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 247 of 15,664 notable people

0040 CHEMIST

Adolf von Baeyer

1835 - 1917

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0052 POET

Paul Heyse

1830 - 1914

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0071 OFFICER

Alfred von Schlieffen

1833 - 1913

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0076 POLITICIAN

Leo von Caprivi

1831 - 1899

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0113 THEORIST

Eugen Dühring

1833 - 1921

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0180 EMPEROR

Princess Louise of Prussia

1838 - 1923

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0213 SCIENTIFIC

Vasily Radlov

1837 - 1918

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0221 MEDICAL

Georg Ebers

1837 - 1898

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0332 WRITER

Hedwig Dohm

1831 - 1919

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0370 ASTRONOMER

Johann Karl Friedrich Zöllner

1834 - 1882

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0432 PRINCESS

Princess Anna of Prussia

1836 - 1918

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0443 ENTREPRENEUR

Emil Rathenau

1838 - 1915

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0471 MATHEMATICIAN

Paul du Bois-Reymond

1831 - 1889

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0481 NEUROLOGIST

Carl Friedrich Otto Westphal

1833 - 1890

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0547 PHYSICIAN

Eduard Hitzig

1838 - 1907

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0610 CONDUCTOR

Hans Bronsart von Schellendorff

1830 - 1913

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0615 MATHEMATICIAN

Paul Gustav Heinrich Bachmann

1837 - 1920

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0674 MARSHAL

Prince Albert of Prussia (1837–1906)

1837 - 1906

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0675 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Paul Friedrich August Ascherson

1834 - 1913

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0720 PRINCESS

Princess Charlotte of Prussia (1831–1855)

1831 - 1855

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0779 PHYSIOLOGIST

Ludimar Hermann

1838 - 1914

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0873 INTERNIST

Bernhard Naunyn

1839 - 1925

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0979 DIPLOMAT

Max von Brandt

1835 - 1920

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1109 WRITER

Elisabeth Bürstenbinder

1838 - 1918

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1145 SCULPTOR

Alexander Calandrelli

1834 - 1903

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1270 PAINTER

Wilhelm Sohn

1830 - 1899

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1288 HISTORIAN

Gustav Droysen

1838 - 1908

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1306 CHEMIST

Alexander Mitscherlich (chemist)

1836 - 1918

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1307 PHILOSOPHER

Paul Yorck von Wartenburg

1835 - 1897

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1344 PAINTER

Gustav Mützel

1839 - 1893

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1346 MEDIEVALIST

Ernst Dümmler

1830 - 1902

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1351 DIARIST

Walburga, Lady Paget

1839 - 1929

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1368 POLITICIAN

Ferdynand Radziwiłł

1834 - 1926

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1474 OPHTHALMOLOGIST

Edmund Rose

1836 - 1914

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1544 ENTOMOLOGIST

Ernst Gustav Kraatz

1831 - 1909

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1699 HISTORIAN

Henri Jordan

1833 - 1886

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1710 PUBLISHER

Gustav Langenscheidt

1832 - 1895

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1869 ACTOR

Otto Devrient

1838 - 1894

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1943 COMPOSER

Heinrich Bellermann

1832 - 1903

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2116 PAINTER

Carl Breitbach

1833 - 1904

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2190 MUSIC

Ludwig Bussler

1838 - 1900

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2305 PAINTER

Otto Weber (painter)

