69 Notable Alumni of the Leibniz University of Hanover

Lars Klingbeil

Born in: Germany
Years: 1978-.. (age 48)
Enrolled in the Leibniz University of Hanover: 1999-2004 studied political science
Occupations: politicianpolitical scientist
Biography: Lars Klingbeil is a German politician who has been serving as the Vice Chancellor of Germany and Federal Minister of Finance since 6 May 2025. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), he has served as the SPD's Co-leader since 2021, together with Saskia Esken (2021–2025) and Bärbel Bas (since 2025).

H.P. Baxxter

Born in: Germany
Years: 1964-.. (age 62)
Enrolled in the Leibniz University of Hanover: Studied jurisprudence
Occupations: master of ceremoniesrappersingermusician
Biography: Hans Peter Geerdes, professionally known by his stage name H. P. Baxxter, and sometimes by his nickname Dave, is a German musician best known as the lead vocalist of the German techno band Scooter. He founded Scooter with his friend Rick J. Jordan in 1993.

Wolfram von Richthofen

Born in: Poland
Years: 1895-1945 (aged 50)
Occupations: aircraft pilotmilitary officer
Biography: Wolfram Karl Ludwig Moritz Hermann Freiherr von Richthofen was a German World War I flying ace who rose to the rank of Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) in the Luftwaffe during World War II.

Wilhelm Busch

Born in: Germany
Years: 1832-1908 (aged 76)
Occupations: watercoloristcaricaturistdraftspersonwritercartoonist
Biography: Heinrich Christian Wilhelm Busch was a German humorist, poet, illustrator, and painter. He published wildly innovative illustrated tales that remain influential to this day.

Götz Kubitschek

Born in: Germany
Years: 1970-.. (age 56)
Enrolled in the Leibniz University of Hanover: Studied in 1992-1999
Occupations: political activistopinion journalistpublisher
Biography: Götz Kubitschek is a German publisher, journalist and far-right political activist. He espouses ethnocentric positions and is one of the most important protagonists of the Neue Rechte (New Right) in Germany. Hailing from the staff of right-wing newspaper Junge Freiheit, Kubitschek is one of the founders of the Neue Rechte think tank Institut für Staatspolitik (Institute for State Policy; IfS). Since 2002, he is the manager of his self-founded publishing house Antaios, since 2003 chief editor of the journal Sezession, as well as editor of the corresponding blog Sezession im Netz.

Harald Welzer

Born in: Germany
Years: 1958-.. (age 68)
Occupations: professorsociologistnon-fiction writerpsychologist
Biography: Harald Welzer is a German social psychologist. He studied sociology, psychology and literature at the University of Hannover. He has been a professor of transformation design at the University of Flensburg since 2012. His research is focused on memory, violence and the social impacts of climate change. His books have been translated into 15 languages.

Jiří Drahoš

Born in: Czech Republic
Years: 1949-.. (age 77)
Enrolled in the Leibniz University of Hanover: Studied in 1985-1986
Occupations: scientistteacherpoliticianpedagoguechemist
Biography: Jiří Drahoš is a Czech physical chemist and politician who has been the Senator of Prague 4 since October 2018. Previously, Drahoš served as President of the Czech Academy of Sciences from 2009 to 2017, and was a candidate in the 2018 Czech presidential election.

Yasmin Fahimi

Born in: Germany
Years: 1967-.. (age 59)
Occupations: chemistpoliticiantrade unionist
Biography: Yasmin Fahimi is a German trade unionist and politician who has been chairing the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) since 2022.

Francis Buchholz

Born in: Germany
Years: 1954-2026 (aged 72)
Enrolled in the Leibniz University of Hanover: Studied mechanical engineering
Occupations: composerbass guitaristentrepreneurrecord producer
Biography: Francis Buchholz was a German musician best known as the bass guitarist of the German rock band Scorpions from 1973 until 1992, a group that was successful internationally; his bass riffs for hits such as "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and "Wind of Change" were regarded as iconic. After leaving Scorpions, he was a member of Michael Schenker's Temple of Rock, among others.

David McAllister

Born in: Germany
Years: 1971-.. (age 55)
Occupations: lawyerpolitician
Biography: David James McAllister is a German politician who has been a member of the European Parliament since 2014. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), part of the European People's Party. He is the current vice president of the European People's Party and he is also vice chairman of the International Democrat Union. He was appointed Chair of the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee in February 2017.

Arthur Scherbius

Born in: Germany
Years: 1878-1929 (aged 51)
Occupations: mathematicianengineer
Biography: Arthur Scherbius was a German electrical engineer who invented the mechanical cipher Enigma machine. He patented the invention and later sold the machine under the brand name Enigma.

