# List of people from Berlin

The following is a list of notable people who were born in Berlin, Germany.

## Politicians and statesmen

* Friedrich Ancillon (1767–1837), Prussian historian and statesman
* Adolf Heinrich von Arnim-Boitzenburg (1803–1868), statesman and politician
* Eduard Bernstein (1850–1932), politician (SPD), member of the Reichstag
* Berthold von Bernstorff (1842–1917), politician and owner of Schiermonnikoog
* Anna of Brandenburg (1487–1514), noblewoman and mother of Christian III (King of Denmark)
* Rudy Boschwitz (born 1930), U.S. Senator from Minnesota and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, born to a Jewish family in Berlin
* Rainer Brüderle (born 1945), politician (FDP)
* Sawsan Chebli (born 1978), politician (SPD)
* Eberhard Diepgen (born 1941), politician (CDU), Governing Mayor of Berlin
* Kurt Eisner (1867–1919), politician (SPD, USPD)
* Frederick the Great (1712–1786), King of Prussia from 1740 until 1786
* Frederick William (1620–1688), Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia from 1640 until 1688
* Frederick William I (1688–1740), King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until 1740
* Frederick William II (1744–1797), King of Prussia from 1786 until 1797
* Stefan Gelbhaar (born 1976), politician (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
* Ernst Ludwig von Gerlach (1795–1877), judge, politician and journalist
* George V of Hanover (1819–1878), King of Hanover from 1851 until 1866
* Gregor Gysi (born 1948), politician (The Left)
* Klaus Gysi (1912–1999), Minister of Culture and state secretary for church affairs of GDR
* Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia (1828–1885), brother of future German emperor William I
* Reinhard Klimmt (born 1942), politician (SPD), Prime Minister of Saarland
* Hans Luther (1879–1962), Chancellor in the Weimar Republic
* David McAllister (born 1971), politician (CDU), Prime Minister of Niedersachsen
* Erich Mielke (1907–2000), head of the Stasi
* Petra Pau (born 1963), politician (The Left)
* Hugo Preuss (1860–1925), lawyer and "father of the Weimar Constitution"
* Jesko von Puttkamer (1855–1917), colonial military chief, and nine times governor of Cameroon
* Walther Rathenau (1867–1922), industrialist, politician (DDP) and Foreign Minister of the Weimar Republic
* Baldur von Schirach (1907–1974), leader of the Hitlerjugend 1931–1940, Reich governor in Vienna
* Heinrich Schoene (1889–1945), SA general and Generalkommissar in Ukraine
* Rupert Scholz (born 1937), politician (CDU)
* Käte Selbmann (1906–1962), teacher and politician (KPD/SED/DFD)
* Paul Singer (1844–1911), SPD co-founder, whose chairman and Reichstag, producer
* Willi Stoph (1914–1999), politician (SED), Chairman of the State Council
* Gustav Stresemann (1878–1929), politician (DVP), chancellor and foreign minister of the Weimar Republic, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
* Otto Wels (1873–1939), politician (SPD)
* William I, German Emperor (1797–1888), German Emperor
* Wilhelm II, German Emperor (1859–1941), German Emperor
* Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709–1758), Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
* Klaus Wowereit (born 1953), politician (SPD), Governing Mayor of Berlin from 2001 to 2014

