52.1311° N, 11.6394° E

MAGDEBURG

Most Famous People Born in Magdeburg, Germany

Notable people
1,379
Peak decade
1930s
Median birth year
1902
Most distinctive
Generalmajor 26.4×

A Prussian garrison town turned East German industrial city, and both halves show up in the bench. Magdeburg's distinctive professions are Generalmajoren, handball players, canoeists, teachers, entrepreneurs, authors, academics, and theologians — the trades of an officer class, a GDR sport school, and a rebuilt postwar university. Otto von Guericke was born here (he of the Magdeburg hemispheres), Telemann was kapellmeister here, and the 10th-century bench reaches back to Otto I, who used the city as his imperial base.

Through the Decades

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

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1930s with 110 notable births.

What Magdeburg Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Politician is Magdeburg's biggest profession — 14% of all notables (194).

Magdeburg over-indexes on generalmajor26.4× the global rate.

Magdeburg under-produces football — only 0.3× the global rate.

  1. Politician194
  2. Actor78
  3. Academic50
  4. Football44
  5. Author43
  6. Writer40
  7. Painter40
  8. Lawyer35
  1. Generalmajor2126.4×
  2. Handball276.3×
  3. Canoe145.6×
  4. Teacher144.3×
  5. Entrepreneur173.6×
  6. Author433.6×
  7. Academic503.6×
  8. Theologian153.0×
  1. Football440.3×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

1500155016001650170017501800185019001950
  • Politics & Law
  • Science
  • Writing
  • Sports
  • Film & TV
  • Art & Design
  • Other
All1,379
Sort By

Showing 93 of 1,379 notable people

0010 POLITICIAN

Franz Seldte

1882 - 1947

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0051 COMPOSER

Herms Niel

1888 - 1956

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0058 GEOLOGIST

Hans Cloos

1885 - 1951

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0066 ACADEMIC

Adolf Behne

1885 - 1948

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0102 ECONOMIST

Kurt Singer

1886 - 1962

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0113 PHILOLOGIST

Wolfgang Aly

1881 - 1962

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0137 SWIMMER

Arno Bieberstein

1886 - 1918

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0170 DIVER

Kurt Behrens

1884 - 1928

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0196 TYPOGRAPHER

Heinrich Jost

1889 - 1948

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0198 PHYSICIST

Walter Friedrich (Biophysiker)

1883 - 1968

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0201 MILITAR

Adolf-Friedrich Kuntzen

1889 - 1964

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0211 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Ernst Wahle

1889 - 1981

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0253 WRITER

Martin Beradt

1881 - 1949

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0282 SWIMMER

Max Ritter

1886 - 1974

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0283 ART HISTORIAN

Martin Schede

1883 - 1947

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0288 PAINTER

Gustave Baumann

1881 - 1971

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0306 SCHOLAR

Arthur Spanier

1889 - 1944

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0307 CHEMIST

Hans Kühne

1880 - 1969

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0312 FOOTBALL

Rudolf Droz

1888 - 1914

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0337 SCREENWRITER

Werner Bernhardy (Schauspieler)

1884 - 1953

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0347 POLITICIAN

Otto Meier (Politiker)

1889 - 1962

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0374 MATHEMATICIAN

Georg Wiarda

1889 - 1971

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0382 ACTOR

Billy Jenkins (Artist)

1885 - 1954

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0392 ARCHITECT

Otto Kohtz

1880 - 1956

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0425 WRITER

Hans Bodenstedt

1887 - 1958

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0432 PAINTER

Dora Brandenburg-Polster

1884 - 1958

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0442 HISTORIAN

Reinhold Lewin

1888 - 1943

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0547 ACADEMIC

Gottwalt Christian Hirsch

1888 - 1972

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0561 ACADEMIC

Paul Gieseke

1888 - 1967

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0583 ECONOMIST

Wilhelm Andreae (Ökonom)

1888 - 1962

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0585 LITERARY

Franz Herwig

1880 - 1931

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0593 JUDGE

Ernst Brandis

1880 - 1945

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0594 ATHLETIC

Wilhelm Jahn (athlete)

1889 - 1973

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0609 POLITICIAN

Werner Fischer-Defoy

1880 - 1955

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0610 COMPOSER

Horst Platen

1884 - 1964

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0626 AUTHOR

Adele Elkan

1884 - 1943

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0643 OFFICER

Fritz Herrmann (SS-Mitglied)