Pascual Jordan

Born in: Germany
Years: 1902-1980 (aged 78)
Enrolled in the Leibniz University of Hanover: Studied in 1921-1922
Occupations: politicianuniversity teacherphysicistnon-fiction writermathematician
Biography: Ernst Pascual Jordan was a German theoretical and mathematical physicist who made significant contributions to quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. He contributed much to the mathematical form of matrix mechanics, and developed canonical anticommutation relations for fermions. He introduced Jordan algebras in an effort to formalize quantum field theory; the algebras have since found numerous applications within mathematics.

Düzen Tekkal

Born in: Germany
Years: 1978-.. (age 48)
Occupations: journalist
Biography: Düzen Tekkal is a German author, television journalist, filmmaker, war correspondent, political scientist, and social entrepreneur of Kurdish descent. She is a Yazidi.

Belit Onay

Born in: Germany
Years: 1981-.. (age 45)
Occupations: politician
Biography: Belit Nejat Onay is a German politician for the Alliance 90/The Greens. He was elected Mayor of Hanover in 2019, and took office on 22 November.

Christian Dürr

Born in: Germany
Years: 1977-.. (age 49)
Occupations: politicianeconomist
Biography: Christian Dürr is a German politician who has been the Leader of the Free Democratic Party since May 2025, having previously led the parliamentary group of the party in the Bundestag from 2021 to 2025, in whom he served as a member of the Bundestag from 2017 to 2025.

Matthias Miersch

Born in: Germany
Years: 1968-.. (age 58)
Occupations: lawyerpolitician
Biography: Matthias Miersch is a German criminal defense lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as Member of the Bundestag since the 2005 German federal election, representing the Hannover-Land II district. Since 2025, he has been chairing his party's parliamentary group.

Gerhard Ertl

Born in: Germany
Years: 1936-.. (age 90)
Occupations: university teacherchemistphysicist
Biography: Gerhard Ertl is a German physicist and a Professor emeritus at the Department of Physical Chemistry, Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft in Berlin, Germany. Ertl's research laid the foundation of modern surface chemistry, which has helped explain how fuel cells produce energy without pollution, how catalytic converters clean up car exhausts and even why iron rusts, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

Taner Akçam

Born in: Turkey
Years: 1953-.. (age 73)
Occupations: university teacherfilm directorhistorianhuman rights defendersociologist
Biography: Altuğ Taner Akçam is a Turkish-German historian and sociologist. During the 1990s, he was the first Turkish scholar to acknowledge the Armenian genocide, and has written several books on the genocide, such as A Shameful Act (1999), From Empire to Republic: Turkish Nationalism and the Armenian Genocide (2004), The Young Turks' Crime Against Humanity (2012), and Killing Orders (2018). He is recognized as a "leading international authority" on the subject. Akçam's frequent participation in public debates on the legacy of the genocide have been compared to Theodor Adorno's role in postwar Germany.

Theodor Blank

Born in: Germany
Years: 1905-1972 (aged 67)
Occupations: politician
Biography: Theodor Anton Blank was a German politician of the CDU. He was one of the founders of the CDU in 1945.

Michael Braungart

Born in: Germany
Years: 1958-.. (age 68)
Occupations: chemistentrepreneurnon-fiction writeruniversity teacher
Biography: Michael Braungart is a German chemist who advocates that humans can make a positive instead of a negative environmental impact by redesigning industrial production and therefore that dissipation is not waste. A former Greenpeace activist who once lived in a tree as protest, he is now considered to be a visionary environmental thinker.

Werner Gitt

Born in: Russia
Years: 1937-.. (age 89)
Occupations: non-fiction writerphysicist
Biography: Werner Gitt is a German engineer and young earth creationist. Before retirement, he was Head of the Department of Information Technology at Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt.

Christian Otto Mohr

Born in: Germany
Years: 1835-1918 (aged 83)
Occupations: university teachermathematiciancivil engineer
Biography: Christian Otto Mohr was a German civil engineer. He is renowned for his contributions to the field of structural engineering, such as Mohr's circle, and for his study of stress.

Ijad Madisch

Born in: Germany
Years: 1980-.. (age 46)
Occupations: businesspersonvirologist
Biography: Ijad Madisch is a German virologist, founder and CEO of the research network ResearchGate and was a member of the Digital Council (Digitalrat) of the Cabinet of Germany (Bundesregierung).

Adis Ahmetovic

Born in: Germany
Years: 1993-.. (age 33)
Occupations: politician
Biography: Adis Ahmetovic is a German politician. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and a Member of the Bundestag.