## Entrepreneurs

* Ellen Allien, musician, DJ, founder of music label BPitch Control
* Heinz Berggruen (1914–2007), art dealer
* Ernst Dümmler (1830–1902), bookseller and historian
* Alexander Duncker (1813–1897), publisher and bookseller
* Friedrich Karl Flick (1927–2006), industrialist and billionaire
* Albert Göring (1895–1966), engineer and business manager
* Klaus and Eva Herlitz (born 1947 and 1952, respectively), business people and the initiators of the Buddy Bears
* Günter Herlitz (1913–2010), business people
* Bernhard Koehler (1849–1927), industrialist and art collector
* Gustav Langenscheidt (1832–1895), language teacher, book publisher, and the founder of the Langenscheidt Publishing Group
* Ernst Litfaß (1816–1874), publisher, inventor of the Litfaßsäule
* Joseph Mendelssohn (1770–1848), banker
* Franz Oppenheim (1852–1929), industrialist and chemist
* Harald Quandt (1921–1967), industrialist
* Hasso Plattner (born 1944), co-founder of SAP SE software company
* Emil Rathenau (1838–1915), industrialist and founder of the AEG
* Wolf Jobst Siedler (1926–2013), publisher and publicist
* Arnold von Siemens (1853–1918), entrepreneur and industrialist
* Carl Friedrich von Siemens (1872–1941), industrialist
* Georg Wilhelm von Siemens (1855–1919), industrialist
* Georg Solmssen (1869–1957), banker
* Joachim Heinrich Wilhelm Wagener (1782–1861), banker and patron of the arts

## Military officers

* Hans-Rudolf Boehmer (born 1938), Vice Admiral A.D. the German Navy, inspector of the navy (1995–1998)
* Karl von Bülow (1846–1921), Prussian field marshal
* Heinz Brandt (1907–1944), General Staff officer
* Adolf von Brauchitsch (1876–1935), German major general
* Walther von Brauchitsch (1881–1948), German field marshal
* Leo von Caprivi (1831–1899), Vice Admiral of the Imperial German Navy, politicians, Chancellor as a successor Bismarck
* Karl Dönitz (1891–1980), Grand admiral and commander of the German Navy in WWII
* Maximilian von Edelsheim (1897–1994), general
* Max von Fabeck (1854–1916), Prussian general
* Maximilian Vogel von Falckenstein (1839–1917), Prussian general
* Friedrich Wilhelm Quirin von Forcade de Biaix (1699–1765), Prussian general
* Georg Freiherr von Gayl (1850–1927), Prussian general
* Ludwig Friedrich Leopold von Gerlach (1790–1861), Prussian general
* Karl von Grolman (1777–1843), Prussian general
* Friedrich Wilhelm von Grumbkow (1678–1739), Prussian field marshal
* Wilhelm von Hahnke (1833–1912), Prussian field marshal
* Henning von Holtzendorff (1853–1919), German admiral
* Ludwig Karl von Kalckstein (1725–1800), Prussian field marshal
* Otto von Knobelsdorff (1886–1966), German general
* Christian Nicolaus von Linger (1669–1755), Prussian general
* Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm von Lützow (1782–1834), Prussian lieutenant general
* Erich von Manstein (1887–1973), German field marshal
* Alexander von Monts (1832–1888), Prussian and German Imperial Navy officer
* Elhard von Morozowicz (1893–1934), Der Stahlhelm official and SA General
* Friedrich Graf Kleist von Nollendorf (1762–1823), Prussian field marshal
* Jürgen Oesten (1913–2010), German Korvettenkapitän in the Kriegsmarine
* Hermann von Oppeln-Bronikowski (1899–1966), German general
* Alexander August Wilhelm von Pape (1813–1895), Prussian field marshal
* Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia (1730–1813), Prussian general
* Adalbert of Prussia (1811–1873), Prussian admiral
* Albert of Prussia (1837–1906), Prussian general field marshal
* Friedrich Karl of Prussia (1828–1873), Prussian field marshal
* Henry of Prussia (1726–1802), 13 child king Frederick William. I in Prussia, the Prussian commander army
* Albert von Rauch (1829–1901), Prussian general
* Fedor von Rauch (1822–1892), cavalry officer in the Prussian Army
* Friedrich von Rauch (1855–1935), Prussian general
* Gustav Waldemar von Rauch (1819–1890), Prussian general
* Nikolaus von Rauch (1851–1904), Prussian colonel
* Klaus Reinhardt (1941–2021), German general
* August Otto Rühle von Lilienstern (1780–1848), Prussian lieutenant general
* Sigismund von Schlichting (1829–1909), Prussian general
* Alfred von Schlieffen (1833–1913), Prussian field marshal
* Samuel von Schmettau (1682–1751), Prussian field marshal
* Rudolf Schmidt (1886–1957), German general
* Friedrich von Sohr (1775–1845), Prussian colonel
* Christoph Ludwig von Stille (1696–1752), Prussian general
* Günther Tamaschke (1896–1959), Nazi SS concentration camp commandant
* Carl Friedrich Heinrich, Graf von Wylich und Lottum (1767–1841), Prussian general

