# List of people from the former eastern territories of Germany

Numerous figures in German culture and history (some still living) were either born, resident, or spent a substantial part of their lives in the former eastern territories of Germany. A non-exhaustive list follows:

## Politicians, statesmen and diplomats
### 18th century

* Catherine the Great (1729 in Stettin – 1796 in Saint Petersburg) was Empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796, the country's longest-ruling female leader
* Friedrich Leopold Freiherr von Schrötter (1743 in Friedland – 1815 in Berlin) a German Junker, Prussian government minister and until 1806 Reichsfreiherr of the Holy Roman Empire
* Friedrich von Gentz (1764 in Breslau – 1832 in Vienna) a German diplomat and writer, friend of Fanny Elssler

### 19th century

* Ferdinand Lassalle (1825 in Breslau – 1864 in Carouge) a German-Jewish jurist, philosopher, socialist and political activist, initiated international-style socialism in Germany
* Adalbert Falk (1827 in Metschkau – 1900 in Hamm) was a German politician and lawyer
* Eduard Lasker (1829 in Jarotschin – 1884 New York, United States) a German politician and jurist, inspired by the French Revolution, he became a spokesman for liberalism
* Leo von Caprivi (1831 in Berlin – 1899 in Skyren) an Imperial German Army general, served as Chancellor of Germany from 1890 to 1894
* Philipp, Prince of Eulenburg (1847 in Königsberg – 1921 in Liebenberg, Löwenberger Land) a diplomat and composer, close friend of Wilhelm II. He fell from power in 1907 due to the Harden–Eulenburg affair when he was accused of homosexuality.
* Elard von Oldenburg-Januschau (1855 in Beisleiden - 1937 in Marienwerder) was a German Junker and conservative German National People's Party politician
* Georg Michaelis (1857 in Haynau – 1936 in Bad Saarow) was Chancellor of Germany for a few months in 1917
* Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein (1858 in Dolzig Palace – 1921 in Huis Doorn, Netherlands) was the last German empress and queen of Prussia by marriage to Wilhelm II, German Emperor
* Walther von Lüttwitz (1859 in Bodland – 1942 in Breslau) a German general who fought in World War I, driving force behind the Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch of 1920
* Karl Max, Prince Lichnowsky (1860 in Kreuzenort – Kuchelna 1928) was a German diplomat who served as Ambassador to Britain during the July Crisis in 1914
* Arthur Zimmermann (1864 in Marggrabowa – 1940 in Berlin) was State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the German Empire from 22 November 1916/17, author of the intercepted and decoded Zimmermann Telegram
* Frederick Augustus III of Saxony (1865 in Dresden – 1932 in Sibyllenort) was the last King of Saxony (1904–1918) and a member of the House of Wettin
* Paul Hensel (1867 in Gehsen – 1944 in Kolberg) a German Lutheran theologian and politician, champion of the Masurians
* Otto Landsberg (1869 in Rybnick – 1957 in Baam, Netherlands) a German jurist, politician and diplomat, went to Versailles to receive Treaty of Versailles
* Gustav Bauer (1870 in Darkehmen – 1944 in Berlin) was a German Social Democratic Party leader and 11th Chancellor of Germany 1919 to 1920
* Wilhelm Pieck (1876 in eastern Guben – 1960 in East Berlin) German Communist Party politician, first President of the German Democratic Republic in 1949
* Reinhold Wulle (1882 in Falkenberg – 1950 in Gronau) a German journalist, anti-Semite and Völkisch politician

### 20th century

* Helmuth James Graf von Moltke (1907 in Kreisau – executed 1945) a German jurist, founder member of the Kreisau Circle
* Herbert Hupka (1915-2006) raised in Ratibor was a German-Jewish journalist, politician and advocate for the Germans expelled from neighbouring countries after World War II
* Hans Modrow (born 1928 in Jasenitz) a German politician, best known as the last Chairman of the Council of Ministers of East Germany
* Manfred Stolpe (born 1936 in Stettin) was Federal Minister of Transport in the Federal Republic of Germany 2002/05
* Egon Krenz (born 1937 in Kolberg) a former East German politician who was the last President of East Germany in 1989
* Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia (born 1943 in Grünberg) is businessman and member of the House of Hohenzollern

## Military figures
### Historical

* Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (1742 in Rostock – 1819 in Krieblowitz) a Prussian Army Generalfeldmarschall and co-victor over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo
* Johann David Ludwig Graf Yorck von Wartenburg (1759 in Potsdam – 1830 in Klein Öls) a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall influential in securing an alliance between Prussia and Russia during the War of the Sixth Coalition
* Hermann von Boyen (1771 in Kreuzburg – 15 February 1848) a Prussian army officer and minister of war of Prussia

