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
Sort By

Showing 99 of 1,261 notable people

0016 ARTIST

Thomas Hirschhorn

Born 1957

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0026 MUSIC

Boris Blank (musician)

Born 1952

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0042 POET

Yang Lian (poet)

Born 1955

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0049 ACTOR

Stefan Kurt

Born 1959

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0063 FILM

Matthias Zschokke

Born 1954

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0064 ACTOR

Monica Zanchi

Born 1959

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0076 ACTOR

Sibylle Canonica

Born 1957

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0086 POLITICIAN

Alexander Tschäppät

1952 - 2018

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0087 POLITICIAN

Desmond Swayne

Born 1956

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0095 PHOTOGRAPHER

Michael von Graffenried

Born 1957

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0117 FILM

Urs Egger

1955 - 2020

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0144 PHYSICIST

Christian Thomsen (Physiker)

Born 1959

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0145 MUSIC

Roland Zoss

Born 1951

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0155 ART HISTORIAN

Regula Tschumi

Born 1957

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0158 PHILOLOGIST

Therese Fuhrer

Born 1959

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0167 ACTOR

Christine Lauterburg

Born 1956

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0177 ACTOR

Patrick Frey

Born 1951

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0203 MUSIC

Thomas Indermühle

Born 1951

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0211 ACTIVIST

Bernhard Schaub

Born 1954

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0214 HISTORIAN

Madeleine Herren

Born 1956

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0241 OPERA

Jörg Dürmüller

Born 1959

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0254 PRIEST

Hansjörg Vogel

Born 1951

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0255 COMPOSER

Thomas Demenga

Born 1954

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0267 FOOTBALL

Hans-Peter Zaugg

Born 1952

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0268 PHYSICIAN

Chris Beyrer

Born 1959

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0277 POLITICIAN

Marianne Streiff

Born 1957

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0289 ACADEMIC

Michael Ambühl

Born 1951

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0310 CHESS

André Lombard

Born 1950

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0315 LAWYER

Urs Gasche

Born 1955

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0320 POLITICIAN

Marianne Huguenin

Born 1950

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0377 POLITICIAN

Rudolf Joder

Born 1950

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0394 ACTOR

Therese Affolter

Born 1951

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0397 PLAYER

Oscar Collodo

Born 1958

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0402 HISTORIAN

Jon Mathieu

Born 1952

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0428 POLITICIAN

Margret Kiener Nellen

Born 1953

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0437 MUSIC

Dodo Hug

Born 1950

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0445 ACTOR

Esther Gemsch

Born 1955

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0446 ENTREPRENEUR

Rudolf Stämpfli

Born 1955

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0461 HISTORIAN

Daniel Koerfer

Born 1955

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0464 POLITICIAN

Franziska Teuscher

Born 1958

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0467 LAWYER

Daniel Fischer (Rechtsanwalt)

1953 - 2015

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0473 POLITICIAN

Pierre Aeby (homme politique, 1950)

Born 1950

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0478 ACTOR

Stephan Märki

Born 1955

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0488 POLITICIAN

Christine Bulliard-Marbach

Born 1959

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0502 FILM

Simon Aeby

Born 1954

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0505 THEATRE

Regula Gerber

Born 1958

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0531 WRITER

Claude Luezior

Born 1953

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0535 ACTOR

Jean-Pierre Le Roy

Born 1953

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0548 POLITICIAN

Hansruedi Wandfluh

Born 1952

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0552 COLLECTOR

Adrian Koerfer

Born 1955

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0558 WRITER

Christoph Braendle

Born 1953

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0564 COMPOSER

Daniel Glaus

Born 1957

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0580 THERAPIST

Christoph Thomann

Born 1950

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0585 ARTIST

Roland Muri

Born 1959

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0587 FLAUTIST

Matthias Ziegler

Born 1955

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0592 AUTHOR

Ruedi Josuran

Born 1957

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0601 ACTOR

Katharina Schütz

Born 1956

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0604 PHILOLOGIST

Eveline Krummen

Born 1956

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0607 THEATRE

Dominique Mentha

Born 1955

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0615 POLITICIAN

Stephanie Baumann

Born 1951

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0627 SCULPTOR

George Steinmann

Born 1950

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0673 SINGER

Dänu Siegrist

Born 1954

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0686 COMPOSER

Heinz Reber

1952 - 2007

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0690 WRITER

Antonin Moeri

Born 1953

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0703 WRITER

Beat Ringger

Born 1955

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0720 WRITER

Pierre Tschannen

Born 1952

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0726 FILMMAKER

Hansjürg Zumstein

Born 1957

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0733 FILM

Norbert Wiedmer

Born 1953

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0747 TROMBONIST

Robert Morgenthaler

Born 1952

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0764 POLITICIAN

Katharina Prelicz-Huber

Born 1959

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0771 WRITER

Jean-Raymond Tschumi

1953 - 2014

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0784 WRITER

Anne Bregani

Born 1951

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0787 PHYSICIST

Robert Brandenberger

Born 1953

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0789 AUTHOR

Linda Vera Roethlisberger

Born 1956

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0796 AUTHOR

Peter Hänni

Born 1958

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0800 PHOTOGRAPHER

Peter Hebeisen

Born 1956

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0817 WRITER

Nadine Hostettler

Born 1959

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0819 PSYCHIATRIST

Thomas Schläpfer

Born 1959

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0846 HISTORIAN

Erwin Marti

Born 1952

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0848 PHYSICIAN

Jürg Schlup

Born 1955

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0855 AUTHOR

Markus Marthaler

Born 1959

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0876 BOXER

Andreas Anderegg

Born 1957

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0877 PHOTOGRAPHER

Hugues de Wurstemberger

Born 1955

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0880 ACADEMIC

Martha Lux-Steiner

Born 1950

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0937 POLITICIAN

Hans-Ulrich Bigler

Born 1958

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0938 WRITER

Martin Frank (Schriftsteller)

Born 1950

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0972 ORNITHOLOGIST

Verena Keller (Biologin)

Born 1956

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1000 VIOLIN

Hans Burgener

Born 1952

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1024 MUSIC

Willy Kotoun

Born 1953

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1036 POLITICIAN

Thomas Hansjakob

1956 - 2018

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1056 GUITAR

Vinz Vonlanthen

Born 1959

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1092 OFFICER

Gerhard Brügger

Born 1953

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1100 POLITICIAN

Michael Goblet d'Alviella

Born 1955

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1102 JAZZ

Jürg Morgenthaler

Born 1953

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1151 WATCHMAKER

Paul Gerber (Uhrmacher)

Born 1950

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1179 JOURNALIST

Heinz W. Müller

Born 1950

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1197 JOURNALIST

Georg Weber (Autor)

Born 1950

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1216 POLITICIAN

Michael Kaufmann (Rektor)

Born 1954

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1229 POLITICIAN

Susanne Bommeli

1951 - 2011

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