## Scientists

* Otto Wilhelm Hermann von Abich (1806–1886), mineralogist and geologist
* Franz Karl Achard (1753–1821), chemist, geoscientist, physicist and biologist
* Michael Albeck (born 1934), Israeli chemist; President of Bar-Ilan University
* Friedrich Eduard Beneke (1798 – ca.1854), psychologist and philosopher
* Emil du Bois-Reymond (1818–1896), physiologist and public intellectual
* Max Delbrück (1906–1981), biophysicist
* Paul Erman (1764–1851), a Huguenot physicist
* Hermann von Helmholtz (1821–1894), philosopher, physiologist and physicist
* Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld (1921–2015), Dutch astronomer
* Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859), geographer, naturalist, explorer, and influential proponent of Romantic philosophy and science
* Julius Klaproth (1783–1835), orientalist, explorer, historian and ethnographer
* Edmund Landau (1877–1938), mathematician
* Paul Langerhans (1847–1888), pathologist, physiologist, and biologist
* Johann Nathanael Lieberkühn (1711–1756), physician
* Andreas Sigismund Marggraf (1709–1782), chemist
* Bernhard Hermann Neumann (1909–2002), mathematician
* Peter Simon Pallas (1741–1811), naturalist, botanist and zoologist
* Wolf-Dieter Schneider (born 1942), metallurgist and university professor
* Alfred Wegener (1880–1930), polar researcher, geophysicist and meteorologist
* Adolf Windaus (1876–1959), chemist who won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1928
* Carl Gustav Witt (1866–1946), astronomer and discover of two asteroids
* Konrad Zuse (1910–1995), civil engineer, inventor and computer pioneer

## Judges and lawyers

* Heinz Drossel (1916–2008), judge, was honored as Righteous Among the Nations
* Eduard Gans (1797–1839), jurist
* Rudolf von Gneist (1816–1895), jurist and politician
* Wilhelm Heinrich von Grolman (1781–1856), lawyer, Berlin Court of Appeal president (the "righteous judge")
* Fritz Oppenheimer (1898–1968), lawyer
* Jutta Limbach (1934–2016), President of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany from 1994 to 2002, as the first woman in this office
* Hans-Jürgen Papier (born 1943), President of the Federal Constitutional Court from 2002 to 2010

## Theologians

* Kurt Aland (1915–1994), theologian
* Albrecht of Brandenburg (1490–1545), archbishop of Magdeburg and Elector of Mainz, Lord Chancellor of Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation
* Otto Dibelius (1880–1967), leading member of the Confessing Church, bishop of Berlin, Chairman of the Council of Evangelical Church, president of Ecumenical Council
* Regina Jonas (1902–1944), first woman in history to be ordained as a rabbi