### Army

* Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz (1843 in Adlig Bielkenfeld – 1916 in Baghdad) a Prussian Field Marshal and military advisor to the Ottoman Army
* Kuno von Moltke (1847 in Neustrelitz – 1923 in Breslau) adjutant to Kaiser Wilhelm II and military commander of Berlin, was a principal in the homosexual scandal known as the Harden-Eulenburg Affair
* Paul von Hindenburg (1847 in Posen – 1934 in Neudeck) a German field-marshal in WWI and President of the German Reich in 1925 to 1934
* Hermann von Eichhorn (1848 in Breslau – 1918 in Kiev) was a Prussian officer, later Generalfeldmarschall during WWI
* Max von Gallwitz (1852 in Breslau – 1937 in Naples) a German general who served with distinction during WW1
* Fritz von Below (1853 in Danzig – 1918 in Weimar) a Prussian general in the German Army during WW1.
* Otto Liman von Sanders (1855 Stolp – 1929 in Munich) German general, adviser and military commander to the Ottoman Army
* Erich von Falkenhayn (1861 in Burg Belchau – 1922 in Potsdam) the Chief of the German General Staff in WWI 1914 to 1916
* Hans Feige (1880 in Königsberg – 1953 in Bad Schussenried) was a German General of the Infantry in the Wehrmacht in WWII
* Günther von Kluge (1882 in Posen – 1944 in Metz) a German field marshal during WWII
* Erich Fellgiebel (1886 in Pöpelwitz– executed 1944 in Berlin) a German Army general and a conspirator in the 20 July plot
* Heinz Guderian (1888 in Kulm – 1954 in Schwangau) a German general during WWII, the innovator and proponent of the blitzkrieg
* Walter Nehring (1892 in Stretzin – 1983) a German general in the Wehrmacht during WWII who commanded the Afrika Korps.
* Dietrich von Saucken (1892 in Fischhausen – 1980 in Pullach) a general in the Wehrmacht during WWII
* Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz (1893 in Gross Stein – 1968 in Trostberg) a German Army officer of aristocratic descent, served in WWI and WWII
* Hermann Balck (1893 in Danzig – 1982 in Asperg) a decorated officer of the German Army who served in both WWI and WWII
* Dietrich von Choltitz (1894 in Gräflich Wiese – 1966 in Baden-Baden) a German General, last military governor of Paris in WWII
* Walter Schilling (1895 in Chełmo – 1943 in Izium) a German general during WWII
* Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz (1896 Krumpach – 1969 in Neuburg) a Prussian Junker, Olympic equestrian and German officer who served in both World Wars
* Friedrich von Mellenthin (1904 in Breslau – 1997 in Johannesburg) a German general during WWII
* Rochus Misch (1917 in Alt-Schalkowitz – 2013 in Berlin) last surviving occupant of the Führerbunker

### SS

* Felix Steiner (1896 in Stallupönen – 1966 in Munich) an Obergruppenführer in the Waffen-SS during WWII
* Kurt Daluege (1897 in Kreuzburg – executed 1946 in Prague) Deputy Protector for the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
* Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski (1899 in Lauenburg – 1972 in Munich) in 1944 he led the brutal suppression of the Warsaw Uprising
* Werner Ostendorff (1903 in Königsberg - 1945 in Bad Aussee) was a German SS-general in WWII, served as chief of staff of the II SS Panzer Corps

