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 244 of 15,664 notable people

0020 PAINTER

Max Liebermann

1847 - 1935

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0088 PHILOSOPHER

Karl Robert Eduard von Hartmann

1842 - 1906

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0118 MATHEMATICIAN

Ferdinand Georg Frobenius

1849 - 1917

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0188 CHEMIST

Viktor Meyer

1848 - 1897

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0200 OFFICER

Karl von Bülow

1846 - 1921

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0219 POLITICIAN

Herbert von Bismarck

1849 - 1904

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0286 BIOLOGIST

Paul Langerhans

1847 - 1888

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0303 SURGEON

Friedrich Trendelenburg

1844 - 1924

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0528 CHEMIST

Carl Theodore Liebermann

1842 - 1914

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0640 COMPOSER

Heinrich Hofmann (composer)

1842 - 1902

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0658 MATHEMATICIAN

Heinrich Bruns

1848 - 1919

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0694 ORNITHOLOGIST

Anton Reichenow

1847 - 1941

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0696 ENGINEER

Théophile Seyrig

1843 - 1923

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0816 PHILOLOGIST

Heinrich Gelzer

1847 - 1906

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0834 PIANIST

Ernst Rudorff

1840 - 1916

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0859 IMPRESSIONIST

Franz Skarbina

1849 - 1910

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0938 POLITICIAN

Paul Singer (politician)

1844 - 1911

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0971 SCULPTOR

Ernst Herter

1846 - 1917

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1010 DIPLOMAT

Alexander von Benckendorff (1849-1917)

1849 - 1917

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1015 EXPLORER

Paul Güssfeldt

1840 - 1920

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1119 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Émile Brugsch

1842 - 1930

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1139 ACTOR

Ernst von Possart

1841 - 1921

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1140 PAINTER

Paul Friedrich Meyerheim

1842 - 1915

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1330 PHYSICIST

Adolf Slaby

1849 - 1913

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1338 COMPOSER

Franz Ries

1846 - 1932

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1350 SCULPTOR

Karl Begas

1845 - 1916

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1365 PHYSICIAN

Albert Eulenburg

1840 - 1917

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1405 THEOLOGIAN

Hermann Strack

1848 - 1922

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1431 ARCHITECT

Otto March

1845 - 1913

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1446 COMPOSER

Carl Bohm

1844 - 1920

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1470 ARISTOCRAT

Princess Alexandrine of Prussia (1842–1906)

1842 - 1906

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1524 PAINTER

Carl Saltzmann

1847 - 1923

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1557 ACADEMIC

Paul Krüger (jurist)

1840 - 1926

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1582 PHYSICIAN

Carl Anton Ewald

1845 - 1915

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1615 PHYSICIAN

James Israel

1848 - 1926

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1706 BOTANIST

Paul Falkenberg

1848 - 1925

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1730 COMPOSER

Henri Berger

1844 - 1929

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1806 ARCHAEOLOGIST

Hugo Blümner

1844 - 1919

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1816 HISTORIAN

Max Lehmann

1845 - 1929

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1901 BOTANIST

Friedrich Adalbert Maximilian Kuhn

1842 - 1894

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1961 INDOLOGIST

Ernst Kuhn

1846 - 1920

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1983 BOTANIST

Paul Wilhelm Magnus

1844 - 1914

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2061 WRITER

Helene von Dönniges

1843 - 1911

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2067 NEUROLOGIST

Ernst Remak

1849 - 1911

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2141 PHYSICIST

Ewald Wollny

1846 - 1901

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2168 COMPOSER

Franz Kullak

1844 - 1913

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2204 HISTORIAN

Alfred Dove

1844 - 1916

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2350 BRYOLOGIST

Franz Stephani

1842 - 1927

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2380 AUTHOR

Nahida Ruth Lazarus

1849 - 1928

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2425 SCULPTOR

Erdmann Encke

1843 - 1896

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2491 UROLOGIST

Maximilian Nitze

1848 - 1906

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2493 ART HISTORIAN

Alfred Woltmann

1841 - 1880

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2556 PHYSICIST

Anton Oberbeck

1846 - 1900

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2563 ADMIRAL

Friedrich von Hollmann

1842 - 1913

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2565 PHARMACIST

Julius Hensel

1844 - 1903

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2648 SCULPTOR

Otto Geyer

1843 - 1914

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2654 ECONOMIST

Nicholas Johannsen

1844 - 1928

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2781 PATHOLOGIST

Carl Arnold Ruge

1846 - 1926

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2796 ARACHNOLOGIST

Paul Kramer

1842 - 1898

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2807 REPRESENTATIVE

Hugo Phillip Graf von Lerchenfeld auf Köfering und Schönberg

1843 - 1925

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2873 BOTANIST

Georg Carl Wilhelm Vatke

1849 - 1889

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2875 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Richard Bohn

