# List of German Nobel laureates

From the Nobel Prize's establishment in 1901 until 1956, Germany had the highest number of Nobel laureates in the world. Today, Germany is the nation with the 3rd most Nobel Prize winners: 2nd most in the category of physics, 3rd most in chemistry and physiology or medicine, and 4th most in literature. Overall, there are 115 German Nobel Prize laureates.

## Nobel Peace Prize

| Name | Year | Lifespan | Achievements |
| Gustav Stresemann | 1926 | 1878–1929 | Reconciliation with France to ensure peace in Europe |
| Ludwig Quidde | 1928 | 1858–1941 | Organization of peace conferences |
| Carl von Ossietzky | 1935 | 1889–1938 | Commitment against German militarism as editor of Weltbühne |
| Albert Schweitzer | 1952 | 1875–1965 | Work against the nuclear armament |
| Willy Brandt | 1971 | 1913–1992 | Ostpolitik |
| Henry Kissinger | 1973 | 1923–2023 | Negotiation of a ceasefire in the Vietnam War |

## Nobel Prize in Literature

| Name | Year | Lifespan | Achievements |
| Theodor Mommsen | 1902 | 1817–1903 | The History of Rome |
| Rudolf Eucken | 1908 | 1846–1926 | "for serious seeking after truth, penetrating thought, breadth and warmth of presentation, with which he has represented and developed an ideal worldview in numerous works" |
| Paul Heyse | 1910 | 1830–1914 | his fictional works |
| Gerhart Hauptmann | 1912 | 1862–1946 | "for his fruitful and versatile work in the realm of dramatic poetry" |
| Thomas Mann | 1929 | 1875–1955 | Buddenbrooks |
| Hermann Hesse | 1946 | 1877–1962 | "for his work imbued with profound immersion that developed ever more boldly and incisively, revealing the ideals of classical humanism along with a high artistic style" |
| Nelly Sachs | 1966 | 1891–1970 | "for her outstanding lyrical and dramatic works that interpret the fate of Israel with moving strength" |
| Heinrich Böll | 1972 | 1917–1985 | Complete works |
| Günter Grass | 1999 | 1927–2015 | Life's work |
| Herta Müller | 2009 | * 1953 | Complete works |