### Air Force

* Walther Wever (1887 in Wilhelmsort – 1936 in Dresden) a pre-WWII Luftwaffe Commander, proponent of strategic bombing
* Kurt Student (1890 in Birkholz – 1978 in Lemgo) a German Fallschirmjäger general in the Luftwaffe during WWII
* Manfred von Richthofen (1892 in Breslau – 1918 near Vaux-sur-Somme), also known as the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during WWI, considered the ace-of-aces with 80 air combat victories.
* Kurt Wintgens (1894 Neustadt in Oberschlesien – 1916 in Villers-Carbonnel) was a German WWI fighter ace
* Max Näther (1899 Lauenbrunn – 1919 in Kolmar in Posen) a German WWI ace fighter pilot, probably the youngest
* Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg (1903 in Krotoschin – 1945 in Straubing) an aviator who served as a test pilot in the Luftwaffe in WWII
* Rudolf Schoenert (1911 in Glogau – 1985 in Manitoba) night fighter flying ace in the German Luftwaffe during WWII
* Hanna Reitsch (1912 in Hirschberge – 1979 in Frankfurt a/M) Germany's most famous female aviator and test pilot
* Hans-Jürgen Stumpff (1889 in Kolberg - 1968 in Frankfurt am Main) a German air forces general who signed the unconditional surrender in 1945
* Günther Radusch (1912 in Schwetz – 1988 in Nordstrand) a German pilot in the German Luftwaffe during WWII
* Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke (1913 in Schrimm – 1944 in Schöppenstedt) a German Luftwaffe pilot during WWII and fighter ace
* Hans-Ulrich Rudel (1916 in Konradswaldau – 1982 in Rosenheim) a German ground-attack pilot during WWII and prominent neo-Nazi activist in Latin America
* Helmut Lent (1918 Pyrehne – 1944 in Paderborn) a German night-fighter ace in WWII.
* Joachim Müncheberg (1918 in Friedrichsdorf – 1943 in Tunisia) a German Luftwaffe military aviator during WWII and fighter ace
* Gerhard Barkhorn (1919 in Königsberg – 1983 in Frechen) the second most successful fighter ace
* Walter Krupinski (1920 in Domnau – 2000 in Neunkirchen-Seelscheid) a Bundeswehr general and a fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe in WWII
* Paul Zorner (1920 in Roben – 2014 in Homburg) a German night fighter pilot, who fought in the Luftwaffe in WW II
* Wolfgang Martini (1891 in Lissa - 1963 in Düsseldorf), Luftwaffe officer, promoted the use of radar in the German Air Force

### Espionage

* Renate von Natzmer (1898 in Borkow – beheaded 1935 in Berlin) German noblewoman who worked for Polish intelligence
* Max Otto Koischwitz (1902 – 1944) a naturalized American of German origin who broadcast Nazi propaganda during WWII
* Wolfgang Vogel (1925 in Wilhelmsthal – 2008 in Schliersee) East German lawyer, brokered spy exchanges during the Cold War

## Scientists and mathematicians

* Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus (1651 in Kieslingswalde – 1708 in Dresden) a German mathematician, physicist, physician, and philosopher
* Friedrich Wilhelm von Reden (1752 in Hamelin - 1815 in Schloss Buchwald), mining engineer and government official who contributed to the industrialisation of Silesia
* Karl Godulla (1781 in Makoschau - 1848 in Breslau) industrialist, the "King of Zinc", industrialised Silesia
* Heinrich Göppert (1800 in Sprottau – 1884 in Breslau) a German botanist, paleontologist and paleobotanist
* Ferdinand Schichau (1814 in Elbing – 1896 in Elbing) a German mechanical engineer and businessman
* Hermann Brehmer (1826 in Strehlen – 1889 in Görbersdorf) a German physician who established the first German sanatorium for the systematic open-air treatment of tuberculosis in Görbersdorf
* Ferdinand Cohn (1828 in Breslau – 1898) a German biologist, one of the founders of modern bacteriology and microbiology.
* Ferdinand von Richthofen (1833 in Bad Carlsruhe in O.S – 1905 in Berlin) better known in English as Baron von Richthofen, was a German traveller, geographer, and scientist.
* Paul Ehrlich (1854 in Strehlen – 1915 in Bad Homburg) a German Jewish physician and scientist who worked on hematology, immunology, and antimicrobial chemotherapy
* Paul Gottlieb Nipkow (1860 in Lauenburg in Pommern – 1940 in Berlin) was a German technician and inventor of the Nipkow disk
* David Hilbert (1862 in Wehlau – 1943 in Göttingen) was a German mathematician, developed invariant theory and the axiomatization of geometry
* Hugo Münsterberg (1863 in Danzig – 1916 USA) a German-American psychologist, pioneer in applied psychology
* Johannes Thienemann (1863 – 1938 in Rossitten) a German ornithologist who in 1901 established the Rossitten Bird Observatory, the world's first, on the Curonian Spit
* Alois Alzheimer (1864–1915 in Breslau) a German psychiatrist and neuropathologist, identified "presenile dementia", later called Alzheimer's disease
* Walther Nernst (1864 in Briesen – 1941 in Zibelle) a German chemist, worked on thermodynamics, won the 1920 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
* Emil Krebs (1867 in Freiburg in Schlesien – 1930 in Berlin) a German polyglot and sinologist
* Fritz Haber (1868 in Breslau – 1934 in Basel) a German chemist, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his invention of the Haber–Bosch process
* Georg von Arco (1869 in Großgorschütz – 1940 in Berlin) a German physicist, radio pioneer and joint founder of Telefunken
* Max Born (1882 in Breslau – 1970 in Göttingen) a German physicist and mathematician who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics
* Edward Sapir (1884 in Lauenburg – 1939 USA) a Prussian-American anthropologist-linguist, important figure in linguistics
* Gerhard Domagk (1895 in Lagow – 1964 in Burgberg) a German pathologist and bacteriologist, discovered the first commercially available antibiotic (Prontosil) and received the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
* Maria Goeppert-Mayer (1906 in Kattowitz – 1972 USA) a German-born American theoretical physicist, won the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics for proposing the nuclear shell model of the atomic nucleus
* Wernher von Braun (1912 in Wirsitz – 1977 USA) a German, later American, aerospace engineer and space architect, invented the V-2 rocket for Nazi Germany and the Saturn V for the United States
* Günter Blobel (born 1936 in Waltersdorf) a Silesian German biologist and winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Physiology
* Klaus Clusius (1903 in Breslau - 1963 in Zürich), physical chemist who worked on Germany's abortive nuclear weapon project