1832 - 1888

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2327 MEDIEVALIST

Bernhard von Kugler

1837 - 1898

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2418 PAINTER

Adalbert Begas

1836 - 1888

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2426 AUTHOR

Heinrich Roller

1839 - 1916

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2474 LINGUIST

Carl Abel

1837 - 1906

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2495 OFFICER

Wilhelm von Hahnke

1833 - 1912

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2564 PHYSICIAN

Adolf Gusserow

1836 - 1906

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2622 MATHEMATICIAN

Julius Weingarten

1836 - 1910

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2643 WRITER

Franz Stolze

1836 - 1910

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2737 ACADEMIC

Paul Hinschius

1835 - 1898

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2809 ARCHITECT

Hubert Stier

1838 - 1907

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2815 WRITER

Max Jähns

1837 - 1900

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2902 PHYSICIAN

August Lucae

1835 - 1911

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2932 LEPIDOPTERIST

Friedrich Karl Wilhelm Dönitz

1838 - 1912

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2980 COMPOSER

Heinrich Urban

1837 - 1901

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3024 POLITICIAN

Maximilian Vogel von Falckenstein

1839 - 1917

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3052 PRINTER

Hermann Berthold

1831 - 1904

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3120 PHYSICIAN

Samuel Siegmund Rosenstein

1832 - 1906

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3183 PAINTER

Ernst Ewald

1836 - 1904

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3197 PAINTER

Hermann Pohle

1831 - 1901

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3428 PAINTER

Hans von Kretschmann

1832 - 1899

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3458 BOTANIST

Franz Ludwig Späth

1839 - 1913

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3557 COMPOSER

Theobald Rehbaum

1835 - 1918

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3644 SOLDIER

Alexander von Monts

1832 - 1889

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3656 KAVALLERIE

Hans Heinrich XI. von Hochberg

1833 - 1907

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3823 COMPOSER

Albert Zabel

1834 - 1910

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3897 SCULPTOR

Julius Schmidt-Felling

1835 - 1920

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4194 LINGUIST

Franz Eyssenhardt

1838 - 1901

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4210 COMPOSER

Joseph Glæser

1835 - 1891

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4217 SOHN

Richard Wilhelm Dove

1833 - 1907

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4265 JUDGE

Jacob Friedrich Behrend

1833 - 1907

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4273 PAINTER

Franz Meyerheim

1838 - 1880

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4307 AUTHOR

Albert von Boguslawski

1834 - 1905

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4379 ACTOR

Adele Spitzeder

1832 - 1895

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4477 SCULPTOR

Rudolf Schweinitz

1839 - 1896

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4639 PALAEONTOLOGIST

Ernst Wilhelm Benecke

1838 - 1917

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4685 PHOTOGRAPHER

Johannes Jaeger

1832 - 1908

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4806 ARCHITECT

Carl Busse (architect)

1834 - 1896

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4897 LAWYER

Friedrich Albrecht Karl Johann von Reitzenstein �

1834 - 1897

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4987 SINOLOGIST

Carl Arendt (Sinologe)

1838 - 1902

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5099 HISTORIAN

Ernst Strehlke

1834 - 1869

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5117 POLITICIAN

Waldemar von Roon

1837 - 1919

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5249 PHILOLOGIST

Ferdinand Ascherson

1832 - 1904

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5263 ARCHITECT

Gustav Knoblauch

1833 - 1916

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5465 GEOLOGIST

Gottlieb Berendt

1836 - 1920

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5488 ACADEMIC

Hermann Schmidt-Rimpler

1838 - 1915

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5490 PAINTER

Bertha Froriep

1833 - 1920

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5558 POLITICIAN

Alexander Meyer (Politiker)

1832 - 1908

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5572 PHOTOGRAPHER

Fred Kruger

1831 - 1888

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5643 MUSIC

Jenny Meyer

1834 - 1894

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5716 HISTORIAN

Otto Franklin

1830 - 1905

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5717 HISTORIAN

Hermann Weingarten

1834 - 1892

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5832 SCHNEIDER

Emil Weigand

1837 - 1906

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5845 HISTORIAN

Ernst Friedel

1837 - 1918

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5995 ACADEMIC

Carl Friedrich Lottner

1834 - 1873

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6016 UROLOGIST

Ernst Fürstenheim

1836 - 1904

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6324 PHOTOGRAPHER

F. Albert Schwartz

1836 - 1906

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6695 POLITICIAN

Roman Czartoryski

1839 - 1887

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7038 PUBLISHER

Adolph Fürstner

1833 - 1908

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7163 PHILOLOGIST

Ludwig Bellermann

1836 - 1915

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7223 PAINTER

Oscar Pletsch

1830 - 1888

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7800 PAINTER

Leopold Hartmann (Maler)

