46.9480° N, 7.4474° E

BERN

Most Famous People Born in Bern, Switzerland

Notable people
1,261
Peak decade
1940s
Median birth year
1934
Most distinctive
Author 2.7×

A Swiss federal capital whose bench is unusually literary and unusually scholarly for its size. Bern's distinctive professions are authors, academics, ice hockey players, architects, photographers, historians, painters, and diplomats — a combination that reflects both the federal civil service and a long Bernese tradition of humanistic learning. Paul Klee, Albrecht von Haller, and Friedrich Dürrenmatt all belong here; Einstein was not a son but wrote his 1905 miracle year in a Bern patent office.

Through the Centuries

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

What Bern Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Politician is Bern's biggest profession — 12% of all notables (156).

Bern over-indexes on author2.7× the global rate.

Bern under-produces football — only 0.3× the global rate.

  1. Politician156
  2. Writer77
  3. Painter66
  4. Actor64
  5. Hockey36
  6. Football34
  7. Academic31
  8. Historian30
  1. Author292.7×
  2. Academic312.4×
  3. Hockey362.4×
  4. Architect262.3×
  5. Photographer142.3×
  6. Historian302.3×
  7. Painter662.0×
  8. Diplomat141.9×
  1. Football340.3×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

15001550160016501700175018001850190019502000
  • Politics & Law
  • Writing
  • Sports
  • Science
  • Art & Design
  • Film & TV
  • Other
All1,261
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Showing 60 of 1,261 notable people

0006 ACTOR

Liselotte Pulver

Born 1929

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0009 COMPOSER

Klaus Huber

1924 - 2017

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0018 POET

Kurt Marti

1921 - 2017

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0028 WRITER

Paul Nizon

Born 1929

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0031 TRUMPET

Hazy Osterwald

1922 - 2012

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0040 SCULPTOR

Bernhard Luginbühl

1929 - 2011

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0107 VIOLIN

Hansheinz Schneeberger

1926 - 2019

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0172 FOOTBALL

Charles Casali

1923 - 2014

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0176 NEUROLOGIST

Marco Mumenthaler

1925 - 2016

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0189 PHILOLOGIST

Georg Luck

1926 - 2013

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0190 ACTOR

Selma Urfer

1928 - 2013

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0194 FOOTBALL

Willi Steffen

1925 - 2005

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0221 MOUNTAINEER

Jürg Marmet

1927 - 2013

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0256 PHOTOGRAPHER

Kurt Blum

1922 - 2005

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0260 FOOTBALL

Heinz Bigler

1925 - 2002

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0266 PSYCHIATRIST

Raymond Battegay

1927 - 2016

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0319 PRIEST

Hans Urwyler

1925 - 1997

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0340 POLITICIAN

Armand Forel

1920 - 2005

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0351 PAINTER

Peter Travaglini

1927 - 2015

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0354 PHYSICIAN

Hugo Moser (scientist)

1924 - 2007

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0367 CHEMIST

Hansruedi von Gunten

Born 1928

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0385 JOURNALIST

Corinne Pulver

Born 1927

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0421 COMPOSER

Margrit Zimmermann

1927 - 2020

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0427 DRUMMER

Stuff Combe

1924 - 1986

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0448 POLITICIAN

Peter Sager (Politiker)

1925 - 2006

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0449 AUTHOR

Ruth Bietenhard

1920 - 2015

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0521 ACTOR

Véronique Deschamps

1928 - 2004

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0546 CHEMIST

Hans Rudolf Christen

1924 - 2011

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0549 MOUNTAINEER

Ernst Schmied

1924 - 2002

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0566 ACADEMIC

Alfred E. von Overbeck

1925 - 2016

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0593 LAWYER

Charles von Graffenried

1925 - 2012

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0611 SCULPTOR

Peter Moilliet

1921 - 2016

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0624 STABSCHEF

Jörg Zumstein

1923 - 1997

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0633 PHOTOGRAPHER

Peter Friedli

1925 - 2012

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0636 PHOTOGRAPHER

Fernand Rausser

1926 - 2016

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0648 POLITICIAN

Richard Bäumlin

Born 1927

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0676 PRESENTER

Willy Linder

1922 - 2000

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0691 AUTHOR

Peter Schifferli

1921 - 1980

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0734 ACADEMIC

Luc Mojon

1925 - 2011

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0744 ARCHITECT

Teo Jakob

1923 - 2000

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0748 BIOLOGIST

Eduard Kellenberger

1920 - 2004

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0765 ACADEMIC

Peter Gilg

1922 - 2006

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0799 HISTORIAN

Beat Junker

1928 - 2019

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0804 CHOREOGRAPHER

Aenne Goldschmidt

1920 - 2020

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0832 HISTORIAN

Rolf Deppeler

1926 - 2011

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0871 ENGINEER

Rudolf Trachsel (Ingenieur)

1927 - 2017

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0929 AUTHOR

Agathon Aerni

1929 - 2006

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0935 THERAPIST

Alfred Stucki

Born 1925

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0975 LAWYER

Elisabeth Lardelli

1921 - 2008

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1010 POLITICIAN

Werner Bircher

1928 - 2017

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1050 WRITER

René E. Mueller

1929 - 1991

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1058 KUNST

Emil Reich (Kunstglaser)

1922 - 1982

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1066 POLITICIAN

Heinz Bratschi

1925 - 1992

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1115 POLITICIAN

Kurt Kipfer

1923 - 1992

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1158 CIVIL SERVICE

Robert Scheuermeier

Born 1927

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1165 SKIER

René Jeandel

1924 - 2018

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1169 ARCHITECT

Franco Bircher

1925 - 2005

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1218 BOTSCHAFTER

Alexandre Paternotte de la Vaillée

Born 1923

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1241 HOCKEY

Alfred Lack

Born 1924

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1261 ARTIST

Hans Schärer

1927 - 1997

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