## Philosophers and theologians

* George of Polentz (1478 - 1550 in Burg Balga) was the first Lutheran bishop
* Immanuel Kant (1724 in Königsberg – 1804 in Königsberg) a German philosopher and a central figure in the Enlightenment and modern philosophy
* Johann Georg Hamann (1730 in Königsberg – 1788 in Münster) a German philosopher, theologian and philologist
* Johann Gottfried Herder (1744 in Mohrungen – 1803 in Weimar) was a German philosopher, theologian, poet, and literary critic
* Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 in Danzig – 1860 in Frankfurt) a German philosopher, an atheistic metaphysical and ethical pessimist
* Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher (1768 Breslau – 1834 in Berlin) a German theologian, philosopher and biblical scholar known for developing field of hermeneutics
* Karl Gützlaff (1803 at Pyritz – 1851 in Hong Kong) a German Lutheran missionary to the Far East
* Paul Hensel (1860 in Groß-Barthen near Königsberg – 1930 in Erlangen) a German philosopher and professor at the University of Heidelberg
* Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 in Breslau– in 1945 Flossenbürg) was a German Confessing Church pastor, theologian, spy and anti-Nazi dissident
* Paul Tillich (1886 in Starzeddel - 1965 in Chicago), German-American philosopher and theologian

## Historians and archaeologists

* Heinrich Graetz (1817 in Xions – 1891 in Munich) an historian, wrote a history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective.
* Gottfried Bernhardy (1800 in Landsberg an der Warthe – 1875) German philologist and literary historian
* Ferdinand von Roemer (1818 – 1891) geologist, he formed a mineralogy collection in the Museum at Breslau
* Arthur Milchhöfer (1852 in Schirwindt – 1903) was a German archaeologist
* Otto Jaekel (1863 in Neusalz – 1929 in Beijing) was a German paleontologist and geologist.
* Fritz Gause (1893 – 1973) German historian, archivist and curator wrote a three-volume history of Königsberg
* Bolko von Richthofen (1899 in Mertschütz – 1983) German archaeologist
* Theodor Schieder (1908 – 1984) German historian, moved to Königsberg in 1934 at the age of 26
* Walter Bruno Henning (1908 in Ragnit – 1967 USA) a German scholar of Middle Iranian languages and literature