1849 - 1898

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3177 PHILOLOGIST

Adolf Gaspary

1849 - 1892

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3213 PHYSICIAN

Moritz Litten

1845 - 1907

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3266 COLLECTOR

Bernhard Koehler

1849 - 1927

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3348 BANK

Ernst von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

1846 - 1909

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3399 POLITICIAN

Max von Thielmann

1846 - 1929

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3406 DERMATOLOGIST

Oskar Simon

1845 - 1882

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3523 PAINTER

Otto Geleng

1843 - 1939

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3547 PAINTER

Albert Hertel

1843 - 1912

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3672 BOTANIST

Paul Rohrbach (botanist)

1846 - 1871

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3683 PAINTER

John Gast (painter)

1842 - 1896

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3940 BOOKSELLER

Paul Parey

1842 - 1900

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3952 PHYSICIAN

Julius Falkenstein (Afrikaforscher)

1842 - 1917

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4005 OFFICER

Friedrich von Schele

1847 - 1904

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4036 LAWYER

Oscar Borchardt

1845 - 1917

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4103 SCULPTOR

Robert Toberentz

1849 - 1895

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4220 AUTHOR

Emil Taubert

1844 - 1895

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4373 MATHEMATICIAN

Felix Müller (Mathematiker)

1843 - 1928

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4440 ARCHITECT

George Henry Griebel

1846 - 1933

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4524 ART HISTORIAN

Robert Dohme

1845 - 1893

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4554 OFFICER

Udo zu Stolberg-Wernigerode

1840 - 1910

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4837 PHILOSOPHER

Georg Hoffmann (Orientalist)

1845 - 1933

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4852 LITERARY

Fritz Jonas

1845 - 1920

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5012 PHILOSOPHER

Otto Caspari

1841 - 1917

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5055 POLITICIAN

Richard Roesicke

1845 - 1903

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5103 RELIGIOUS

Max Landsberg

1845 - 1927

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5143 ARCHITECT

Albert Geyer

1846 - 1938

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5303 SURGEON

Benno Credé

1847 - 1929

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5329 WRITER

Ottomar Beta

1845 - 1913

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5385 ACADEMIC

Fritz Wolff (Architekt)

1847 - 1921

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5427 HISTORIAN

Karl Wittich

1840 - 1916

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5487 CONDUCTOR

Oskar Eichberg

1845 - 1898

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5528 AUTHOR

Ida Barber

1842 - 1931

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5605 PAINTER

Hans Kugler (Maler)

1840 - 1873

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5793 PAINTER

Max Lohde

1845 - 1868

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5858 POLITICIAN

Berthold von Bernstorff

1842 - 1917

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6226 OFFICER

Alfred von Briesen

1849 - 1914

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6228 KAVALLERIE

Walther von Moßner

1846 - 1932

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6390 POLITICIAN

Eberhard von der Recke von der Horst

1847 - 1911

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6480 PAINTER

Julie Behr

1843 - 1873

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6502 PAINTER

Wilibald von Schulenburg

1847 - 1936

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6733 PAINTER

Hans Meyer (Grafiker)

1846 - 1919

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6840 COMPOSER

Georges Jacobi

1840 - 1906

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7236 MUSIC

Ernst Eulenburg

1847 - 1926

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7307 ARCHIVIST

Ernst Friedländer (Archivar)

1841 - 1903

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7331 SURGEON

Georg Körting

1844 - 1919

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7420 PAINTER

Julius Jacob der Jüngere

1842 - 1929

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7424 MISSING

Franziska Speyer

1844 - 1909

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7487 ENGINEER

Richard Pintsch

1840 - 1919

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7546 SALONNIÈRE

Cornelie Richter

1842 - 1922

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7841 TEACHER

Otto Richter (Archäologe)

1843 - 1918

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8012 ARCHITECT

Paul Bratring

1840 - 1913

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8034 POLITICIAN

Otto von Manteuffel

1844 - 1913

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8190 PAINTER

Julius Bodenstein

1847 - 1932

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8214 ARCHITECT

Richard Wolffenstein (Architekt)

1846 - 1919

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8305 POLITICIAN

Reinhold Kraetke

1845 - 1934

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8405 INTENDANT

Carl von Ledebur (Theaterintendant)

1840 - 1913

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8452 ARCHITECT

Georg Thür

1846 - 1924

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8668 SCULPTOR

Paul Otto (Bildhauer)

1846 - 1893

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8778 OFFICER

Gerd von Rundstedt (Generalmajor)

1848 - 1916

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8889 BANK

Hugo Oppenheim

1847 - 1921

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9053 POLITICIAN

Jesco von Puttkamer (Beamter)

