Famous People 7
Austrians, Germans, German-Swiss
An alphabetical list of significant people, both living and dead, who were born in German 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.
A-B-C | D-E-F | G-H-I | J-K-L
M-N-O | P-Q-R | S-Z
S-Z (Part 7)
Egon Schiele (1890-1918) Austrian artist
Claudia Schiffer (1971- ) Fashion model
Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) German poet and writer
Max Schmeling (1905-2005) German boxer who fought the American Joe Louis twice.
Helmut Schmidt (1918- ) German politician and publisher (Die Zeit) who was chancellor of Germany from 1974 to 1982
Romy Schneider (1938-1982) Austrian actress (The Cardinal, Good Neighbor Sam)
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1869) German philosopher
Gerhard Schröder (1944- ) Elected German chancellor (SPD) in September 1998
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Austrian composer of nine symphonies and over 600 "Lieder"
Carl Schurz (1829-1906) German-American politician, U.S. Secretary of the Interior (1877-81)
Karl von Schuschnigg (1897-1977) Austrian politician who resisted the Nazi takeover of his country in 1938 and was imprisoned by the Nazis during the war; later a professor in the U.S. (1948-67) > Web Link (DHM)
Arnold Schwarzenegger (1947- ) Austrian-American movie superstar and politician
Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) German physician and theologian who set up and ran a hospital in Africa (1913), also known for his organ music; Nobel Peace Prize in 1952
Aloys Senefelder (Aloys Johann Nepomuk Franz Senefelder, 1771-1834) Failed Bavarian actor who invented the lithographic printing technique in 1797. Senefelder was born to a Bavarian father (an actor) in Prague; he died in Munich.
Heidi Simonis (1943- ) First woman governor of a German Bundesland (Schleswig-Holstein)
Elke Sommer (Elke Schletz, 1940- ) German actress (The Victors, A Shot in the Dark, Zeppelin) - WEB > Elke Sommer - German-Hollywood
Alexander Spoerl (1917-1978) German writer
Claus Spreckels (1828-1908) German "sugar baron" in California and Hawaii
Friedrich St. Florian (1933- ) Austrian-born architect who designed the National World War II Memorial in Washington, DC; his firm's design was selected from 400 entries. WEB > St. Florian.com
Charles Proteus Steinmetz (1865-1923) German physicist who did important work on alternating current and lightning
Franz Josef Strauß (1915-1988) German politician (CSU) who was the governor of Bavaria (1978-88) and an unsuccessful candidate for Bundeskanzler (1980); involved in the "Spiegel affair" scandal of 1962, forcing his resignation as foreign minister
Johann Strauß (father, 1804-1849) Austrian composer and director of Vienna's "Hofball"
Johann Strauß (son, 1825-1899) Austrian composer and director of Vienna's "Hofball," known as the "Waltz King" ("The Blue Danube," "The Emperor Waltz"); also composed marches, polkas, and operettas ("Die Fledermaus")
Richard Strauss (1864-1949) German composer ("Rosenkavalier") and orchestra director (Munich, Weimar, Berlin), director of the Vienna State Opera (1919-24)
Rita Süßmuth (1937- ) First woman president of the German Bundestag (legislature), 1988-1998
Johann August Sutter (1803-1880) Swiss immigrant who founded Neu-Helvetien (Sutter's Mill) in 1839, now Sacramento, California
Bertha von Suttner (1814-1914) Austrian pacifist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1905
Edward Teller (1908- ) Physicist of Austro-Hungarian background who developed the hydrogen bomb
Gerhard Thiele (1953- ) German physicist who was on board the Endeavour misson for NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mapping Mission (SRTM) in February 2000
Kurt Tucholsky (1890-1935) German writer, satirist
Ludwig Uhland (1787-1862) German lawyer, politician, and poet from Tübingen
Walter Ulbricht (1893-1973) Head of East Germany when the Berlin Wall was built
Wernher von Braun (1912-1977) German rocket scientist who helped put Americans on the moon
Richard Wagner (1813-1883) German composer
Bruno Walter (B.W. Schlesinger, 1876-1962) German-American orchestra director
Walter von der Vogelweide (ca. 1170-1229) German "Minnesänger" and poet
Felix Wankel (1902-1988) German inventor of the rotary cylinder engine (Kreiskolbenmotor)
August Paul von Wassermann (1866-1925) German bacteriologist who did important work in the field of immunization
Alfred Wegener (1880-1930) German geophysicist who developed the theory of continental drift (Kontinentalverschiebung)
Richard von Weizsäcker (1920- ) German politician (CDU) who was the mayor of West Berlin (1981-84) and Bundespräsident from 1984 to 1994
Franz Werfel (1890-1945) Austrian novelist (The Song of Bernadette) and poet who had a brief Hollywood career during his California exile years
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) Austrian-British philosopher
Carl Zeiss (1816-1888) German founder of the Zeiss-Werke in Jena (1846), a manufacturer of optical and precision equipment
Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838-1917) German inventor of the rigid air ship in 1900
Konrad Zuse (1910-1995) German inventor of the first programmable digital computer (Z3)
AUTHORS > Authors in German Literature
ACTIVITY > Graveyard Tour
Also see: Erfinder/Inventors
For FILM PEOPLE see The German-Hollywood Connection
For famous WOMEN see Famous German Women (MSCD)
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