## Nobel Prize in Chemistry

| Name | Year | Lifespan | Achievements |
| Emil Fischer | 1902 | 1852–1919 | Research on sugar and purine groups |
| Adolf von Baeyer | 1905 | 1835–1917 | Work on organic dyes and hydroaromatic compounds |
| Eduard Buchner | 1907 | 1860–1917 | Discovery of cell-free fermentation |
| Wilhelm Ostwald | 1909 | 1853–1932 | Work on Catalysis |
| Otto Wallach | 1910 | 1847–1931 | Research in the field of cyclic hydrocarbons |
| Richard Willstätter | 1915 | 1872–1942 | Research on chlorophyll |
| Fritz Haber | 1918 | 1868–1934 | Development of a process for producing Ammonia |
| Walther Nernst | 1920 | 1864–1941 | Research on Thermochemistry |
| Heinrich Otto Wieland | 1927 | 1877–1957 | Research on Bile Acids |
| Adolf Windaus | 1928 | 1876–1959 | "for merits regarding the research on the structure of sterines and their relationship with vitamins" |
| Hans von Euler-Chelpin | 1929 | 1873–1964 | "for research on sugar fermentation and the contribution of enzymes to this process" |
| Hans Fischer | 1930 | 1881–1945 | Hemin synthesis |
| Friedrich Bergius | 1931 | 1884–1949 | "for contributions to the discovery and development of chemical high-pressure processes" |
| Carl Bosch | 1931 | 1874–1940 | Development of chemical high-pressure processes |
| Richard Kuhn | 1938 | 1900–1967 | "for his work on carotenoids and vitamins" |
| Adolf Butenandt | 1939 | 1903–1995 | Research on Steroid Hormones |
| Otto Hahn | 1944 | 1879–1968 | "for his discovery of the fission of heavy atomic nuclei" |
| Otto Diels | 1950 | 1876–1954 | Discovery of the Diels-Alder Reaction |
| Kurt Alder | 1950 | 1902–1958 | Discovery of the Diels-Alder Reaction |
| Hermann Staudinger | 1953 | 1881–1965 | Founding of Polymer Chemistry |
| Karl Ziegler | 1963 | 1898–1973 | Discoveries in the field of Polymers |
| Manfred Eigen | 1967 | 1927–2019 | Measurement of the rates of fast chemical reactions |
| Gerhard Herzberg | 1971 | 1904–1999 | "for his contributions to the knowledge of the electronic structure and geometry of molecules, especially free radicals" |
| Ernst Otto Fischer | 1973 | 1917–2007 | Research on organometallic sandwich complexes |
| Georg Wittig | 1979 | 1897–1987 | Wittig Reaction |
| Johann Deisenhofer | 1988 | * 1943 | "for the investigation of the three-dimensional structure of the reaction center of Photosynthesis in a purple bacterium" |
| Robert Huber | 1988 | * 1937 | "for the investigation of the three-dimensional structure of the reaction center of Photosynthesis in a purple bacterium" |
| Hartmut Michel | 1988 | * 1948 | "for the investigation of the three-dimensional structure of the reaction center of Photosynthesis in a purple bacterium" |
| Gerhard Ertl | 2007 | * 1936 | "for studies of chemical processes on solid surfaces" |
| Stefan Hell | 2014 | * 1962 | "for the development of super-resolution fluorescence microscopy" |
| Joachim Frank | 2017 | * 1940 | "for the development of Cryo-Electron Microscopy for high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules" |
| Benjamin List | 2021 | * 1968 | "for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis to accelerate chemical reactions" |

## Nobel Prize in Physics

| Name | Year | Lifespan | Achievements |
| Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen | 1901 | 1845–1923 | Discovery of X-Rays |
| Philipp Lenard | 1905 | 1862–1947 | Research in solid state and atomic physics |
| Ferdinand Braun | 1909 | 1850–1918 | Contribution to the development of wireless Telegraphy |
| Wilhelm Wien | 1911 | 1864–1928 | Research on Thermal Radiation |
| Max von Laue | 1914 | 1879–1960 | Diffraction of X-rays by crystals |
| Max Planck | 1918 | 1858–1947 | Discovery of the Planck constant |
| Johannes Stark | 1919 | 1874–1957 | Discovery of the optical Doppler Effect and the Stark Effect |
| Albert Einstein | 1921 | 1879–1955 | "for his contributions to theoretical physics, especially for his discovery of the law of the Photoelectric Effect" |
| James Franck | 1925 | 1882–1964 | Confirmation of the Bohr Atom Model |
| Gustav Hertz | 1925 | 1887–1975 | Confirmation of the Bohr Atom Model |
| Werner Heisenberg | 1932 | 1901–1976 | Founding of Quantum Mechanics |
| Max Born | 1954 | 1882–1970 | Fundamental research in quantum mechanics |
| Walther Bothe | 1954 | 1891–1957 | Development of the Coincidence Method |
| Rudolf Mößbauer | 1961 | 1929–2011 | Discovery of the Mößbauer Effect |
| J. Hans D. Jensen | 1963 | 1907–1973 | Development of the Shell Model of atomic nuclei |
| Maria Goeppert-Mayer | 1963 | 1906–1972 | Development of the Shell Model of atomic nuclei |
| Klaus von Klitzing | 1985 | * 1943 | Discovery of the Quantized Hall Effect |
| Gerd Binnig | 1986 | * 1947 | Development of the Scanning Tunneling Microscope |
| Ernst Ruska | 1986 | 1906–1988 | Invention of the Electron Microscope |
| Johannes Georg Bednorz | 1987 | * 1950 | Discovery of ceramic High-Temperature Superconductors |
| Wolfgang Paul | 1989 | 1913–1993 | Development of the ion trap (Paul Trap) |
| Hans Georg Dehmelt | 1989 | 1922–2017 | Development of the Ion Trap |
| Horst Ludwig Störmer | 1998 | * 1949 | "for the discovery of a new type of quantum fluid with fractionally charged excitations" |
| Herbert Kroemer | 2000 | 1928–2024 | Development of semiconductor heterostructures for high-speed and optoelectronics |
| Wolfgang Ketterle | 2001 | * 1957 | Generation of the Bose-Einstein Condensate |
| Theodor W. Hänsch | 2005 | * 1941 | Development of the Frequency Comb in connection with his other achievements |
| Peter Grünberg | 2007 | 1939–2018 | "for the discovery of Giant Magnetoresistance (GMR)" |
| Reinhard Genzel | 2020 | * 1952 | "for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the center of our galaxy" |
| Klaus Hasselmann | 2021 | * 1931 | "for groundbreaking contributions to the understanding of complex physical systems", specifically "for discovering how the interplay of disorder and fluctuations determines physical systems from the atomic to the planetary level." |

## Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

| Name | Year | Lifespan | Achievements |
| Emil Behring | 1901 | 1854–1907 | Work on serum therapy |
| Robert Koch | 1905 | 1843–1910 | Discovery of the pathogens of anthrax, tuberculosis, and cholera |
| Paul Ehrlich | 1908 | 1854–1915 | Foundation of immunology |
| Albrecht Kossel | 1910 | 1853–1927 | "in recognition of his contributions to the knowledge of cell chemistry through his work on proteins, including the nuclear substances" |
| Otto Fritz Meyerhof | 1922 | 1884–1951 | Research on metabolism in muscle |
| Otto Heinrich Warburg | 1931 | 1883–1970 | Research on respiratory ferment |
| Hans Spemann | 1935 | 1869–1941 | Discovery of the organizer effect and artificial cloning of organisms with Hilde Mangold |
| Otto Loewi | 1936 | 1873–1961 | "for discoveries in the chemical transmission of nerve impulses" |
| Gerhard Domagk | 1939 | 1895–1964 | Discovery of the antibacterial effects of the sulfonamide Prontosil |
| Ernst Boris Chain | 1945 | 1906–1979 | Discovery of Penicillin |
| Hans Adolf Krebs | 1953 | 1900–1981 | Discovery of the Citric Acid Cycle |
| Werner Forßmann | 1956 | 1904–1979 | "for discoveries on cardiac catheterization and pathological changes in the circulatory system" |
| Feodor Lynen | 1964 | 1911–1979 | Research on the regulation of cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism |
| Konrad Bloch | 1964 | 1912–2000 | Research on the regulation of cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism |
| Max Delbrück | 1969 | 1906–1981 | Foundation of modern molecular biology and genetics |
| Bernard Katz | 1970 | 1911–2003 | Work on the quantized form of synaptic transmission |
| Karl von Frisch | 1973 | 1886–1982 | "discoveries regarding the organization and triggering of individual and social behavior patterns" |
| Georges J. F. Köhler | 1984 | 1946–1995 | Research on the immune system and monoclonal antibodies |
| Erwin Neher | 1991 | * 1944 | Discoveries on the function of individual ion channels in cells |
| Bert Sakmann | 1991 | * 1942 | "for the development of a method for the direct detection of ion channels in cell membranes for the study of signal transmission within and between cells" |
| Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard | 1995 | * 1942 | Research on the genetic control of early embryonic development |
| Günter Blobel | 1999 | 1936–2018 | "for the discovery of signals embedded in proteins that control their transport and localization within the cell" |
| Harald zur Hausen | 2008 | 1936–2023 | Research on human papillomavirus |
| Thomas Südhof | 2013 | * 1955 | Research on the transport system of cells |

## Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel

| Name | Year | Life Dates | Distinguished Contributions | Image |
| Reinhard Selten | 1994 | 1930–2016 | Research on game theory | |