100 Notable alumni of
University of Freiburg
Updated:
The University of Freiburg is 153rd in the world, 52nd in Europe, and 8th in Germany by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from the University of Freiburg sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. 2 individuals affiliated with the University of Freiburg won Nobel Prizes in Chemistry and Physiology or Medicine.
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Hannah Arendt
- Occupations
- sociologistuniversity teacherhistorianresistance fighterwriter
- Biography
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Hannah Arendt was a German and American historian and philosopher. She was one of the most influential political theorists of the twentieth century.
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Martin Heidegger
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- In 1916 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in philosophy and theology
- Occupations
- poetscientistphilosopheruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher widely regarded as one of the most important and influential thinkers of the twentieth century. His work was central to the development of phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism, and has had a considerable impact on fields ranging from philosophy and theology to literary theory, psychiatry, and political philosophy.
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Konrad Adenauer
- Occupations
- autobiographerChancellor of Germanyresistance fighterjudgeassessor
- Biography
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Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer was a German statesman and politician who served as the first chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), a newly founded Christian democratic party, which became the dominant force in the country under his leadership. Adenauer is considered one of the founding fathers of the European Union.
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Robert Habeck
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- In 1991 studied philosophy, German studies, and philology
- Occupations
- screenwriterwritertranslatorphilosopherenvironmentalist
- Biography
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Robert Habeck is a German writer and former politician (Alliance 90/The Greens) who served as Vice Chancellor of Germany, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action in the cabinet of Chancellor Olaf Scholz and as a Member of the German Bundestag for Flensburg – Schleswig from 2021 to 2025. From 2018 to 2022, he also served as co-leader of Alliance 90/The Greens, alongside Annalena Baerbock. For the 2021 German federal election, he was a member of the leading duo, alongside Baerbock, who ran for chancellor of Germany.
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Walter Benjamin
- Occupations
- literary historianliterary criticphilosopherwritertranslator
- Biography
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Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin was a German philosopher, cultural critic, media theorist, and essayist. An eclectic thinker who combined elements of German idealism, Jewish mysticism, Western Marxism, and post-Kantianism, he made contributions to the philosophy of history, metaphysics, historical materialism, criticism, aesthetics and had an oblique but overwhelmingly influential impact on the resurrection of the Kabbalah by virtue of his life-long epistolary relationship with Gershom Scholem.
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Wolfgang Schäuble
- Occupations
- juristlawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Wolfgang Schäuble was a German politician whose political career spanned more than five decades. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he was the longest-serving member of any democratic German parliament. Schäuble served as the 13th president of the Bundestag from 2017 to 2021.
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Herbert Marcuse
- Occupations
- university teacherphilosopherpolitical scientistsociologistpolitical theorist
- Biography
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Herbert Marcuse was a German–American philosopher, social critic, and political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory. Born in Berlin, Marcuse studied at Berlin's Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin and then at the University of Freiburg, where he received his PhD. He was a prominent figure in the Frankfurt-based Institute for Social Research, which later became known as the Frankfurt School. In his written works, he criticized capitalism, modern technology, Soviet Communism, and popular culture, arguing that they represent new forms of social control.
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Edith Stein
- Occupations
- philosopherlinguistnununiversity teacherwriter
- Biography
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Edith Stein OCD was a German philosopher who converted to Catholicism and became a Discalced Carmelite nun. She was murdered in the gas chamber at the Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration camp on 9 August 1942, and is canonized as a martyr and saint of the Catholic Church; she is also one of six patron saints of Europe.
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Chaim Weizmann
- Occupations
- university teacherpoliticianautobiographerpedagoguechemist
- Biography
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Chaim Azriel Weizmann was a Russian-born Israeli statesman, biochemist, and Zionist leader who served as president of the Zionist Organization and later as the first president of Israel. He was elected on 16 February 1949, and served until his death in 1952. Weizmann was instrumental in obtaining the Balfour Declaration of 1917 and convincing the United States government to recognize the newly formed State of Israel in 1948.