1839 - 1897

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7947 CARTOGRAPHER

Julius Straube

1832 - 1913

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7989 GENERALMAJOR

Otto von der Schulenburg (Generalmajor)

1834 - 1923

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8113 PAINTER

Hermann Sondermann

1832 - 1901

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8216 POLITICIAN

Eduard Schmidt-Weißenfels

1833 - 1893

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8240 SCULPTOR

Julius Moser (Bildhauer)

1832 - 1916

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8443 ENTREPRENEUR

Sebastian Hensel (Landwirt)

1830 - 1898

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8478 LAWYER

Bernhard Spinola

1836 - 1900

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8570 LAWYER

Eugen von Schlechtendal

1830 - 1881

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8628 ACADEMIC

Emil Perels

1837 - 1893

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8695 CLERIC

George Edward Jelf

1834 - 1908

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8783 JUDGE

Heinrich von Brauchitsch

1831 - 1916

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8844 JOURNALIST

Wilhelm Eichhoff (Journalist)

1833 - 1895

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8952 PAINTER

Felix Possart

1837 - 1928

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9056 PAINTER

Ferdinand Schauss

1832 - 1916

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9128 LAWYER

Friedrich Julius Kühns

1830 - 1869

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9271 ACTOR

Pauline Ulrich

1835 - 1916

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9299 POLITICIAN

Heinrich von Pückler

1835 - 1897

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9369 OFFICER

Bernhard von Brauchitsch

1833 - 1910

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9477 ENTREPRENEUR

Friedrich Goldschmidt

1837 - 1902

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9554 PHOTOGRAPHER

Julius Kricheldorff

1830 - 1910

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9642 MISSING

Franz Körner

1838 - 1911

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9659 OFFICER

Curt von Knobelsdorff

1839 - 1904

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9676 LAWYER

Ferdinand Perels

1836 - 1903

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9683 PAINTER

Guido Hampe

1839 - 1891

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9740 WRITER

Carl Schmelzer

1834 - 1898

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9792 ARCHITECT

Alfred Lent

1836 - 1915

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9874 WRITER

Eduard Tempeltey

1832 - 1919

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9945 THEOLOGIAN

Theodor Hossbach

1834 - 1894

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9963 WRITER

Paul Poggendorff

1832 - 1910

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10117 LAWYER

Albert von Pommer Esche

1837 - 1903

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10184 INFANTERIE

August von Seebeck

1834 - 1914

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10276 VORSITZENDER

Paul David Fischer

1836 - 1920

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10445 HISTORIAN

Max Beheim-Schwarzbach

1839 - 1910

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10463 ACADEMIC

August Tiede

1834 - 1911

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10553 PHYSICIAN

Johann Wilhelm Schütz

1839 - 1920

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10710 PAINTER

Carl Rechlin (Sohn)

1836 - 1882

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10744 ARCHIVIST

Paul Hassel

1838 - 1906

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10745 WRITER

Caroline Abbot

1839 - 1914

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10773 MERCHANT

Carl Ludwig Zeitler

1835 - 1910

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10862 POLITICIAN

Max von Brauchitsch

1835 - 1882

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10878 THEOLOGIAN

Joseph Lehmann

1832 - 1907

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10970 THEOLOGIAN

Johannes Bachmann (Theologe)

1832 - 1888

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11016 ACADEMIC

Hugo Werner (Agrarwissenschaftler)

1839 - 1912

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11122 ACADEMIC

Ludwig Theodor Schulze

1833 - 1918

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11173 SCULPTOR

Rudolf Pohle (Bildhauer)