## Musicians
### Classical

* Georg Riedel (1676 - in Königsberg - 1738 in Königsberg) was a German composer and cantor. He has been referred to as the "East Prussian Bach"
* Sylvius Leopold Weiss (1687 in Grottkau – 1750 in Dresden) a German composer and lutenist.
* Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752 in Königsberg – 1814 in Giebichenstein near Halle) a German composer, writer and music critic.
* Franz von Oppersdorff (1778 in Oberglogau - 1818) a Silesian nobleman and a great lover of music, who commissioned Beethoven's Fourth and Fifth Symphonies
* Johann Sedlatzek (1789 in Oberglogau – 1866 in Vienna) a Silesian flautist born into a family of tailors
* Carl Loewe (1796 in Löbejün – 1869 in Kiel) a German composer, tenor singer and conductor, worked in Stettin for 46 years
* Otto Nicolai (1810 in Königsberg – 1849 in Berlin) a German composer, conductor and founder of the Vienna Philharmonic
* Johann Gottfried Piefke (1817 in Schwerin an der Warthe – 1884 in Frankfurt an der Oder) a German conductor, Kapellmeister and composer of military music
* Wilhelm Joseph von Wasielewski (1822 in Groß-Leesen – 1896 in Sondershausen) a German violinist, conductor and musicologist
* Philipp Scharwenka (1847 in Samter – 1917 in Bad Nauheim) a German composer and teacher of music
* Sir George Henschel (1850 in Breslau – 1934 in Aviemore) a German-born British baritone, pianist, conductor and composer
* Xaver Scharwenka (1850 in Samter – 1924 in Berlin) a German pianist, composer and teacher of Bohemian-Polish descent
* Franz Eckert (1852 in Neurode - 1916 in Keijo, Japanese Korea), arranged the melody of Kimigayo, the Japanese national anthem
* Moritz Moszkowski (1854 in Breslau – 1925 in Paris) a German-Jewish composer, pianist and teacher
* Richard Wetz (1875 in Gleiwitz – 1935 in Erfurt) a German late Romantic composer best known for his three symphonies
* Otto Klemperer (1885 in Breslau – 1973 in Zurich) a German-born conductor and composer, widely regarded as one of the leading conductors of the 20th century
* Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf DBE (1915 in Jarotschin – 2006 in Schruns) a German soprano, amongst the foremost singers of lieder and was renowned for her performances of Viennese operetta; one of the greatest sopranos of the 20th Century
* Kurt Masur (1927 in Brieg – 2015 USA) a German conductor, Kapellmeister of the Gewandhaus, and music director of the New York Philharmonic

### Modern

* Kurt Demmler (1943–2009), songwriter; accused of sexual abuse he hanged himself in his jail cell.
* John Kay (born 1944 in Tilsit is a German-Canadian rock singer, songwriter and guitarist known as the frontman of Steppenwolf
* Edgar Froese (1944 in Tilsit – 2015 in Vienna) a German artist and electronic music pioneer, founded the electronic music group Tangerine Dream
* Alexandra (1942 in Heydekrug - 1969), singer
* Oskar Gottlieb Blarr (born 1934 in Sandlack), organist and composer

## Poets, writers and dramatists
### Poets

* Martin Opitz von Boberfeld (1597 in Bunzlau – 1639 in Danzig) a German poet, seen as the greatest of the nation in his lifetime
* Friedrich von Logau (1605 in Brockut – 1655 in Liegnitz) a German poet and epigrammatist of the Baroque era.
* Andreas Gryphius (1616 in Glogau – 1664 in Glogau) a German lyric poet and dramatist
* Angelus Silesius (c.1624 in Breslau – 1677 in Breslau) a German Catholic priest, physician, mystic and religious poet.
* Ewald Christian von Kleist (1715 in Groß-Poplow – 1759 in Frankfurt (Oder)) a German poet and cavalry officer
* Max von Schenkendorf (1783 in Tilsit – 1817 in Koblenz) a German poet educated at Königsberg and writer of patriotic songs.
* Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788 in Ratibor – 1857 in Neiße) a Prussian poet, novelist, playwright and literary critic

### Writers

* E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776 in Königsberg – 1822 in Berlin) a Prussian Romantic author of fantasy and Gothic horror, a jurist, composer, music critic, draftsman and caricaturist
* Bogumil Goltz (1801–1870) a German humorist and satirist, schooled in Marienwerder and Königsberg, lived in Gollub
* Gustav Freytag (1816 in Kreuzburg – 1895 in Wiesbaden) a German novelist and playwright.
* Gerhart Hauptmann (1862 in Ober Salzbrunn – 1946 in Agnetendorf) a German dramatist and novelist. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1912.
* Alfred Döblin (1878 in Stettin – 1957 in Emmendingen) a German novelist, essayist, and doctor
* Arnold Zweig (1887 in Glogau – 1968 in East Berlin) a German writer and anti-war and antifascist activist
* Marion Dönhoff (1909 in Schloss Friedrichstein – 2002) a German journalist who worked for over 55 years for the Hamburg-based, weekly newspaper Die Zeit, as an editor and later publisher.
* Siegfried Lenz (1926 in Lyck – 2014 in Hamburg) a German writer of novels, short stories and essays
* Günter Grass (1927 in Danzig – 2015 in Lübeck) a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1999
* Janosch, (born 1931 in Hindenburg) is one of the best-known German children's book authors and illustrators