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Paul Ehrlich
- Occupations
- biologistpharmacologistuniversity teacherimmunologistinventor
- Biography
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Paul Ehrlich was a German physician and scientist who worked in the fields of hematology, immunology and antimicrobial chemotherapy. He shared the 1908 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Élie Metchnikoff "in recognition of their work on immunity". Among his foremost achievements were finding a cure for syphilis in 1909 and inventing an important modification of the technique for Gram staining bacteria. The methods he developed for staining tissue made it possible to distinguish between different types of blood cells, which led to the ability to diagnose numerous blood diseases.
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Kurt Zadek Lewin
- Occupations
- university teachereconomistpsychologist
- Biography
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Kurt Zadek Lewin or Kurt Tsadek Lewin was a German-American psychologist, known as one of the modern pioneers of social, organizational, and applied psychology in the United States. During his professional career, Lewin's academic research and writings focuses on applied research, action research, and group communication.
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Emmanuel Levinas
- Occupations
- writerethicistphilosopheruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Emmanuel Levinas was a French philosopher of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry who is known for his work within Jewish philosophy, existentialism, and phenomenology, focusing on the relationship of ethics to metaphysics and ontology.
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Byung-Chul Han
- Occupations
- university teacherphilosopherwriter
- Biography
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Byung-Chul Han is a South Korean–born philosopher, Catholic theologian and cultural theorist living in Germany. He was a professor at the Berlin University of the Arts and still occasionally gives courses there. His work largely centers around critiques of neoliberalism and its impact on society and the individual. Although he writes in German, his books have been best received in the Hispanosphere.
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Leo Strauss
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- Studied in 1925
- Occupations
- philosopherpolitical scientistuniversity teacherpolitician
- Biography
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Leo Strauss was a German-American political philosopher and historian of philosophy whose work greatly influenced twentieth-century political theory in the United States and the study of classical political thought. He is known best for his interpretation of ancient and medieval philosophy, his account of classical natural right, and his claim that philosophers often wrote esoterically, presenting different teachings to general and specialist readers. Strauss argued that the modern turn in philosophy, beginning with Niccolò Machiavelli and culminating in historicism and relativism, marked a decisive break with the classical understanding of politics and the good life. His work sought to recover the questions and methods of ancient political philosophy as a corrective to the perceived crisis of modern thought.
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Alexandra Elbakyan
- Occupations
- computer scientistprogrammerneuroscientistactivist
- Biography
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Alexandra Asanovna Elbakyan is a Kazakhstani computer programmer and creator of the website Sci-Hub, which provides free access to research papers without regard for copyright. According to a study published in 2018, Sci-Hub provides access to nearly all scholarly literature.
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Niklas Luhmann
- Occupations
- social scientistjuristlawyersociologistcyberneticist
- Biography
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Niklas Luhmann was a German sociologist, philosopher of social science, and systems theorist.
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Mario Molina
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- Studied in 1965
- Occupations
- university teacherchemistengineer
- Biography
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Mario José Molina-Pasquel Henríquez was a Mexican physical chemist. He played a pivotal role in the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole, and was a co-recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his role in discovering the threat to the Earth's ozone layer from chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases. He was the first Mexican-born scientist to receive a Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the third Mexican-born person to receive a Nobel prize.
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Thomas de Maizière
- Occupations
- juristministeruniversity teacherpolitician
- Biography
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Karl Ernst Thomas de Maizière is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 2009 to 2011 and 2013 to 2018, as well as Federal Minister of Defence from 2011 to 2013. He previously served as Head of the Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Affairs in the First Merkel cabinet from 2005 to 2009. Since 2009, he has been a member of the Bundestag for Meißen.
