Famous People 5
Austrians, Germans, German-Swiss
An alphabetical list of significant people, both living and dead, who were born in German-speaking Europe or had Germanic ancestors—handy for biographical projects or general inspiration. For some of them, you can click on the name to learn more.
Also see: Top 100 Germans | Germanic Inventors
A-B-C | D-E-F | G-H-I | J-K-L
M-N-O | P-Q-R | S-Z | Inventors
M-N-O (Part 5)
Ernst Mach (1838-1916) Austrian physicist
Heinrich Mann (1871-1950) German writer
Thomas Mann (1875-1955) German writer, Nobel Prizze
Maria Theresia (1717-1780) Habsburg Austrian empress (1745-80) who had 16 children
Marie Antoinette (1755-1793) Daughter of the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph who married the French king Louis XVI
Karl Marx (1818-1883) German philosopher and co-founder of the communist movement (Marxism)
Kurt Masur (1927- ) German musical director, Leipzig (1970-1996), New York (1991-2000)
Paul (1838-1914) and Wilhelm Mauser (1834-1882) German gun inventors, weapons manufacturers
Karl May (1842-1912) German author of westerns and other adventure stories
Lise Meitner (1878-1968) Austrian physicist who coined the term "nuclear fission" (Kernspaltung)
Phillip Melanchthon (Phillip Schwartzerd, 1497-1560) German religious reformer
H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) German-American writer, journalist
Gregor Johann Mendel (1822-1884) Austrian biologist and genetics researcher (Mendel's Laws)
Felix Mendelsohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847) German composer and musical director (Leipzig)
Ulf Merbold (1941- ) German physicist who flew on missions aboard the American Columbia (1983) and Discovery (1992) space shuttles as well as the Russian Mir space station (1994)
Gerhard Mercator (Kremer, 1512-1594) German cartographer, inventor of the Mercator projection for sea charts and maps
Ottmar Mergenthaler (1854-1899) German-american inventor of the Linotype typesetting system (1886)
Matthäus Merian (1593-1650) Swiss engraver who began publishing "Topographia" in Frankfurt in 1642, a 30-volume collection of European city view etchings
Angela Merkel (1954- ) German politician, chairperson of the CDU party since 2000
Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815) German inventor of magnetotherapy and source of the term "mesmerize"
Willy Messerschmidt (1898-1978) German aircraft designer
Rheinhold Messner (1944- ) Italian (South Tyrol) mountain climber, first to climb all 14 peaks above 8000 meters
Prince Metternich (Klemens Wenzel Lothar Fürst von M., 1773-1859) Austrian chancellor (1810-48), leading figure at the Congress of Vienna in 1815
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) German architect considered one of the most influential in modern history; went to the U.S. in 1937
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Austrian composer
Robert Musil (1880-1942) Austrian writer
Anne-Sophie Mutter (1963- ) Internationally recognized German violinist
Thomas Nast (1840-1902) German-American journalist, political cartoonist; see The 'Nasty' Myth
Richard Josef Neutra (1892-1970) Austrian-American architect
Helmut Newton (Neustädter, 1920-2004) Internationally recognized German fashion and glamour photographer; born in Berlin as Helmut Neustädter, died in an auto accident in Los Angeles on January 24, 2004
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) German writer and philosopher
Georg Simon Ohm (1789-1854) German physicist (Ohm's Law, 1826)
Carl Orff (1895-1982) German composer ("Carmina Burana")
Otto Many Germanic princes, kings, and emperors have borne this name, from Otto I (der Große, 912-973) to Otto I (Bavaria, 1848-1916)
Nikolaus August Otto (1832-1891) German engineer, inventor of the four-stroke internal combustion (Otto) engine (1862), which was used for the first motor cars invented by Benz and Daimler.
NEXT > P-Q-R
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ACTIVITY > Graveyard Tour of famous people
MORE > Top 100 Germans | Germanic Inventors
For FILM PEOPLE see The German-Hollywood Connection
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