der Goltz

1746 - 1816

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4272 COMPOSER

Johann Friedrich Ernst Benda

1749 - 1785

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4765 POLITICIAN

Friedrich Leopold von Kircheisen

1749 - 1825

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4925 WRITER

Louis-Frédéric Ancillon

1740 - 1814

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5094 MILITARY

Leopold Alexander von Wartensleben (1745-1822) —

1745 - 1822

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5363 RABBI

Eleazar Heilbut

1744 - 1814

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5735 GARDENER

Jean David Bouché

1747 - 1819

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5998 THEOLOGIAN

Peter Villaume

1746 - 1825

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6239 WRITER

Friederike Helene Unger

1741 - 1813

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6766 PARSON

Johannes Jaenicke

1748 - 1827

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6931 AUTHOR

Sophie Wilhelmine Scheibler

1749 - 1829

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7375 ENTREPRENEUR

Benjamin Veitel Ephraim

1742 - 1811

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8852 PHYSICIAN

François Verdeil

1747 - 1832

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8967 ENTOMOLOGIST

Karl Ludwig Gronau

1742 - 1826

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9238 ENTREPRENEUR

Liepmann Meyer Wulff

1745 - 1812

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9815 PLAYER

Carl Ludwig Bachmann

1743 - 1809

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9887 JÄGER

David von Splitgerber

1741 - 1826

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9909 LIEUTENANT

Friedrich Heinrich Ferdinand Leopold von Forcade de Biaix

1747 - 1808

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10020 SCULPTOR

Heinrich Bettkober

1746 - 1809

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10886 LEUTNANT

Karl Ludwig Bogislav von Goetze

1743 - 1806

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11057 POLITICIAN

Christian von Dönhoff

1742 - 1803

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11186 BOOKSELLER

Johann Karl Philipp Spener

1749 - 1827

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11552 SCULPTOR

Constantin Philipp Georg Sartori

1747 - 1812

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12041 OFFICER

Joachim Friedrich Wilhelm von Oppen

1747 - 1815

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12353 MISSING

Madame Du Titre

1748 - 1827

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12436 POLITICIAN

Johann Friedrich von Seegebarth

1747 - 1823

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12473 ACTOR

Johann David Reinwald

1746 - 1813

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13455 SINGER

Johann Georg Gottlieb Lehmann

1745 - 1816

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14432 GENERALMAJOR

Georg Friedrich Wilhelm von Schoenermarck

1740 - 1807

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14506 GENERALMAJOR

Johann Jeremias von Renouard

1742 - 1810

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14538 GENERALMAJOR

Johann August von Eckenbrecher

1743 - 1822

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14686 LEUTNANT

Hans Stephan von Rouquette

1742 - 1813

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14789 LEUTNANT

Franz Joachim von Reinhardt

1742 - 1809

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14855 GENERALMAJOR

Friedrich Ludwig von Schack

1747 - 1829

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15009 BIOGRAPH

Samuel David Christian Eckardt

1749 - 1806

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15128 OBERST

Magnus Carl Ferdinand Bogislaus von Schwerin – W

1746 - 1810

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15226 DIPLOMAT

Heinrich von Buchholtz

1749 - 1811

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15306 GENERALMAJOR

Ernst Vollrad von Criwitz

1740 - 1814

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