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Max Horkheimer
- Occupations
- literary criticuniversity teacherphilosopherpedagoguesociologist
- Biography
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Max Horkheimer was a German philosopher and sociologist best known for his role in developing critical theory as director of the Institute for Social Research, commonly associated with the Frankfurt School.
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Karen Horney
- Occupations
- writerpsychiatristpsychotherapistpsychoanalyst
- Biography
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Karen Horney was a German psychoanalyst who practiced in the United States during her later career. Her theories questioned some traditional Freudian views, specifically in theories of sexuality and of the instinct orientation of psychoanalysis. Horney is also credited with founding feminist psychology in response to Freud's theory of penis envy. She disagreed with Freud about inherent differences in the psychology of men and women, and like Adler, she traced such differences to society and culture rather than biology.
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Otto Heinrich Warburg
- Occupations
- university teacherchemistphysiologistbiochemistphysician
- Biography
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Otto Heinrich Warburg was a German physiologist, medical doctor, and Nobel laureate. He served as an officer in the elite Uhlan (cavalry regiment) during the First World War, and was awarded the Iron Cross (1st Class) for bravery. He was the sole recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1931. In total, he was nominated for the award 47 times over the course of his career.
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Jürgen Todenhöfer
- Occupations
- opinion journalistjuristjournalistjudgepolitician
- Biography
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Jürgen Todenhöfer is a German author, journalist, politician, executive and former judge.
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Bernhard Schlink
- Occupations
- poet lawyerjuristscreenwriteruniversity teachernovelist
- Biography
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Bernhard Schlink is a German lawyer, academic, and novelist. He is best known for his novel The Reader, which was first published in 1995 and became an international bestseller. He won the 2014 Park Kyong-ni Prize.
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Norbert Elias
- Occupations
- poetwritersociologistuniversity teachermusicologist
- Biography
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Norbert Elias was a German sociologist who later became a British citizen. He is especially famous for his theory of civilizing/decivilizing processes.
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Gerhard Ludwig Müller
- Occupations
- university teacherCatholic priesttheologianCatholic bishoparchbishop
- Biography
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Gerhard Ludwig Müller is a German Catholic prelate who served as the Cardinal-Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012 until 2017. Pope Francis elevated him to the rank of cardinal in 2014.
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Volker Wissing
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- 1991-1994 studied jurisprudence
- Occupations
- prosecutorjudgepolitician
- Biography
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Volker Wissing is a German lawyer and former judge who served as the Minister for Transport in the federal government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz from 2021 to 2025 and as Minister of Justice from 2024 to 2025.
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Duško Popov
- Occupations
- double agentsocialite
- Biography
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Dušan "Duško" Popov OBE was a Serbian intelligence agent, lawyer and businessman who served as a double agent for MI6 during World War II. Feigning to be an asset of the German Abwehr, he passed off disinformation to Germany as part of the British Double-Cross System while occasionally using cover as a diplomat for the Yugoslav government-in-exile in London.
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Günther Anders
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- In 1924 graduated with doctorate in philosophy
- Occupations
- writerphilosophertranslatorpoetscreenwriter
- Biography
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Günther Anders was a German-born philosopher, journalist and critical theorist.
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Hans Jonas
- Occupations
- university teacherphilosopherenvironmentalist
- Biography
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Hans Jonas was a German and American philosopher. From 1955 to 1976 he was the Alvin Johnson Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York City.
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Hans Magnus Enzensberger
- Occupations
- playwrightjournalistreporterwritertranslator
- Biography
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Hans Magnus Enzensberger was a German author, poet, translator, and editor. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Andreas Thalmayr, Elisabeth Ambras, Linda Quilt and Giorgio Pellizzi. Enzensberger was regarded as one of the literary founding figures of the Federal Republic of Germany and wrote more than 70 books, with works translated into 40 languages. He was one of the leading authors in Group 47, and influenced the 1968 West German student movement. He was awarded the Georg Büchner Prize and the Pour le Mérite, among many others.