1837 - 1920

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11227 INFANTERIE

Ernst von Grolman

1832 - 1904

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11251 JUDGE

Hugo Rehbein

1833 - 1907

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11268 POLITICIAN

Theodor Stern

1837 - 1900

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11270 MARINE

Ulrich Maximilian Le Tanneux von Saint-Paul-Illair

1833 - 1902

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11278 PUBLISHER

Moritz Diesterweg

1834 - 1906

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11337 SINGER

Ottilie Genée

1834 - 1911

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11415 ACTOR

Richard Schmidt-Cabanis

1838 - 1903

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11490 WRITER

Eduard Bloch (Verleger)

1831 - 1895

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11517 LAWYER

Franz Bollert

1836 - 1914

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11523 ACTOR

Karl Gustav Berndal

1830 - 1885

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11659 POLITICIAN

Wilhelm Weber (Politiker, 1832)

1832 - 1899

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11661 OFFICER

Paul von Rheinbaben (General)

1834 - 1905

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11701 PAINTER

Otto Knigge

1835 - 1883

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11705 INFANTERIE

Arthur von Lattré

1833 - 1908

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11798 CONDUCTOR

Gotthold Carlberg

1838 - 1881

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11828 AUTHOR

Agathe Nalli-Rutenberg

1838 - 1919

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11903 LEUTNANT

Clemens von Radowitz

1832 - 1890

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11969 BEAMTE

Robert von der Heydt

1837 - 1877

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12048 LINGUIST

Eduard Muret

1833 - 1904

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12060 MERCHANT

Gustav List

1835 - 1913

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12081 ACTOR

Wilhelm Grothe

1830 - 1892

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12153 GENERALMAJOR

Camillo von Maliszewski

1836 - 1908

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12167 ACTOR

Emil Thomas (Schauspieler)

1836 - 1904

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12264 OPERA

Theodor Habelmann

1834 - 1920

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12334 POLITICIAN

Ernst von Bredow

1834 - 1900

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12374 ZOOLOGIST

Carl Arend Friedrich Wiegmann

1836 - 1901

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12389 THEOLOGIAN

Hermann Jacoby

1836 - 1917

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12445 HOCHSCHULE

Emil Paul Böhme

1838 - 1894

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12498 POLITICIAN

Francis Benjamin Kates

1830 - 1903

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12549 AUTHOR

Elise Bethge-Truhn

1838 - 1889

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12598 EDUCATOR

Reinhold Köpke

1839 - 1915

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12601 ACTOR

Paul Zademack

1837 - 1893

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12777 CIVIL SERVICE

Arnold Marggraff

1834 - 1915

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12783 AUTHOR

Lucie von Hanstein

1835 - 1923

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12854 POLITICIAN

Johannes Krech

1834 - 1915

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12918 ARCHITECT

Oskar Appelius

1837 - 1904

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12947 WRITER

Franz Leibing

1836 - 1875

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13007 GENERALMAJOR

Karl von Prittwitz und Gaffron

1833 - 1890

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13044 LAWYER

Ernst Wilhelm Eberhard Eck

1838 - 1901

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13054 ACTOR

Volkmar Kühns

1832 - 1905

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13057 POLITICIAN

Walter Lejeune Dirichlet

1833 - 1887

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13080 POLITICIAN

Adolf Wilhelm Henning

1837 - 1918

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13222 LAWYER

Ludolf von Estorff

1838 - 1912

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13235 OFFICER

Adolf von Bülow (General, 1837)

1837 - 1907

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13283 PARLAMENT

Justus von Rosenberg-Gruszczynski

1837 - 1900

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13380 POLITICIAN

Leonhard Lehfeldt

1834 - 1876

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13385 POLITICIAN

Adolf von Massow

1837 - 1909

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13446 POLITICIAN

Heinrich Kochhann (Politiker, 1830)

1830 - 1903

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13466 POLITICIAN

Hugo Praetorius

1835 - 1904

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13515 POLITICIAN

Louis Jordan (Politiker)