1885 - 1970

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0653 POLITICIAN

Hans Engel (Staatssekretär)

1887 - 1945

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0664 ARCHAEOLOGIST

Max Pieper

1882 - 1941

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0666 JUDGE

Johannes Denecke

1884 - 1974

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0671 PHILOLOGIST

Rudolf Keydell

1887 - 1982

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0674 ENTREPRENEUR

Martin Nathusius (Fabrikant)

1883 - 1941

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0675 BACTERIOLOGIST

Ernst Gerhard Dresel

1885 - 1964

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0679 OFFICER

Eugen Lindau

1883 - 1960

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0687 HISTORIAN

Hans Silberborth

1887 - 1949

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0689 DEACON

Ehrengard Frank-Schultz

1885 - 1944

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0693 COMPOSER

Fritz Brandt (Komponist)

1880 - 1949

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0696 SURGEON

Franz Schede

1882 - 1976

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0707 POLITICIAN

Gustav Winter (Politiker)

1882 - 1936

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0716 LAWYER

Werner Wittgenstein

1882 - 1965

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0717 TEACHER

Wilhelm Fehse

1880 - 1946

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0733 WRITER

Erwin von Busse

1885 - 1939

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0744 TEACHER

Curt Fensterbusch

1888 - 1978

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0766 ART HISTORIAN

Hermann Giesau

1883 - 1949

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0772 ACADEMIC

Alfred Stühmer

1885 - 1957

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0799 CHEMIST

Walther Schrauth

1881 - 1939

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0855 PAINTER

Paul Thol

1887 - 1956

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0874 ARCHITECT

Herbert Conert

1886 - 1946

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0875 COMPOSER

Curt Beilschmidt

1886 - 1962

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0887 JOURNALIST

Paul Rodemann

1887 - 1963

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0903 POLITICIAN

Kurt von Borries

1885 - 1968

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0906 TEACHER

Willy Stegemann

1889 - 1946

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0922 ART HISTORIAN

Günther Deneke

1882 - 1942

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0955 POLITICIAN

Richard Lohmann

1881 - 1935

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0957 CHEMIST

Kurt Bennewitz (Chemiker)

1886 - 1964

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0964 LAWYER

Kurt Schmeisser (Verwaltungsjurist)

1889 - 1958

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0967 PHYSICIST

Karl Heinrich Hecht

1880 - 1961

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0983 POLITICIAN

Otto Rüdiger (Politiker)

1885 - 1976

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1001 NOTARY

Bernhard Hofmann (Jurist)

1889 - 1954

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1049 LAWYER

Heinrich Lippert

1882 - 1943

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1067 POLITICIAN

Otto Schumann (Politiker, 1888)

1888 - 1945

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1083 SCHNEIDER

Richard Wernecke

1881 - 1934

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1102 ACTOR

Mabel May-Yong

1883 - 1945

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1120 POLITICIAN

Karl Baier (Politiker)

1887 - 1973

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1132 POLITICIAN

Erich Kreutz

1884 - 1943

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1136 POLITICIAN

Georg Zehle

1882 - 1945

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1164 POLITICIAN

Hermann Paul Reichardt

1885 - 1962

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1166 CIVIL SERVICE

Johann Duvigneau

1885 - 1945

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1210 ASSESSOR

Jürgen von Funck

1882 - 1963

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1211 POLITICIAN

Alfred Finke

1888 - 1971

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1212 ARCHITECT

Hans Heller (Architekt)

1884 - 1917

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1257 LEUTNANT

Hans von Sommerfeld

1888 - 1961

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1258 POLITICIAN

Fritz Räcke

1882 - 1952

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1310 POLITICIAN

Hermann Schiering

1884 - 1944

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1314 POLITICIAN

Willi Trinne

1884 - 1973

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1316 POLITICIAN

Oskar Wischeropp

1882 - 1956

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1323 BUSINESS

Martin Fräsdorff

1881 - 1966

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1338 JOURNALIST

Paul Prien

1885 - 1958

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1355 LAWYER

Heinrich Schumann (Landrat)

1881 - 1951

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1360 POLITICIAN

Franz Otto Müller

1883 - 1961

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1363 POLITICIAN

Max Schwieger

1884 - 1945

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1372 SCHWIMMER

Carl Gubener

1884 - 1971

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1374 POLITICIAN

Gustav Grabau

1888 - 1977

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