Thorsten Heins

Born in: Germany
Years: 1957-.. (age 69)
Occupations: manager
Biography: Thorsten Heins is a German-Canadian businessman and the former chief executive officer (CEO) of BlackBerry. He stepped down as CEO of BlackBerry and was replaced by John Chen on November 4, 2013. Heins later was the CEO of Powermat Technologies.

Konrad Dannenberg

Born in: Germany
Years: 1912-2009 (aged 97)
Occupations: military flight engineerinventorphysicist
Biography: Konrad Dannenberg was a German-American rocket pioneer and member of the German rocket team brought to the United States after World War II.

Patrick Döring

Born in: Germany
Years: 1973-.. (age 53)
Occupations: politician
Biography: Patrick Döring is a German politician and member of the FDP in the Bundestag from 2005 to 2013.

Hagen Kleinert

Born in: Poland
Years: 1941-2025 (aged 84)
Occupations: university teachertheoretical physicistphysicist
Biography: Hagen Kleinert was a professor of theoretical physics at the Free University of Berlin, Germany (since 1968), Honorary Doctor at the West University of Timișoara, and at the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University in Bishkek. He is also Honorary Member of the Russian Academy of Creative Endeavors. For his contributions to particle and solid-state physics he was awarded the Max Born Prize 2008 with Medal. His contribution to the memorial volume celebrating the 100th birthday of Lev Davidovich Landau earned him the Majorana Prize 2008 with Medal. He is married to Dr. Annemarie Kleinert since 1974 with whom he has a son Michael Kleinert.

Edzard Schmidt-Jortzig

Born in: Germany
Years: 1941-.. (age 85)
Occupations: juristjudgeuniversity teacherpolitician
Biography: Edzard Schmidt-Jortzig is a German jurist. He currently holds the chair for public law at the University of Kiel. A member of the Free Democratic Party, he served as Federal Minister of Justice in the Fifth Kohl cabinet between 1996 and 1998.

Peter Andreas Blix

Born in: Norway
Years: 1831-1901 (aged 70)
Occupations: engineerarchitect
Biography: Peter Andreas Blix was a Norwegian architect and engineer best known for designing railway stations and villas in Swiss chalet style. He was also occupied with the conservation of Norwegian stave churches and the construction of canals in 19th century Norway.

Markus Pieper

Born in: Germany
Years: 1963-.. (age 63)
Occupations: geographerpolitician
Biography: Markus Pieper is a German politician and member of the European Parliament for Germany. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Union, part of the European People's Party.

Doris Achelwilm

Born in: Germany
Years: 1976-.. (age 50)
Occupations: politician
Biography: Doris Maria Achelwilm is a German journalist and politician of The Left party. Between 2017 and 2021 she was a member of the Bundestag. In 2025 she was reelected to her seat in Bremen.

Alfred Bucherer

Born in: Germany
Years: 1863-1927 (aged 64)
Occupations: physicistuniversity teacher
Biography: Alfred Heinrich Bucherer was a German physicist, who is known for his experiments on relativistic mass. He also was the first who used the phrase "theory of relativity" for Einstein's theory of special relativity.

Eduard Pestel

Born in: Germany
Years: 1914-1988 (aged 74)
Occupations: politicianuniversity teacherphysicistengineereconomist
Biography: Eduard Kurt Christian Pestel was a German industrial designer, economist, professor of mechanics and politician who was born in Hildesheim and died in Hannover. He was coauthor with Mihajlo Mesarovic of Mankind at the turning point, the second report to the Club of Rome in 1974 which reviewed and greatly expanded the methodology and predictions of The Limits to Growth.

Minoo Lenarz

Born in: Iran
Years: 1966-2015 (aged 49)
Occupations: university teacher
Biography: Minoo Lenarz, born Minoo Moshrefi, was an Iranian-German Professor and medical scientist.

Elke Christina Roeder

Born in: Germany
Years: 1966-.. (age 60)
Occupations: politician
Biography: Elke Christina Roeder is a German politician and a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). From 2018 to 2024 she was Lord Mayor of the city of Norderstedt, which borders Hamburg.

Khouloud Daibes

Born in: Israel
Years: 1965-.. (age 61)
Occupations: engineerdiplomatpoliticianarchitect
Biography: Khuloud Khalil Daibes, also transliterated as Khouloud D'eibes, is a Palestinian architect and former politician and diplomat. She was born on 16 April 1965 in Jerusalem.

Jan-Christoph Oetjen

Born in: Germany
Years: 1978-.. (age 48)
Occupations: politician
Biography: Jan-Christoph Oetjen is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019. Between January and July 2024, he was one of the Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament under the leadership of President Roberta Metsola, replacing Nicola Beer.