1837 - 1902

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13605 THEATRE

Hermann Jacobi (Schauspieler)

1837 - 1908

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13721 PHYSICIAN

Christian Friedrich Rabe

1837 - 1898

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13744 THEOLOGE

Karl Heinrich Theodor Woltersdorf

1834 - 1904

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13753 ENTREPRENEUR

Otto Ludwig Froriep

1835 - 1883

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13803 PARLAMENT

Wilhelm von dem Bussche-Ippenburg

1830 - 1897

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13855 OFFICER

Rudolf von Viebahn

1838 - 1928

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13925 REVOLUTION

Ernst Zinna

1830 - 1848

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14082 RESTAURATÖR

Theodor Blanch

1835 - 1911

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14100 POLITICIAN

Johannes Homuth

1839 - 1922

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14151 NOBLE

Filomena Gabriela Correia Brandão Henriques de No

1839 - 1925

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14168 CARPENTER

Waldemar Atzpodien

1834 - 1910

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14217 POLITICIAN

Paul Michelet

1835 - 1926

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14226 GARDENER

Carl Theodor Schulz

1835 - 1914

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14313 OFFICER

Paul von Kropff

1832 - 1898

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14355 LEUTNANT

Joseph von Schoeler

1834 - 1915

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14372 POLITICIAN

Ludwig von Wartensleben

1831 - 1926

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14391 ENGINEER

Henry James Drory

1837 - 1899

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14404 JUDGE

Oskar Loebell

1836 - 1897

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14425 PAINTER

Albert Gustav Schwarz

1833 - 1898

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14495 COBBLER

Theodor Metzner

1830 - 1902

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14619 MANUFACTURER

Wilhelm Carl Johann Wedding

1830 - 1908

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14764 BUSINESS

Adalbert Castner

1832 - 1907

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14861 MECHANIC

Herrmann Haensch

1832 - 1896

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14879 LAWYER

Otto Rudolf Vitzthum von Eckstädt

1831 - 1906

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14897 SOLDIER

Moritz von Kunowski

1831 - 1917

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14952 ACTOR

Catharine Jacobi

1837 - 1912

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14953 LAWYER

Ludwig von Richthofen

1837 - 1873

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14954 GENERALMAJOR

Elwin von Anker

1835 - 1915

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15018 MUSIC

Emil Neumann

1834 - 1864

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15025 ACTOR

Emilie Müller

1831 - 1854

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15040 PHARMACIST

Karl Friedrich August Witt

1832 - 1910

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15053 BUSINESS

Conrad Herold

1835 - 1914

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15059 ACTOR

Marie Franz (Schauspielerin)

1836 - 1857

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15083 ARCHITECT

Georg Toebelmann

1835 - 1909

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15150 STADTRAT

Albert Haack

1832 - 1906

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15162 LEUTNANT

Heinrich von Ledebur

1832 - 1912

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15187 PARLAMENT

Rudolf von Stülpnagel

1831 - 1900

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15199 ARCHITECT

August Busse

1839 - 1896

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15254 BUSINESS

Armand Knoblauch

1831 - 1905

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15256 FARMER

Karl Langner

1830 - 1895

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15261 POLITICIAN

Arthur von Witzleben

1835 - 1905

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15283 BEAMTE

Paul von Jordan

1831 - 1870

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15392 MISSING

Emil Hahn (Dekorationsmaler)

1837 - 1881

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15393 POLITICIAN

Georg Humbert

1839 - 1898

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15414 PAINTER

Anna Eichens

1834 - 1872

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15426 ACTOR

Elisabeth Mittell

1835 - 1909

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15466 METALLURGIST

Hermann Wedding

1834 - 1908

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15476 POLITICIAN

Otto Hellwig (Politiker)

1838 - 1915

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15502 POLITICIAN

Ernst von Zitzewitz (Politiker, 1835)

1835 - 1899

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