## Painters and visual artists

* Michael Willmann (1630 in Königsberg – 1706 in Leubus) a German painter and Baroque artist, "the Silesian Rembrandt"
* Karl Friedrich Lessing (1808 in Breslau - 1880 in Karlsruhe) a German historical and landscape painter
* Adolph Menzel (1815 in Breslau – 1905 in Berlin) a German Realist artist noted for drawings, etchings, and paintings.
* Lovis Corinth (1858 in Tapiau – 17 July 1925 in Zandvoort) a German artist and writer, he realized a synthesis of impressionism and expressionism.
* Käthe Kollwitz (1867 in Königsberg – 1945 in Moritzburg) a German artist, who worked with painting, printmaking and sculpture.
* Alfred Partikel (1888 in Goldap - date of death unknown) a German artist

## Architects

* Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff (1699 in Kuckädel – 1753 in Berlin) designed Berlin's Sanssouci Palace
* Carl Gotthard Langhans (1732 in Landeshut – 1808 in Grüneiche) designer of the Brandenburg Gate
* Carl Ferdinand Langhans (1782 in Breslau – 1869 in Berlin) built among others the Breslau Opera
* Max Berg (1870 in Stettin – 1947 in Baden-Baden) was designer of the Centennial Hall in Breslau
* Friedrich Lahrs (1880 in Königsberg – 1964 in Stuttgart) designed the Kunsthalle Königsberg (completed 1913) in Tragheim
* Richard Konwiarz (1883 in Karlshausen – 1960 in Hanover) designed the Silesian Arena, now the Olympic Stadium in Wrocław
* Erich Mendelsohn (1887 in Allenstein) – 1953 in San Francisco) was a Jewish German architect, known for his expressionist architecture in the 1920s
* Hanns Hopp (1890 in Lübeck - 1971 in East Berlin) lived in Königsberg and designed many public and private buildings there
* Bruno Taut (1880 in Königsberg - 1938 in İstanbul)

## Film, TV, and theatre

* Robert Wiene (1873 in Breslau – 1938 in Paris) a film director of the German silent cinema of expressionist films
* Hans Heinrich von Twardowski (1898 in Stettin – 1958 in New York) was a German film actor
* Armin Mueller-Stahl (born 1930 in Tilsit) is a German film actor, painter and author, lives in Los Angeles
* Marianne Hold (1933 in Johannisburg – 1994 in Lugano) was a German movie actress, popular in the 1950s and 1960s
* Veruschka von Lehndorff (born 1939 in Königsberg) a German model, actress, and artist, popular in the 1960s
* Matthias Habich (born 1940 in Danzig) is a German actor, lives in Paris
* Volker Lechtenbrink (1944 in Cranz - 1921 in Hamburg) German television actor and singer
* Ludwig Manfred Lommel (1891 in Jauer - 1962 in Bad Nauheim) actor
* Ruth Lommel (1918 in Breslau - 2012 in Mönchengladbach) actress
* Ulli Lommel (1944 in Zielenzig - 2017 in Stuttgart) a German actor and director, collaborated with Rainer Werner Fassbinder
* Agnes Sorma (born 1862 in Breslau - 1927 in Arizona), stage actress

## Miscellaneous

* Sophie Ursinus (1760 in Glatz – 1836 in Glatz) serial killer
* Karl Denke (1860 in Münsterberg – 1924 in Münsterberg) a notorious cannibalistic serial killer in Silesia
* Emanuel Lasker (1868 in Berlinchen – 1941 USA) was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher
* Herbert Meinhard Mühlpfordt (1893 in Königsberg – 1982 in Lübeck) a German internist, art historian, and cultural historian.
* Sir Ludwig Guttmann CBE FRS (1899 in Tost – 1980 in Aylesbury) founder of the Paralympic Games
* Paul Mross (1910 in Bismarckhütte – 1991 in Düsseldorf) was a Polish–German chess master
* Herta Heuwer (1913 in Königsberg – 1999 in Berlin) inventor of the currywurst
* Beate Uhse-Rotermund (1919 in Cranz – 2001 in St Gallen) aviator and founder of the world's first sex shop, Beate Uhse AG
* Hardy Rodenstock (1941 in Marienwerder - 2018 Oberaudorf) publisher, wine connoisseur and suspected wine fraudster
* Manfred Schaefer (1943 in Pillau), footballer
* Lorenz Schwietz (1850 in Groß Döbern - 1925 in Breslau) executioner; most of his executions were carried out in Prussian cities east of the Oder