## Authors, historians, journalists, scholars and philosophers

* Achim von Arnim (1781–1831), poet and novelist
* Gisela von Arnim (1827–1889), writer
* Bernd-Rainer Barth (born 1957), historian and publicist
* Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten (1714–1762), philosopher
* Heinrich Becker (1770–1822), actor
* Walter Benjamin (1892–1940), philosopher
* Ludwig Borchardt (1863–1938), Egyptologist
* Adolf Brand (1874–1945), writer
* Gottfried Gabriel Bredow (1773–1814), historian
* Heinrich Brugsch (1827–1894), Egyptologist
* Friedrich von Canitz (1654–1699), poet and diplomat
* Hoimar von Ditfurth (1921–1989), physician and journalist
* Georg Ebers (1837–1898), Egyptologist
* Ernst Ehrlich (1921–2007), German-Swiss Judaic scholar and historian
* Joachim Fest (1926–2006), historian and journalist
* Paul Friedlander (1882–1968), philologist and writer
* Kurt Großmann (1897–1972), journalist
* Hans Gustav Güterbock (1908–2000), Hittitologist
* Hans von Hentig (1887–1974), criminologist
* Kurt Hiller (1885–1972), journalist and essayist
* Gerald Holton (born 1922), science historian and physicist
* Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835), philosopher, linguist, government functionary, diplomat, and founder of the Humboldt University of Berlin
* Maybrit Illner (born 1965), journalist
* Robert Jungk (1913–1994), journalist and futurist
* Manuela Kay (born 1964), journalist
* Klemens von Klemperer (1916–2012), historian
* Luise Kraushaar (1905–1989), historian
* Bernhard von Kugler (1837–1898), historian
* Günther von Lojewski (1935–2023), journalist
* Wolf von Lojewski (born 1937), journalist
* Herbert Marcuse (1898–1979), German-American philosopher, political scientist and sociologist
* Erich Maschke (1900–1982), historian and professor of history
* Carolina Michaëlis (1851–1925), a German-Portuguese romanist
* Hildegard Maria Nickel (born 1948), sociologist specializing in gender studies
* Franz Oppenheimer (1864–1943), sociologist and economist
* Iris Radisch (born 1959), journalist
* Peter Rüchel (1937–2019), music journalist
* Hajo Seppelt (born 1963), journalist
* Georg Simmel (1858–1918), sociologist and philosopher
* Gabor Steingart (born 1962), journalist
* Ludwig Tieck (1773–1853), poet, translator, editor, and novelist
* Kurt Tucholsky (1890–1935), journalist
* Rahel Varnhagen (1771–1833), writer and salon host
* Theodor Wolff (1868–1943), journalist