Émile P. Torres

Enrolled in the Leibniz University of Hanover: 2020-2023 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in philosophy
Occupations: writeracademicphilosophermusician
Biography: Émile P. Torres, formerly known as Phil Torres, is an American philosopher and intellectual historian. Their research focuses on eschatology, existential risk, and human extinction. Along with computer scientist Timnit Gebru, Torres coined the neologism "TESCREAL" to criticize what they see as a group of related philosophies: transhumanism, extropianism, singularitarianism, cosmism, rationalism, effective altruism, and longtermism.

Carola Lentz

Born in: Germany
Years: 1954-.. (age 72)
Occupations: sociologistexecutiveuniversity teacherethnologist
Biography: Carola Lentz is a German social anthropologist and, since November 2020, president of the Goethe-Institut. She is senior research professor at the Department of Anthropology and African Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz.

Reinhold Baer

Born in: Germany
Years: 1902-1979 (aged 77)
Enrolled in the Leibniz University of Hanover: Studied in 1920-1921
Occupations: mathematicianuniversity teacher
Biography: Reinhold Baer was a German mathematician, known for his work in algebra. He introduced injective modules in 1940. He is the eponym of Baer rings, Baer groups, and Baer subplanes.

Wilhelm Launhardt

Born in: Germany
Years: 1832-1918 (aged 86)
Occupations: university teacherpoliticianmathematicianeconomistcivil engineer
Biography: Carl Wilhelm Friedrich Launhardt was a German mathematician and economist.

Dirk Hillbrecht

Born in: Germany
Years: 1972-.. (age 54)
Occupations: mathematicianpolitician
Biography: Dirk Hillbrecht is a software developer and a former leader of the Pirate Party Germany.

Gesine Meißner

Born in: Germany
Years: 1952-.. (age 74)
Occupations: politician
Biography: Gesine Meißner is a German politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2009 until 2019. She is a member of the Free Democratic Party, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.

Jürgen Handke

Born in: Germany
Years: 1954-.. (age 72)
Occupations: university teacherlinguist
Biography: Jürgen Handke is a German professor of English linguistics.

Heinrich Breling

Born in: Germany
Years: 1849-1914 (aged 65)
Occupations: painter
Biography: Heinrich Christoph Gottlieb Breling was a German painter of historical and genre scenes. He was the first artist in what would later become known as the "Artists' Colony" at Fischerhude.

Detlev Buchholz

Born in: Poland
Years: 1944-.. (age 82)
Enrolled in the Leibniz University of Hanover: Studied in 1963-1965
Occupations: university teachertheoretical physicistphysicist
Biography: Detlev Buchholz is a German theoretical physicist. He investigates quantum field theory, especially in the axiomatic framework of algebraic quantum field theory.

Christian Christie

Born in: Norway
Years: 1832-1906 (aged 74)
Occupations: architect
Biography: Eilert Christian Brodtkorb Christie was a Norwegian architect.

Eduard Schönfeld

Born in: Germany
Years: 1828-1891 (aged 63)
Occupations: university teacherastronomer
Biography: Eduard Schönfeld was a German astronomer.

Hjalmar Welhaven

Born in: Norway
Years: 1850-1922 (aged 72)
Occupations: architect
Biography: Hjalmar Welhaven was a Norwegian architect, palace manager, and sportsman.

Balthazar Lange

Born in: Norway
Years: 1854-1937 (aged 83)
Occupations: architect
Biography: Balthazar Conrad Lange was a Norwegian architect.

Paul Due

Born in: Norway
Years: 1835-1919 (aged 84)
Occupations: architect
Biography: Paul Due was a Norwegian architect and significant contributor to the stations built by the Norwegian State Railways.

Hans Reingruber

Born in: Germany
Years: 1888-1964 (aged 76)
Occupations: university teacherpolitician
Biography: Hans Reingruber was a German academic and the first minister of transport or traffic of East Germany.

Rudolf Grimm

Born in: Germany
Years: 1961-.. (age 65)
Occupations: university teacherresearcherphysicist
Biography: Rudolf Grimm is an experimental physicist from Austria. His work centres on ultracold atoms and quantum gases. He was the first scientist worldwide who, with his team, succeeded in realizing a Bose–Einstein condensation of non-polar molecules.

Haldor Børve

Born in: Norway
Years: 1857-1933 (aged 76)
Occupations: architect
Biography: Haldor Larsen Børve was an architect from Ullensvang Municipality in Hordaland county, Norway. Børve started an architectural practice in Porsgrunn in 1889 and designed numerous buildings in Telemark and Vestfold counties, many of them influenced by Dragestil and the Nordic National Romantic style. Among his best-known works are Dalen Hotel from 1894 and Porsgrunn City Hall from 1904/1905.

