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
Academic81
Sort By

Showing 81 of 2,294 notable people

0073 ACADEMIC

Franz Grashof

1826 - 1893

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0437 ACADEMIC

Lorenz Engell

Born 1959

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0467 ACADEMIC

Hilde Léon

Born 1953

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0479 ACADEMIC

Adam Wrede

1875 - 1960

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0489 ACADEMIC

Dittmar Dahlmann

Born 1949

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0568 ACADEMIC

Mischa Kuball

Born 1959

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0582 ACADEMIC

Wolfgang Hünnekens

Born 1958

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0595 ACADEMIC

Kaspar Maase

Born 1946

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0623 ACADEMIC

Alexander von Daniels (Rechtswissenschaftler) –

1800 - 1868

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0664 ACADEMIC

Kurt Abels

1928 - 2014

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0674 ACADEMIC

Carl Crome

1859 - 1931

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0714 ACADEMIC

Günter B. Fettweis

1924 - 2018

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0717 ACADEMIC

Petra Gehring

Born 1961

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0727 ACADEMIC

Helge Pross

1927 - 1984

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0758 ACADEMIC

Helmut Kirchmeyer

Born 1930

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0793 ACADEMIC

Herbert Kaufmann (Augenarzt)

Born 1941

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0815 ACADEMIC

Stephan Breidenbach

Born 1955

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0820 ACADEMIC

Haimo Schack

Born 1952

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0825 ACADEMIC

Katharina Gräfin von Schlieffen

Born 1956

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0840 ACADEMIC

Kerstin Wolff

Born 1967

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0846 ACADEMIC

Eve-Marie Engels

Born 1951

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0861 ACADEMIC

Ulrich Engel (Theologe)

Born 1961

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0864 ACADEMIC

Johannes Ludwig (Architekt, 1904)

1904 - 1996

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0901 ACADEMIC

Kajetan Eßer

1913 - 1978

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0907 ACADEMIC

Christian von Coelln

Born 1967

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0939 ACADEMIC

Andrea D. Bührmann

Born 1961

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0944 ACADEMIC

Reinhard Mehring

Born 1959

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1024 ACADEMIC

Dieter Henrich (Jurist)

Born 1930

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1044 ACADEMIC

Dieter Hein

Born 1951

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1107 ACADEMIC

Michael Pawlik

Born 1965

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1114 ACADEMIC

Werner Schöllgen

1893 - 1985

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1154 ACADEMIC

Christoph Becker (Jurist)

Born 1960

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1192 ACADEMIC

Walter von Wecus

1893 - 1977

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1224 ACADEMIC

Ulrich Karthaus

Born 1935

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1281 ACADEMIC

Jürgen Grzesik

Born 1929

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1285 ACADEMIC

Oswald Flamm

1861 - 1935

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1287 ACADEMIC

Georg Bier

Born 1959

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1294 ACADEMIC

Hans Joachim Fiedler

Born 1927

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1298 ACADEMIC

Walter Lipgens

1925 - 1984

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1315 ACADEMIC

Michael Konkel

Born 1969

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1352 ACADEMIC

Renate Böschenstein-Schäfer

1933 - 2003

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1359 ACADEMIC

Carl-Friedrich Stuckenberg

Born 1964

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1366 ACADEMIC

Bernhard Aubin

1913 - 2005

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1372 ACADEMIC

Walter F. Schirmer

1888 - 1984

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1383 ACADEMIC

Gerhard Croll

1927 - 2019

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1395 ACADEMIC

Marie-Agnes Dittrich

Born 1954

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1400 ACADEMIC

Ulrich Prill

1960 - 2010

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1408 ACADEMIC

Thomas Hartmann-Wendels

Born 1957

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1412 ACADEMIC

Kurt Leschonski

1930 - 2002

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1457 ACADEMIC

Lothar Michael

Born 1968

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1459 ACADEMIC

Katharina Brichetti

Born 1968

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1476 ACADEMIC

Dirk Hanschel

Born 1969

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1487 ACADEMIC

Jürgen Pohl (Mediziner)

Born 1970

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1496 ACADEMIC

Udo Schagen

Born 1939

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1523 ACADEMIC

Barbara Richartz

Born 1962

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1586 ACADEMIC

Thomas Birkmann

Born 1955

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1596 ACADEMIC

Heinz Jordan (Ingenieur)

1906 - 1982

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1615 ACADEMIC

Ernst Custodis

1898 - 1990

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1616 ACADEMIC

Wilhelm Schreckenberg

1925 - 2006

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1618 ACADEMIC

Axel Kokemoor

Born 1965

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1619 ACADEMIC

Jürgen Meyer (Kardiologe)

Born 1939

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1630 ACADEMIC

Annely Rothkegel

Born 1942

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1739 ACADEMIC

Andreas Bockisch

Born 1950

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1750 ACADEMIC

Nadine Rentel

Born 1976

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1761 ACADEMIC

Erich Opitz (Physiologe)

1909 - 1953

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1762 ACADEMIC

Karlheinz Rothausen

1928 - 2020

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1784 ACADEMIC

Tyyne Claudia Pollmann

Born 1959

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1808 ACADEMIC

Werner Maaßen

1920 - 2009

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1822 ACADEMIC

Ulrike Auhagen

Born 1967

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1836 ACADEMIC

Traugott Baumgärtel

1891 - 1969

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1845 ACADEMIC

Heinrich Schwartze

1903 - 1970

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1850 ACADEMIC

Juan Bisquert

Born 1962

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1859 ACADEMIC

Dieter Lenoir

Born 1935

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1919 ACADEMIC

Julius Berendes (Mediziner)

1907 - 2001

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1932 ACADEMIC

Karl-Heinz Schmäke

Born 1944

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1971 ACADEMIC

Dietmar Hennecke

Born 1939

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1986 ACADEMIC

Günther Schwietzke

1903 - 1991

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1993 ACADEMIC

Gregor Horres

Born 1960

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2035 ACADEMIC

Wolfgang Liebert

Born 1957

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2036 ACADEMIC

Andreas Sturm (Internist)

Born 1968

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2247 ACADEMIC

Walter Gahlen

1908 - 1994

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