## Actors, architects, artists, comedians, directors and singers

* Ken Adam (1921–2016) set designer
* Nadja Auermann (born 1971), supermodel
* Die Ärzte band members, Farin Urlaub and Bela B
* Peer Augustinski (1940–2014), actor
* Hugo Egon Balder (born 1950), actor and comedian
* Michael Ballhaus (1935–2017), cinematographer
* Mario Barth (born 1972), comedian
* Karl Becker (1820–1900), painter
* Reinhold Begas (1831–1911), sculptor
* Tim Bendzko (born 1985), singer-songwriter
* Dagmar Berghoff (born 1943), actress, radio and television presenter
* Folker Bohnet (1937–2020), actor, theatre director and playwright
* Horst Buchholz (1933–2003), actor
* Buddy, singer
* Karl August Devrient (1797–1872), stage actor
* Ludwig Devrient (1784–1832), actor
* Marlene Dietrich (1901–1992), singer and actress
* Christoph von Dohnányi (born 1929), conductor
* Angelica Domröse (born 1941), actress
* Caroline Fischer (born 1984), pianist
* Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (1925–2012)
* Klaus Doldinger (born 1936), saxophonist
* Elton (born 1971), comedian and television presenter
* Alexander Fehling (born 1981), actor
* Hansjörg Felmy (1931–2007), actor
* Julia Franck (born 1970), writer
* Naomi Frankel (1918–2009), novelist
* Peter Frankenfeld (1913–1979), comedian, radio and television personality
* Liv Lisa Fries (born 1990), actress
* Claus Theo Gärtner (born 1943), actor
* Bonaventura Genelli (1798–1868), painter
* Götz George (1938–2016), actor
* Kurt Gerron (1897–1944), actor
* Valeska Gert (1892–1978), dancer and cabaret artist
* Walter Gronostay (1906–1937), composer
* Walter Gropius (1883–1961), architect
* Georg Grosz (1893–1959), painter
* Nina Hagen (born 1955), singer
* Karoline Herfurth (born 1984), actress
* Judith Hermann (born 1970), writer
* Paul Heyse (1830–1914), novelist, dramatist and poet
* Martina Hill (born 1974), actress
* Margot Hielscher (1919–2017), actress
* Alfred Hirschmeier (1931–1996), film production designer
* Marta Husemann (1913–1960), actress, communist and resistance fighter
* Harald Juhnke (1929–2005) actor, singer, comedian and entertainer
* Roland Kaiser (born 1952), singer
* Nastassja Kinski (born 1961), actress
* Johanna von Koczian (1933–2024), actress
* Wolfgang Kohlhaase (1931–2022), screenwriter and film director
* Hildegard Knef (1925–2002) singer and actress
* Asuman Krause (born 1976) German-Turkish singer, model and television personality
* Hardy Krüger (1928–2022), actor
* Fritz Kühn (1910–1967), visual artist
* Peer Kusmagk (born 1975), actor
* Maria Landrock (1923–1992), actress
* Kevyn Lettau (born 1959), singer jazz
* Max Liebermann (1847–1935), painter
* Paul Lincke (1866–1946), composer and theatre conductor
* Albert Lortzing (1801–1851), composer, librettist, actor and singer
* Ernst Lubitsch (1892–1947), film director, producer, writer, and actor
* Florian Lukas (born 1973), actor
* Markus Majowski (born 1964), actor and comedian
* Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791–1864), opera composer
* Inge Meysel (1910–2004), actress
* Helmut Newton (born Helmut Neustädter) (1920–2004), photographer
* Désirée Nick (born 1956), actress and writer
* Erik Ode (1910–1983), actor and film director
* Gerd Oswald (1919–1989), film director
* Kerstin Ott (born 1982), singer
* Johann Christoph Pepusch (1667–1752), composer, lived in England
* Oliver Petszokat (born 1978), singer
* Günter Pfitzmann (1924–2003), actor
* Hans Poelzig (1864–1936), architect
* André Previn (1929–2019), pianist, conductor and composer
* Jürgen Prochnow (born 1941), actor
* Rammstein band members Paul Landers, bassist Oliver Riedel, drummer and keyboardist Christian Lorenz
* Ivan Rebroff (1931–2008), singer
* Leni Riefenstahl (1902–2003), photographer, film director, producer, screenwriter and editor
* Marianne Rosenberg (born 1955), singer
* Hans Rosenthal (1925–1987), radio editor, director, and radio and television host
* Erna Sack (1898–1972), soprano singer
* Tom Schilling (born 1982), actor
* Wilhelm Schirmer (1802–1866), painter.
* Cornelia Schleime (born 1953), painter, performer, filmmaker and writer
* Jörn Schlönvoigt (born 1986), actor and singer
* Christoph Schneider (born 1966), musician of Band Rammstein
* Louis Schneider (1805–1878), actor and writer
* Klaus Schulze (1947–2022), electronic music pioneer, composer and musician
* Tomer Sisley (born 1974), Israeli humorist, actor, screenwriter, comedian, and film director
* Max Skladanowsky (1863–1939), early filmmaker and co-inventor of Bioscop
* Elke Sommer (born 1940), actor
* Detlef Soost (born 1970), dancer, choreographer and television presenter
* Ingrid Steeger (1947–2023), actress and comedian
* Carl Steffeck (1818–1890), painter
* Hermann Struck (1876–1944), painter
* Katrin Lea Tag (born 1972), scenic designer and costume designer
* Katharina Thalbach (born 1954), actress
* Christian Thielemann (born 1959), conductor
* Sophia Thomalla (born 1989), actress
* Nora Tschirner (born 1981), actress
* Kurt Tucholsky, (1890–1935), writer
* Michael Verhoeven (1938–2024), actor
* Otto Wallburg (1889–1944), actor
* Volker Wangenheim (1928–2014), conductor, composer and academic teacher
* Jonathan Elias Weiske (born 1996), film and television actor, and voice actor
* Dana Wynter (1931–2011), actress
* Jing Xiang (born 1993), actress
* Rolf Zacher (1941–2018), actor