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Udo Ulfkotte
- Occupations
- opinion journalistconspiracy theoristnon-fiction writerjournalistpolitical scientist
- Biography
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Udo Konstantin Ulfkotte was a German journalist and author who worked for the German main daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) from 1986 until 2003. From the end of the 1990s, he wrote several bestsellers and increasingly advocated right-wing populist, Islamophobic, and conspiracy-theory positions. He said that journalists, including himself, and leading newspapers published material that had been fed to them, or bought, by the CIA and other Western intelligence and propaganda agencies.
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Kurt Hahn
- Occupations
- pedagogueteacherhead teacher
- Biography
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Kurt Matthias Robert Martin Hahn was a German educator. He was decisive in founding Stiftung Louisenlund, Schule Schloss Salem, Gordonstoun, Outward Bound, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, and the first of the United World Colleges, Atlantic College.
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Karl Rahner
- Occupations
- writerLatin Catholic priestuniversity teachertheologian
- Biography
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Karl Rahner SJ was a German Jesuit priest and theologian who, alongside Henri de Lubac, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Yves Congar, is considered to be one of the most influential Catholic theologians of the 20th-century. He was the brother of Hugo Rahner, also a Jesuit scholar.
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Martin Waldseemüller
- Occupations
- geographercosmographercartographertheologian
- Biography
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Martin Waldseemüller was a German cartographer and humanist scholar. Sometimes known by the Hellenized form of his name, Hylacomylus, his work was influential among contemporary cartographers. His collaborator Matthias Ringmann and he are credited with the first recorded usage of the word America to name a portion of the New World in honour of Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci in a world map they delineated in 1507. The same map was the first to show the Americas as a distinct landmass clearly separated from Asia by the Pacific Ocean. Waldseemüller was also the first to produce a printed globe and the first to create a printed wall map of Europe. A set of his maps printed as an appendix to the 1513 edition of Ptolemy's Geography is considered to be the first example of a modern atlas.
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Alfred Döblin
- Occupations
- journalistneurologistphysicianmedical officerplaywright
- Biography
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Bruno Alfred Döblin was a German novelist, essayist, and doctor, best known for his novel Berlin Alexanderplatz (1929). A prolific writer whose œuvre spans more than half a century and a wide variety of literary movements and styles, Döblin is one of the most important figures of German literary modernism. His complete works comprise over a dozen novels ranging in genre from historical novels to science fiction to novels about the modern metropolis; several dramas, radio plays, and screenplays; a true crime story; a travel account; two book-length philosophical treatises; scores of essays on politics, religion, art, and society; and numerous letters—his complete works, republished by Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag and Fischer Verlag, span more than thirty volumes. His first published novel, Die drei Sprünge des Wang-lung (The Three Leaps of Wang Lun), appeared in 1915 and his final novel, Hamlet oder Die lange Nacht nimmt ein Ende (Tales of a Long Night) was published in 1956, one year before his death.
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Erwin Panofsky
- Occupations
- university teacherart historianart critic
- Biography
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Erwin Panofsky was a German-Jewish art historian whose work represents a high point in the modern academic study of iconography, including his hugely influential Renaissance and Renascences in Western Art and his seminal Early Netherlandish Painting.
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Ralf Stegner
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- Studied in 1980-1987
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Ralf Stegner is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag for the constituency of Pinneberg since the 2021 elections.
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Hartmut Rosa
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- 1986-1993 graduated with magister degree in philosophy, political science, and German studies
- Occupations
- philosophereditorsociologistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Hartmut Rosa is a German sociologist and political scientist who is best known for his theory of resonance and temporal sociology of social acceleration.
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Romano Guardini
- Occupations
- university teacherCatholic priesttheologianwriterphilosopher
- Biography
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Romano Guardini was an Italian, naturalized German Catholic priest, philosopher and theologian.