1841 - 1918

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9060 PAINTER

Max Fritz

1849 - 1920

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9170 PAINTER

Paul Wilhelm Tübbecke

1848 - 1924

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9226 ENGINEER

Oskar Pintsch

1844 - 1912

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9234 WRITER

Adda von Liliencron

1844 - 1913

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9414 PAINTER

Wilhelm Bröker

1848 - 1933

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9433 PHILOSOPHER

Johann Heinrich Witte

1846 - 1908

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9462 ACADEMIC

Richard Buerstenbinder

1840 - 1894

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9496 THEOLOGIAN

Andreas von Bernstorff (Verwaltungsjurist)

1844 - 1907

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9549 PAINTER

Rudolf Schick (Maler)

1840 - 1887

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9763 ACADEMIC

Wilhelm Schultze (Chirurg)

1840 - 1924

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9817 POLITICIAN

August Kapell

1844 - 1922

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9837 ART HISTORIAN

Paul Lehfeldt

1848 - 1900

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9993 SCULPTOR

Franz Krüger (Bildhauer)

1849 - 1912

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10060 ACTOR

Ernst Gettke

1841 - 1912

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10082 BUSINESS

Carl Spindler

1841 - 1902

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10145 ART DEALER

Rudolph Lepke

1845 - 1904

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10148 HISTORIAN

Heinrich Reimer (Archivar)

1848 - 1922

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10161 POLITICIAN

Karl Kloß

1847 - 1908

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10203 POLITICIAN

Karl von Richthofen-Damsdorf

1842 - 1916

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10266 LEHRER

Georg Schulze (Lehrer)

1846 - 1932

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10328 OFFICER

Maximilian von Braumüller

1845 - 1925

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10361 PHILOSOPHER

Ernst Commer

1847 - 1928

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10405 LEUTNANT

Hermann von Brauchitsch

1840 - 1916

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10427 THEOLOGIAN

Paul Wilhelm Schmidt (Theologe)

1845 - 1917

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10462 ACADEMIC

Paul Güterbock

1844 - 1897

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10471 ACTOR

Emil Bauer

1848 - 1931

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10521 SOLOIST

Felix Meyer (Geiger)

1847 - 1914

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10524 LIBRARIAN

Konrad Schottmüller

1841 - 1893

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10591 GENERALMAJOR

Heinrich von Puttkamer

1846 - 1914

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10674 PHOTOGRAPHER

Eduard Schultze

1841 - 1913

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10678 POLITICIAN

Wilhelm von Hegel

1849 - 1925

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10692 BUSINESS

Edward Drory

1844 - 1904

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10758 PAINTER

Otto Försterling

1843 - 1904

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10810 SCULPTOR

Helmuth Schievelkamp

1849 - 1936

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10869 HISTORIAN

Georg Hermann Valentin

1848 - 1926

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11037 ART HISTORIAN

Ernst Assmann (Mediziner)

1849 - 1926

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11210 MARINE

Rudolf Schering

1843 - 1901

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11264 HISTORIAN

Friedrich Falk

1840 - 1893

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11279 PHOTOGRAPHER

Georg Bartels

1843 - 1912

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11307 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Maximilian Bartels

1843 - 1904

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11357 PHYSICIST

Paul Glan

1846 - 1898

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11369 ENGINEER

Julius Karl Pintsch

1847 - 1912

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11382 BANK

Valentin Weisbach

1843 - 1899

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11400 GENERALMAJOR

Friedhelm von Ranke

1847 - 1917

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11474 HOTELIER

Florian Stoppany

1842 - 1901

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11604 ARCHITECT

Gustav Zinnow

1846 - 1934

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11695 POLITICIAN

Günther von Jagow

1847 - 1928

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11722 THEOLOGIAN

Johannes Büchsel

1849 - 1920

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11810 OFFICER

Friedrich de la Motte-Fouqué (Generalmajor) – W

1843 - 1921

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11845 PAINTER

Franz Kops

1846 - 1896

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11857 GENERALMAJOR

Paul von Mühlberg

1847 - 1926

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11989 PUBLISHER

Ferdinand Springer senior

1846 - 1906

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11994 PHYSICIAN

Julius Becher

1842 - 1907

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11996 HISTORIAN

Conrad Rethwisch

1845 - 1921

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12198 ENGINEER

Karl Bethge

1847 - 1900

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12215 ACTOR

Richard Kahle

1842 - 1916

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12242 OFFICER

Ferdinand von Stülpnagel (General, 1842)

1842 - 1912

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12255 ENTOMOLOGIST

William Henry Rolph

1847 - 1883

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12346 ACTOR

Paul Dehnicke

1840 - 1914

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12388 JUDGE

Wilhelm Groos (Jurist)

