52.4003° N, 13.0678° E

POTSDAM

Most Famous People Born in Potsdam, Germany

Notable people
899
Peak decade
1980s
Median birth year
1911
Most distinctive
Leutnant 39.1×

The Prussian royal seat, and the numbers still march in uniform: the Leutnant bench runs at nearly forty times the German baseline, Generalmajor at thirty, and Prince at fourteen — Sanssouci and the Hohenzollern parade ground written into the demographic record. The postwar pivot is quieter but visible in the Academic and Diplomat lines, the research institutes and the Einstein Tower physics that replaced the crown.

Through the Decades

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

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1980s with 78 notable births.

What Potsdam Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Actor is Potsdam's biggest profession — 11% of all notables (95).

Potsdam over-indexes on leutnant39.1× the global rate.

Potsdam under-produces football — only 0.2× the global rate.

  1. Actor95
  2. Politician68
  3. Writer35
  4. Painter30
  5. Officer29
  6. Academic21
  7. Football18
  8. Architect16
  1. Leutnant1339.1×
  2. Generalmajor1630.8×
  3. Prince1114.3×
  4. Soldier95.6×
  5. Officer294.9×
  6. Rower92.7×
  7. Diplomat132.5×
  8. Botanist92.5×
  1. Football180.2×
  2. Politician680.6×
  3. Singer120.6×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

1700175018001850190019502000
  • Film & TV
  • Politics & Law
  • Science
  • Writing
  • Sports
  • Military
  • Other
All899
Sort By

Showing 36 of 899 notable people

0008 PLAYWRIGHT

Peter Weiss

1916 - 1982

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0021 ASTRONOMER

Martin Schwarzschild

1912 - 1997

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0052 ACTOR

Hans Richter (actor)

1919 - 2008

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0101 PRINCE

Prince Karl Franz of Prussia

1916 - 1975

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0112 PRINCE

Prince Alexander Ferdinand of Prussia

1912 - 1985

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0131 ACTOR

Daisy D'ora

1913 - 2010

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0143 PRINCE

Carol Victor, Hereditary Prince of Albania

1913 - 1973

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0144 MATHEMATICIAN

Wolfgang Hahn

1911 - 1998

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0220 PRINZ

Cecilie von Preußen (1917–1975)

1917 - 1975

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0262 ACADEMIC

Helmut Herbert Hermann Rex

1913 - 1967

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0273 ACADEMIC

Ursula Wertheim

1919 - 2006

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0280 NATURALIST

Harry Blossfeld

1913 - 1986

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0283 PAINTER

Siegward Sprotte

1913 - 2004

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0374 LAWYER

Friedrich Franz von Papen

1911 - 1983

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0379 FILM

Louis Edmund Hagen

1916 - 2000

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0383 AIRMAN

Hubertus von Bonin

1911 - 1943

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0405 HISTORIAN

Hans Christoph von Seherr-Thoss

1918 - 2011

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0455 WRITER

Erika von Hornstein

1913 - 2005

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0511 LIBRARIAN

Helmut Boese (Bibliothekar, 1916)

1916 - 2001

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0524 MISSING

Friedrich Karl von Preußen (1919–2006)

1919 - 2006

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0528 FILM

Willi Teichmann

1916 - 1979

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0573 DRIVER

Petermax Müller

1912 - 2002

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0576 LAWYER

Walther Rosenthal

1917 - 1987

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0580 ACADEMIC

Wolfgang Schweitzer (Theologe)

1916 - 2009

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0587 JOURNALIST

Karl-Heinz Hanisch

1915 - 1997

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0614 ACADEMIC

Elsa Ullmann

1911 - 2010

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0628 POLITICIAN

Heinz Karl Behrendt

1913 - 2003

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0650 PAINTER

Werner Nerlich

1915 - 1999

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0709 LAWYER

Fritz Rietdorf

1915 - 1988

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0733 COMPOSER

Gerhardt Ahl

1912 - 1967

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0763 PRODUCTION DESIGNER

Mathias Matthies

1911 - 2004

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0783 OFFICER

Harry Andree

1913 - 1944

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0792 MILITAR

Max Herzbach

1914 - 2002

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0795 OFFICER

Kurt Vogel (General der Volkspolizei)

1910 - 1995

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0825 OFFICER

Richard Dombrowsky

1911 - 1987

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0827 DIPLOMAT

Karl Gadow

1913 - 1992

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