51.2310° N, 6.7725° E

DUSSELDORF

Most Famous People Born in Dusseldorf, Germany

Notable people
2,294
Peak decade
1960s
Median birth year
1936
Most distinctive
Painter 3.9×

A Rhenish art academy city whose bench is thick with painters — more than ten per cent of all notables, a share matched by very few cities in the dataset. Düsseldorf's distinctive shelves beyond that are authors, academics, sculptors, economists, and historians, and its most famous son is Heinrich Heine. The Kunstakademie is the engine that produced Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter (who taught there), and a generation of photographers; Jürgen Habermas and Wim Wenders grew up here too.

Through the Centuries

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

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1960s with 303 notable births.

What Dusseldorf Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Painter is Dusseldorf's biggest profession — 10% of all notables (234).

Dusseldorf over-indexes on painter3.9× the global rate.

Dusseldorf under-produces football — only 0.4× the global rate.

  1. Painter234
  2. Actor189
  3. Politician176
  4. Football110
  5. Writer98
  6. Academic81
  7. Author74
  8. Lawyer51
  1. Painter2343.9×
  2. Author743.7×
  3. Academic813.5×
  4. Sculptor453.0×
  5. Economist242.5×
  6. Historian502.1×
  7. Architect402.0×
  8. Artist431.8×
  1. Football1100.4×
  2. Singer290.6×
  3. Politician1760.7×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

155016001650170017501800185019001950
  • Art & Design
  • Writing
  • Politics & Law
  • Sports
  • Film & TV
  • Science
  • Other
All2,294
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Showing 21 of 2,294 notable people

0028 PAINTER

Peter von Cornelius

1784 - 1867

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0054 BIOGRAPHER

Karl August Varnhagen von Ense

1785 - 1858

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0215 PAINTER

Clemens von Zimmermann

1788 - 1869

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0291 POET

Rosa Maria Assing

1783 - 1840

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0336 POLITICIAN

Eduard von Schenk

1788 - 1841

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0453 PAINTER

Robert von Langer

1783 - 1846

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0756 ART HISTORIAN

Franz Brulliot

1780 - 1836

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0899 MISSING

Friedrich von Schenk

1785 - 1866

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0970 ARCHIVIST

Theodor Joseph Lacomblet

1789 - 1866

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1015 CHAMBERLAIN

Franz von Spee

1781 - 1839

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1323 PAINTER

Jakob Wilhelm Hüber

1787 - 1871

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1382 MISSING

Johann Wilhelm von Mirbach-Harff

1784 - 1849

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1396 OFFICER

Carl Theodor von Seyssel d’Aix

1780 - 1863

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1416 OFFICER

Pierre Chrétien Korte

1788 - 1862

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1817 EDITOR

Heinrich Arnz

1785 - 1854

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1886 ENGINEER

Carl Schnitzler

1789 - 1864

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2122 CHAMBERLAIN

Leopold Balduin von Zandt

1784 - 1851

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2204 HERR

Wilhelm von Quadt-Wykradt-Isny

1783 - 1849

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2220 POLITICIAN

Johann Christian Zimmermann

1786 - 1857

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2244 MILITAR

Ferdinand Karl von Zandt

1783 - 1826

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2257 THEATRE

Josef Gerhard Cornelius

1783 - 1843

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