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
Sort By

Showing 137 of 2,294 notable people

0003 FILM

Wim Wenders

Born 1945

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0015 ACTOR

Marius Müller-Westernhagen

Born 1948

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0029 MUSIC

Florian Schneider

1947 - 2020

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0074 SKATER

Monika Dannemann

1946 - 1996

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0079 CONDUCTOR

Peter Ruzicka

Born 1948

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0114 POLITICIAN

Joachim Starbatty

Born 1940

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0211 FILM

Jutta Brückner

Born 1941

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0232 SPORT

Udo Hempel

Born 1946

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0241 FOOTBALL

Peter Meyer (footballer)

Born 1940

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0248 NOVELIST

Ursula Hegi

Born 1946

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0251 ECONOMIST

Martin Hellwig

Born 1949

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0257 FOOTBALL

Horst Heese

Born 1943

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0258 SCULPTOR

Bernd Lohaus

1940 - 2010

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0263 HISTORIAN

Gerd Krumeich

Born 1945

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0281 ACTOR

Inga Abel

1946 - 2000

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0302 HISTORIAN

Wilhelm Baum

Born 1948

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0308 ACTOR

Mr. Lee Grant

Born 1945

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0310 RUNNER

Christa Vahlensieck

Born 1949

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0313 HISTORIAN

Annette Leo

Born 1948

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0322 ARTIST

Ferdinand Kriwet

1942 - 2018

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0335 FOOTBALL

Heribert Bruchhagen

Born 1948

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0383 HISTORIAN

Walter H. Pehle

Born 1941

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0392 PHOTOGRAPHER

Ulrich Hensel

Born 1946

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0407 PHILOSOPHER

Annemarie Pieper

Born 1941

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0435 POLITICIAN

Barbara Weiler

Born 1946

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0484 SCULPTOR

Peter Schwickerath

Born 1942

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0489 ACADEMIC

Dittmar Dahlmann

Born 1949

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0511 SCREENWRITER

Moshe Kahn

Born 1945

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0524 PALAEONTOLOGIST

Rainer Springhorn

Born 1948

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0544 PRESENTER

Carmen Thomas

Born 1946

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0548 MATHEMATICIAN

Peter Rentrop

Born 1948

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0587 WRITER

Hajo Düchting

1949 - 2017

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0589 ETHNOLOGIST

Gottfried Korff

Born 1942

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0591 SCREENWRITER

Heide Keller

Born 1941

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0595 ACADEMIC

Kaspar Maase

Born 1946

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0681 PAINTER

Hella Santarossa

Born 1949

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0697 POLITICAL SCIENTIST

Ulrich Menzel

Born 1947

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0700 CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Joachim Hunold

Born 1949

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0702 ARTIST

Ulrich Erben

Born 1940

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0705 ECONOMIST

Theo Siegert

Born 1947

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0722 WRITER

Hubert Maessen

1947 - 2015

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0724 ARTIST

Manfred Spies (Grafiker)

Born 1941

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0755 WRITER

Klaus Waller

Born 1946

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0776 COMPOSER

Dirk Reith

Born 1947

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0781 MANAGER

Ulrich Lehner

Born 1946

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0784 AUTHOR

Horst Pukallus

Born 1949

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0793 ACADEMIC

Herbert Kaufmann (Augenarzt)

Born 1941

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0800 WRITER

Eva-Maria Berg

Born 1949

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0819 PHILOSOPHER

Kurt Bayertz

Born 1948

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0824 MATHEMATICIAN

Bernhard Ganter

Born 1949

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0834 ACTOR

Bodo Staiger

1949 - 2019

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0836 POLITICIAN

Karin Junker

Born 1940

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0847 MATHEMATICIAN

Ulrich Trottenberg

Born 1945

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0871 MUSIC

Wolfgang Riechmann

1947 - 1978

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0881 ENTREPRENEUR

Paul-Otto Faßbender

Born 1946

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0898 SCREENWRITER

Joachim Hammann

Born 1946

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0909 HISTORIAN

Wolfgang Dreßen

Born 1942

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0910 ECONOMIST

Arndt Sorge

Born 1945

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0912 LAWYER

Klaus Hubert Görg

Born 1940

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0924 PROFESSOR

Klaus P. Hansen

Born 1942

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0931 SOLDIER

Wolfgang Engels

Born 1943

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0949 HISTORIAN

Jürgen Malitz

Born 1947

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0957 MATHEMATICIAN

Tassilo Küpper

Born 1947

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0979 ENTREPRENEUR

Karl-Heinz Theisen

1940 - 2015

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0993 PARSON

Christian Wolff (Pfarrer)