George Niemann

Born in: Germany
Years: 1841-1912 (aged 71)
Occupations: graphic artistuniversity teacherbuilding researcherarchitectclassical archaeologist
Biography: George Niemann was a German-Austrian architect and archaeologist.

Sverre Pedersen

Born in: Norway
Years: 1882-1971 (aged 89)
Occupations: urban plannerarchitect
Biography: Sverre Pedersen was a Norwegian architect and urban planner.

Henrik Thrap-Meyer

Born in: Norway
Years: 1833-1910 (aged 77)
Occupations: architect
Biography: Henrik Thrap-Meyer was a Norwegian architect. He is most associated with a wide range of significant buildings, including churches and schools.

Conrad Fredrik von der Lippe

Born in: Norway
Years: 1833-1901 (aged 68)
Occupations: architect
Biography: Conrad Fredrik "Fritz" von der Lippe was a Norwegian architect.

Torolf Prytz

Born in: Norway
Years: 1858-1938 (aged 80)
Occupations: architectpolitician
Biography: Torolf Prytz was a Norwegian architect, goldsmith and politician for the Liberal Party. He led the goldsmith company J. Tostrup of Oslo from 1890 to 1938, having inherited it from his grandfather-in-law Jacob Tostrup. He also served as Norwegian Minister of Industrial Provisioning from 1917 to 1918 and President of the Norwegian Red Cross from 1922 to 1930.

Hans-Georg Wenzel

Born in: Germany
Years: 1945-1999 (aged 54)
Occupations: university teachersurveyorgeophysicist
Biography: Hans-Georg Wenzel, also known as George Wenzel, was a German geodesist, geophysicist and university lecturer. His most important field of work was physical geodesy, where he worked after his dissertation on earth tides with geophysical measurements up to global models of the earth gravity field.

Ole Falck Ebbell

Born in: Norway
Years: 1839-1919 (aged 80)
Occupations: architect
Biography: Ole Falck Ebbell was a Norwegian architect. He worked primarily in Trondheim, but he was also responsible for the design of buildings in other parts of Norway.

Edvin Bergroth

Born in: Finland
Years: 1836-1917 (aged 81)
Occupations: engineerbusinesspersonpolitician
Biography: Edvin Leonard Bergroth was a Finnish engineer and businessman who played a prominent role in the development of Finnish industry during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Trained in Hannover, he held leading positions in companies ranging from the Helsinki Gas Illumination Company to the Hietalahti Shipyard and Engineering Works and the oil giant Branobel in the Caucasus. As chairman of the Tampere Linen and Iron Industry (Tampella), he led a period of major industrial expansion. In recognition of his contributions to Finnish economic life, he was awarded the honorary title of vuorineuvos in 1907.

Jens Krag-Juel-Vind

Born in: Denmark
Years: 1723-1776 (aged 53)
Occupations: judgeAmtmann
Biography: Jens Krag-Juel-Vind, Baron of Juellinge, was a Danish nobleman, Supreme Court justice and landowner.

Waldemar Hansteen

Born in: Norway
Years: 1857-1921 (aged 64)
Occupations: architect
Biography: Albert Waldemar Hansteen was a Norwegian architect.

Geerd Diercksen

Born in: Germany
Years: 1936-.. (age 90)
Occupations: chemist
Biography: Geerd Heinrich Friedrich Diercksen is a German theoretical chemist and a pioneer in computational chemistry. In 1963 he was awarded his PhD, supervised by Heinz-Werner Preuß at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität in Frankfurt am Main, in 1973 he was awarded his habilitation in Chemistry by the Technische Universität München and in 1983 he was appointed professor (apl. Professor). From 1965 to 2001 he worked as scientific staff at the Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik and since 2001 he works there as scientist emeritus.

Wilhelm Christian Suhrke

Born in: Norway
Years: 1863-1950 (aged 87)
Occupations: architectpolitician
Biography: Wilhelm Christian Suhrke was a Norwegian architect and politician for the Conservative Party.

Justus F. Krumbein

Born in: Germany
Years: 1847-1907 (aged 60)
Occupations: architect
Biography: Justus F. Krumbein was an architect based in Portland, Oregon, United States, whose work included Richardsonian Romanesque designs and Italianate, cast-iron architecture. Little of his work survived the 20th Century.

Pauline Van de Graaf Orr

Years: 1861-1955 (aged 94)
Occupations: suffragist
Biography: Pauline Van de Graaff Orr was an American educator and suffragist based in Mississippi.