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 52 of 2,294 notable people

0006 MATHEMATICIAN

Felix Klein

1849 - 1925

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0098 PAINTER

Peter Janssen

1844 - 1908

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0113 SCULPTOR

Otto Lessing (sculptor)

1846 - 1912

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0155 PAINTER

Karl Rudolf Sohn

1845 - 1908

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0162 PAINTER

Theodor Hagen (artist)

1842 - 1919

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0184 PUBLISHER

August Scherl

1849 - 1921

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0201 AUTHOR

Frederick Niecks

1845 - 1924

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0227 PAINTER

Emilie Preyer

1849 - 1930

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0260 EXPLORER

Johann Maria Hildebrandt

1847 - 1881

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0306 PAINTER

Max Volkhart

1848 - 1924

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0368 NOBLE

Alexandra Zhukovskaya

1842 - 1912

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0441 PAINTER

Arnold Forstmann

1842 - 1914

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0462 PAINTER

Franz Müller (peintre)

1843 - 1929

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0468 PAINTER

Karl Mücke

1847 - 1923

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0483 SCULPTOR

Conrad Kiesel

1846 - 1921

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0562 PAINTER

Jacobus Leisten

1844 - 1918

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0831 POLITICIAN

Ernst von Mirbach

1844 - 1925

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0913 ETCHER

Carl Ernst Forberg

1844 - 1915

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0948 PAINTER

Joseph Heydendahl

1844 - 1906

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0965 PAINTER

Fritz Beinke

1842 - 1907

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0968 PAINTER

Carl Maria Seyppel

1847 - 1913

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0986 ARTIST

Gustav Kruell

1843 - 1907

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1152 ARISTOCRAT

Guilhermina de Württemberg

1844 - 1892

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1206 ARCHITECT

Carl Hampel

1849 - 1930

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1266 SCULPTOR

Karl Hilgers

1844 - 1925

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1305 PAINTER

Joseph Scheurenberg

1846 - 1914

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1402 PAINTER

Franz Cremer

1845 - 1908

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1499 SCULPTOR

Gottfried Götting

1840 - 1879

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1542 PAINTER

Paula Monjé

1849 - 1919

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1568 POLITICIAN

August Dreesbach

1844 - 1906

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1662 SCULPTOR

Leo Müsch

1846 - 1911

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1675 LIEUTENANT

Hermann zu Solms-Braunfels

1845 - 1900

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1701 LAWYER

Alex Franken

1847 - 1896

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1743 PAINTER

Paul Preyer

1847 - 1931

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1753 MISSING

Albrecht Prinz zu Solms-Braunfels

1841 - 1901

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1767 BOOKSELLER

Georg Stilke

1840 - 1900

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1797 KAUFMAN

August Stein

1842 - 1903

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1835 ACTOR

Amanda Tscherpa

1846 - 1915

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1869 POLITICIAN

Otto Bender (Politiker, 1847)

1847 - 1904

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1894 PAINTER

Ludwig Lanckow

1845 - 1908

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1925 MISSING

Wilhelm Trimborn

1843 - 1930

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1952 PAINTER

Julius Kruchen

1845 - 1912

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1968 PAINTER

Adolf Graß

1841 - 1926

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1980 ACTOR

Clara Meyer

1848 - 1922

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2017 POLITICIAN

Carl Derossi

1844 - 1910

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2040 JUDGE

Theodor Kirsch (Politiker)

1847 - 1911

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2042 BOOKSELLER

Moritz Pläschke (Buchhändler)

1847 - 1914

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2070 PAINTER

Anton Eitel (Kupferstecher)

1841 - 1928

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2128 OFFICER

Eugene Henry Cozzens Leutze

1847 - 1931

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2252 POLITICIAN

Theodor Stankeit

1848 - 1927

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2259 ARCHITECT

Peter Friedrich Peters

1848 - 1918

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2264 MERCHANT

Hermann Thielen

1844 - 1915

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