Born 1949

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1006 HISTORIAN

Jürgen Reulecke

Born 1940

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1098 JOURNALIST

Klaus Prömpers

Born 1949

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1120 THEOLOGIAN

Gerhard Marcel Martin

Born 1942

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1128 ACTOR

Norbert Kentrup

Born 1949

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1196 ARTIST

Memphis Schulze

1944 - 2008

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1228 ARCHITECT

Rudolf Bergermann

Born 1941

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1254 TRANSLATOR

Coletta Bürling

Born 1948

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1264 SWIMMER

Birgit Klomp

Born 1940

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1267 MISSING

Jürgen Wilbert

Born 1945

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1270 HISTORIAN

Angela Genger

Born 1947

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1272 IMMUNOLOGIST

Peter Wernet

Born 1941

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1279 ART HISTORIAN

Gisbert Knopp

Born 1941

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1283 KAUFMAN

Alfred Platow

Born 1946

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1308 SOCIOLOGIST

Paul Windolf

Born 1946

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1312 ARCHAEOLOGIST

Anneliese Peschlow

Born 1940

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1360 PHOTOGRAPHER

Richard Gleim

1941 - 2019

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1384 POLITICIAN

Detlef Parr

Born 1942

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1386 ART HISTORIAN

Klaus Heinrich Kohrs

Born 1944

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1391 ARTIST

Astrid Heibach

Born 1949

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1423 ACTOR

Dorothea Neukirchen

Born 1941

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1466 EDITOR

Bruno M. Kübler

Born 1945

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1469 THEOLOGIAN

Reiner Strunk

Born 1941

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1471 JOURNALIST

Georg Matthes

Born 1942

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1473 ACTOR

Wolfgang Neuhausen

Born 1949

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1481 PHILOSOPHER

Rudolf Kamp

Born 1946

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1502 MUSIC

Werner Compes

Born 1942

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1508 WRITER

Dieter Hülsmanns

1941 - 1981

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1510 THEOLOGIAN

Hans Grewel

Born 1940

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1540 CALLIGRAPHER

Alexandra Remmes

1946 - 2015

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1550 ARCHAEOLOGIST

Jürgen Oldenstein

Born 1947

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1551 JOURNALIST

Bernd Müller (Journalist)

1940 - 2018

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1565 ART HISTORIAN

Angela Thomas

Born 1948

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1585 DIPLOMAT

Helga von Strachwitz

Born 1940

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1595 ACTOR

Walter Stapper

Born 1940

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1629 WRITER

Dieter Strecker

Born 1944

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1630 ACADEMIC

Annely Rothkegel

Born 1942

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1632 AUTHOR

Barbara Ming

Born 1946

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1634 WRITER

Hermann Spix

Born 1946

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1642 POLITICIAN

Axel Endlein

Born 1941

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1646 MATHEMATICIAN

Max Peter Baur

Born 1948

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1708 AUTHOR

Jürgen Preuss

Born 1942

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1786 PIANIST

Franz-Josef Birk

Born 1949

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1788 ADMINISTRATOR

Detlef Wendler

Born 1949

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1801 JOURNALIST

Justin Westhoff

Born 1948

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1812 FOOTBALL

Peter Biesenkamp

1946 - 2019

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1866 LITERARY

Karl Hölz

1942 - 2017

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1870 ACTOR

Peer Brensing

Born 1946

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1873 ENTREPRENEUR

Josef Klüh

Born 1942

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1896 JOURNALIST

Ina Hoerner

Born 1949

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1908 ENGINEER

Manfred Bandmann

Born 1947

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1914 JUDGE

Ursula Gerhardt

Born 1943

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1932 ACADEMIC

Karl-Heinz Schmäke

Born 1944

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1947 FOOTBALL

Horst Häfner

1940 - 2020

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1976 LAWYER

Horst Förster (Politiker)

Born 1942

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1985 THEOLOGIAN

Jost Eckert

1940 - 2020

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1995 POLITICIAN

Anne-Hanne Siepenkothen

Born 1949

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2013 MODERATOR

Sissy de Mas

Born 1946

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2044 FOOTBALL

Fred Hesse

Born 1942

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2066 RESTAURATEUR

Bert Poensgen

1947 - 2017

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2100 PHYSICIST

Volker Dohm

Born 1943

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2164 BRUDER

Hermann Franzen

1940 - 2019

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2171 THEATRE

Heinz Engels

1942 - 2007

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2177 MISSING

Ferdi Huick

1940 - 2006

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2192 POLITICIAN

Theo Hoer

Born 1941

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2195 REGIERUNG

Ariane Müller-Ressing

Born 1947

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2205 JOURNALIST

Volker Jacobs

Born 1940

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2218 JUDGE

Michael Klein (Richter)

Born 1945

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2227 JOURNALIST

Karl-Ulrich Kuhlo

Born 1947

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2233 POLITICIAN

Roswitha Müllerwiebus

Born 1946

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2246 MUSIC

Albert Gohlke

1949 - 1980

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2250 POLITICIAN

Gisela Ley

1940 - 2013

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2265 HOCKEY

Horst Hübbers

Born 1940

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