1849 - 1934

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12438 ACTOR

Rosa Le Seur

1846 - 1920

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12494 ACADEMIC

Franz Praetorius

1847 - 1927

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12535 THEATRE

Richard John

1845 - 1928

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12584 CHEMIST

Ivan Levinstein

1845 - 1916

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12734 ARCHITECT

Ludwig Brockmann

1847 - 1921

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12740 MILITAR

Julius Wagner

1842 - 1904

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12797 LAWYER

Christian Ernst Bechtold von Bernstorff

1840 - 1908

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12822 BOOKSELLER

Julius Neumann (Verleger)

1844 - 1928

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12830 PHYSICIST

Robert Lüdtge

1845 - 1880

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12835 LAWYER

Emil Wallber

1841 - 1923

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12842 POLITICIAN

Oskar von Normann

1844 - 1912

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12852 FARMER

Leo Becker

1840 - 1886

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12881 INDUSTRIAL

Anna Bresser

1846 - 1910

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12916 OFFICER

Cécil von Renthe-Fink (General)

1845 - 1909

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13046 ACTOR

Philipp Bock

1845 - 1922

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13118 ACTOR

Hugo Edward

1845 - 1914

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13179 CHEMIST

Friedrich Wilhelm Schütze

1840 - 1880

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13206 BUSINESS

Georg Liebermann

1844 - 1926

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13255 CHEMIST

Reinhart Blochmann

1848 - 1920

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13273 POLITICIAN

Max Bergmann (Politiker, 1844)

1844 - 1914

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13340 FARMER

Ernst Raban von Canstein

1840 - 1911

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13342 POLITICIAN

Adam Fürst Czartoryski

1845 - 1912

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13363 CONDUCTOR

Gustave Kahnt

1848 - 1923

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13384 PUBLISHER

Reinhard Bérard

1841 - 1915

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13442 POLITICIAN

Max Broemel

1846 - 1925

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13471 THEATRE

Hermann Haack (Schauspieler)

1844 - 1910

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13511 OPERA

Mathilde von Hoppé-von Rigéno

1843 - 1887

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13572 POLITICIAN

Ferdinand Ewald

1846 - 1928

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13594 ACTOR

Paul Brock (Schauspieler)

1844 - 1897

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13635 ACTOR

Anna Lesser-Kiessling

Born 1841

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13714 PHYSICIAN

Hugo Hertwig (Tierarzt)

1841 - 1895

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13738 ACTOR

Franz Bethke

1840 - 1896

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13957 POLITICIAN

Friedrich von Born-Fallois

1845 - 1913

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14016 PAINTER

Alfred von Waldenburg

1847 - 1915

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14142 HOCHSCHULLEHRER

Johannes David Wilhelm Schulz

1841 - 1900

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14214 OFFICER

Max von Kleist

1845 - 1923

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14245 MARINE

Louis Riedel (Admiral)

1849 - 1907

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14256 JOURNALIST

Marie Karchow-Lindner

1842 - 1914

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14301 INFANTERIE

August von Bomsdorff

1842 - 1912

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14377 ENTREPRENEUR

Gustav Kromrey

1847 - 1909

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14383 ACTOR

Fritz Bethke

1841 - 1890

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14424 HISTORIAN

Eduard Krause (Prähistoriker)

1847 - 1917

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14470 RESTAURATEUR

Franz Siechen

1846 - 1913

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14544 ARCHITECT

Franz Haeberlin

1841 - 1899

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14593 BEAMTE

Ludwig von Meixner

1842 - 1902

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14603 PSYCHIATRIST

Hermann Engelken

1844 - 1919

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14662 LANDRAT

Adolf Karl Ferdinand von der Recke

1845 - 1927

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14766 FARMER

Siegfried von Quast-Radensleben

1842 - 1887

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14808 OFFICER

Paul Hoffmann (naval officer)

1846 - 1917

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14811 LANDRAT

Friedrich von Holwede

1841 - 1921

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14821 ENTREPRENEUR

Friedrich Wilhelm Foerster (Unternehmer)

1847 - 1922

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14825 LEUTNANT

Heinrich Wilhelm Braumüller

1844 - 1913

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14856 ACTOR

Adele Garsò-Galster

1840 - 1863

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15238 PAINTER

Gustav Gerson Fürst

1840 - 1918

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15271 POLITICIAN

Edmund Hügel

1841 - 1908

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15296 ACTOR

August Wilhelm Grube (Schauspieler)

1845 - 1903

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15315 FARMER

Konrad von Goßler (Verwaltungsjurist)

1841 - 1900

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15382 ARCHITECT

Eduard Hoppe

1846 - 1904

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15513 DIAKON

Thekla von Hünerbein

1840 - 1902

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15514 PIANIST

Johannes Weidenbach

1847 - 1902

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15527 INVENTOR

Edouard Carl Friedrich Otto

1841 - 1905

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