49.0159° N, 8.4031° E

KARLSRUHE

Most Famous People Born in Karlsruhe, Germany

Notable people
1,427
Peak decade
1960s
Median birth year
1920
Most distinctive
Author 4.6×

A baroque grand-ducal city founded in 1715 around the fan-shaped palace of the Margraves of Baden-Durlach. Karlsruhe's distinctive professions are academic authors, chemists, engineers, judges, and architects — the trades of a Residenzstadt that grew into a 19th-century technical university town and never lost the official-document register. Karl Benz built the first automobile here in 1885, and Oliver Kahn and a deep column of other Bundesliga footballers came out of the local Karlsruher SC academy.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Karlsruhe during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1960s with 165 notable births.

What Karlsruhe Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Politician is Karlsruhe's biggest profession — 10% of all notables (136).

Karlsruhe over-indexes on author4.6× the global rate.

Karlsruhe under-produces singer — only 0.6× the global rate.

  1. Politician136
  2. Football98
  3. Actor69
  4. Painter63
  5. Author56
  6. Academic56
  7. Writer44
  8. Lawyer38
  1. Author564.6×
  2. Academic563.9×
  3. Chemist173.4×
  4. Judge233.4×
  5. Engineer232.6×
  6. Historian372.5×
  7. Architect312.5×
  8. Officer212.2×
  1. Singer170.6×
  2. Football980.6×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

160016501700175018001850190019502000
  • Science
  • Politics & Law
  • Writing
  • Sports
  • Art & Design
  • Film & TV
  • Other
All1,427
Sort By

Showing 77 of 1,427 notable people

0047 FILM

Jan Harlan

Born 1937

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0108 CHEMIST

Dieter Seebach

Born 1937

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0155 POLITICIAN

Dieter Haack

Born 1934

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0166 SINGER

Hermann Becht

1939 - 2009

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0198 RESEARCH

Norbert Lechner

1939 - 2004

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0201 ATHLETIC

Lothar Knörzer

Born 1933

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0224 JUDGE

Hans Hugo Klein

Born 1936

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0257 LINGUIST

Klaus J. Kohler

Born 1935

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0262 CHEMIST

Nils Wiberg

1934 - 2007

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0309 COMPUTER SCIENTIST

Joseph F. Traub

1932 - 2015

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0314 CONDUCTOR

Matthias Kuntzsch

Born 1935

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0334 POLITICAL SCIENTIST

Frank R. Pfetsch

Born 1936

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0348 POLITICIAN

Peter Corterier

1936 - 2017

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0351 WRITER

Günter Dietz

1930 - 2017

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0352 ACTOR

Maria Machado

Born 1937

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0362 DANCER

Gerhard Bohner

1936 - 1992

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0377 WISSENSCHAFTLER

Gerold Ungeheuer

1930 - 1982

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0380 PAINTER

Ursula Laquay-Ihm

Born 1932

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0400 SURGEON

Reinhold Ganz

Born 1939

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0424 PAINTER

Hans Baschang

1937 - 2017

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0461 POLITICIAN

Horst Rehberger

Born 1938

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0468 MANAGER

Manfred Lautenschläger

Born 1938

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0470 PAINTER

Jürgen Wittdorf

1932 - 2018

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0481 ACADEMIC

Gerhard Sauder

Born 1938

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0484 MUSIC

Gerhard Mantel

1930 - 2012

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0486 COMPOSER

Volker Heyn

Born 1938

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0496 ACADEMIC

Lothar Roos

Born 1935

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0524 ECONOMIST

Gerhard Seiler

Born 1930

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0546 LAWYER

Adolf Theis

1933 - 2013

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0547 FOOTBALL

Manfred Eglin

1935 - 2001

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0578 ACADEMIC

Volker Schupp

Born 1934

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0621 ACADEMIC

Peter Sulzer

1932 - 2019

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0640 AUTHOR

Jürgen Breest

Born 1936

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0663 PAINTER

Friedhelm Weick

1936 - 2017

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0672 ECONOMIST

Dieter Farny

1934 - 2013

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0679 ART HISTORIAN

Reinhard Bentmann

Born 1939

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0701 THEOLOGIAN

Gerhard Liedke

Born 1937

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0703 LAWYER

Winfried Brohm

1932 - 2012

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0704 ARTIST

Horst Meister

Born 1937

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0728 COMPOSER

Uwe Lohrmann

1936 - 2018

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0750 ARCHIVIST

Wolfram Angerbauer

1938 - 2011

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0756 BOTANIST

Dieter Heß

Born 1933

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0758 PROFESSOR

Hans Reichenbach (Mikrobiologe)

1936 - 2018

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0801 PHYSICIST

Folker Wittmann

Born 1936

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0812 CARDIOLOGIST

Horst Heine

1930 - 2015

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0833 ARTIST

Barbara Bredow

Born 1937

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0844 PRIEST

Norbert Ruf

1933 - 2012

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0847 FENCER

Volkmar Würtz

Born 1938

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0852 ORGANIST

Peter Siegele

Born 1938

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0869 ROMANIST

Rainer Hess (Romanist)

1936 - 2004

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0883 ASTROPHYSICIST

Gisbert Winnewisser

1936 - 2011

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0886 HISTORIAN

Horst F. Pampel

1934 - 2010

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0899 ACTOR

Michael Münzer

1936 - 2012

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0907 INTERNIST

Bernd Michael Fischer

Born 1939

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0925 ACADEMIC

Wolfgang Maßberg

Born 1932

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0940 PREACHER

Siegfried Müller (Prediger)

Born 1935

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0967 AUTHOR

Romy Schurhammer

1936 - 2019

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0972 SCULPTOR

Rolf Gentz

Born 1939

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0999 HISTORIAN

Jörg Schadt

Born 1937

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1047 WRITER

Eberhard Raetz

Born 1938

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1070 AUTHOR

Horst Krautter

1933 - 1996

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1091 DEKAN

Rüdiger Beile

Born 1932

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1100 POLITICIAN

Gerhard Bloemecke

1936 - 2013

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1150 AUTHOR

Peter Schmidt (Journalist)

Born 1938

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1187 SCULPTOR

Gunther Granget

1932 - 2010

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1228 POLITICIAN

Wolfram Meyer

1931 - 2000

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1234 POLITICIAN

Erwin Sack

1935 - 1999

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1249 FOOTBALL

Heinz Schmitt (Fußballspieler)

Born 1937

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1252 POLITICIAN

Dieter Stoltz

Born 1938

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1291 FOOTBALL

Max Schwall (Fußballspieler)

Born 1932

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1334 PAINTER

Eugen Daub

Born 1939

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1349 PIANIST

Udo Fink (Musiker)

Born 1936

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1354 POLITICIAN

Helgo Bran

Born 1937

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1370 FOOTBALL

Dieter Klaußner

Born 1938

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1373 THEOLOGIAN

Volker Jürgens

1936 - 2013

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1405 BALLET

Rolf Hodapp

1930 - 1991

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1425 EDITOR

Bruno Waltert

1937 - 2017

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