## Sportspeople

* Rudi Ball (1911–1975), Olympic and Hall of Fame ice hockey player
* Muhamed Bešić (born 1992), footballer who plays for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team
* Jérôme Boateng (born 1988), football player and 2014 FIFA World Cup winner
* Kevin-Prince Boateng (born 1987), footballer
* John Brooks (born 1993), footballer
* Guido Buchwald (born 1961), footballer
* Omar Bugiel (born 1994), Lebanese international footballer
* Karim Darwiche (born 1998), Lebanese international footballer
* Sven Felski (born 1974), ice hockey coach
* Gottfried Fuchs (1889–1972), German-Canadian Olympic soccer player
* Niels Giffey (born 1991), basketball player, two-time NCAA champion and 2023 FIBA World Cup winner
* Thomas Häßler (born 1966), footballer and 1990 FIFA World Cup winner
* Robert Harting (born 1984), discus thrower
* Heinz Henschel (1920–2006), German Ice Hockey Hall of Fame, and IIHF Hall of Fame inductee
* Achim Hill (1935–2015), rower
* Robert Huth (born 1984), footballer
* Gustav Jaenecke (1908–1985), Olympic ice hockey player
* Patrick Jahn (born 1983), footballer
* Carsten Keller (born 1939), field hockey player and gold medalist at the 1972 Summer Olympics, father of Andreas Keller, Natascha Keller and Florian Keller
* Max Kepler (born 1993), baseball player for the Minnesota Twins of the MLB
* Henry Laskau (1916–2000), track and field athlete
* Pierre Littbarski (born 1960), footballer
* Laura Ludwig (born 1986), beach volleyballer
* Ingeborg Mello (1919–2009), track and field athlete
* Jonas Müller (born 1995), ice hockey player and silver medalist at the 2018 Winter Olympics
* Hassan Oumari (born 1986), footballer
* Joan Oumari (born 1988), footballer
* Claudia Pechstein (born 1972), speed skater
* Ellen Preis (Ellen Müller-Preis) (1912–2007), German-born Austrian Olympic champion foil fencer
* Daniel Prenn (1904–1991), Russian-born German, Polish, and British world-top-ten tennis player
* Nyara Sabally, WNBA player
* Otto Scheff (1889–1956), Olympic swimmer
* Gustav Scholz (1930–2000), boxer
* Jochen Schümann (born 1959), sailor and Olympic champion
* Amar Sejdić (born 1996), American soccer player for Atlanta United FC of the MLS
* Hagen Stamm (born 1960), water polo player
* Ulf Timmermann (born 1962), shot putter
* Franziska van Almsick (born 1978), swimmer and sport journalist
* Franz Wagner (born 2001), basketball player for the Orlando Magic and 2023 FIBA World Cup winner
* Moritz Wagner (born 1997), basketball player for the Orlando Magic and 2023 FIBA World Cup winner
* Katarina Witt (born 1965), figure skater and two-time Olympic champion
* Christian Ziege (born 1972), footballer

## Others

* Erna Barschak (1888–1958), teacher and psychologist
* Bärbel Bohley (1945–2010), opposition figure and artist
* Harald Braem (born 1944), writer, designer and professor
* Gabriele von Bülow (1802–1887), noblewoman
* Margot Dreschel (1908–1945), Nazi concentration camp guard executed for war crimes
* Käthe Niederkirchner (1909–1944), communist and resistance fighter
* Horst Fischer (1912–1966), SS concentration camp doctor executed for war crimes
* Heinz Kapelle (1913–1941), communist and resistance fighter
* Elisabeth Lupka (1902–1949), Nazi concentration camp guard executed for war crimes
* Lars Mittank (born 1986), man who went missing in Varna, Bulgaria, in 2014
* Rosalie von Rauch (1829–1879), German noblewoman
* Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler (1918–2001), communist propagandist