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Hans Krebs
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- Studied in 1919-1923
- Occupations
- Whitley Professor of Biochemistryuniversity teacherphysiologistbiochemistphysician
- Biography
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Sir Hans Adolf Krebs, FRS was a German-British biologist, physician and biochemist. He was a pioneer scientist in the study of cellular respiration, a biochemical process in living cells that extracts energy from food and oxygen and makes it available to drive the processes of life. He is best known for his discoveries of two important sequences of chemical reactions that take place in the cells of nearly all organisms, including humans, other than anaerobic microorganisms, namely the citric acid cycle and the urea cycle. The former, often eponymously known as the "Krebs cycle", is the sequence of metabolic reactions that allows cells of oxygen-respiring organisms to obtain far more ATP from the food they consume than anaerobic processes such as glycolysis can supply; and its discovery earned Krebs a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1953. With Hans Kornberg, he also discovered the glyoxylate cycle, a slight variation of the citric acid cycle found in plants, bacteria, protists, and fungi.
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Joachim Fest
- Occupations
- historianfilm directorjournalistbiographerhistorian of Modern Age
- Biography
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Joachim Clemens Fest was a German historian, journalist, critic and editor who was best known for his writings and public commentary on Nazi Germany, including a biography of Adolf Hitler and books about Albert Speer and German resistance to Nazism. He was a leading figure in the debate among German historians about the Nazi era.
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Franz Burda sr
- Occupations
- publisher
- Biography
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Franz Burda was a German publisher. He inherited his father's publishing business, which he developed into what is now the Hubert Burda Media conglomerate.
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Patriarch Daniel of Romania
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- Studied in 1978-1980
- Occupations
- Eastern Orthodox bishop
- Biography
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Daniel is the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The elections took place on 12 September 2007. Daniel won with a majority of 95 votes out of 161 against Bartolomeu Anania. He was officially enthroned on 30 September 2007 in the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest. As such, his official title is "Archbishop of Bucharest, Metropolitan of Muntenia and Dobrogea, Locum tenens of the throne of Caesarea of Cappadocia, Patriarch of All Romania".
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Reinhard Genzel
- Occupations
- astrophysicistastronomerscientistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Reinhard Genzel ForMemRS is a German astrophysicist, co-director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, a professor at LMU and an emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He was awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy", which he shared with Andrea Ghez and Roger Penrose. In a 2021 interview given to Federal University of Pará in Brazil, Genzel recalls his journey as a physicist; the influence of his father, Ludwig Genzel; his experiences working with Charles H. Townes; and more.
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Karl Lehmann
- Occupations
- university teacherCatholic priesttheologianwriterCatholic bishop
- Biography
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Karl Lehmann was a German prelate and cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Mainz from 1983 to 2016, being elevated to the cardinalate in 2001.
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Volker Kauder
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- 1971-1975 studied jurisprudence
- Occupations
- juristpolitician
- Biography
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Volker Kauder is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as parliamentary group leader of the ruling CDU/CSU faction in the German Bundestag from 2005 to 2018, during which he was frequently referred to as the "right hand" of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
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George de Hevesy
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- In 1908 graduated with doctorate
- Occupations
- university teacherchemist
- Biography
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George Charles de Hevesy was a Hungarian radiochemist and Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate, recognized in 1943 for his key role in the development of radioactive tracers to study chemical processes such as in the metabolism of animals. He also co-discovered the element hafnium.
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Franz Rosenzweig
- Occupations
- theologianhistorianBible translatorphilosophertranslator
- Biography
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Franz Rosenzweig was a German theologian, philosopher, and translator.
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Hengameh Yaghoobifarah
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- Studied Scandinavian studies and media culture studies
- Occupations
- editing staffwriterjournalistbloggerauthor
- Biography
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Hengameh Yaghoobifarah is a German-Iranian non-binary journalist and author.
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Reinhold Mitterlehner
- Occupations
- juristpolitician
- Biography
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Reinhold Mitterlehner is an Austrian politician of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) who served as minister of economy in Austria's government from 2008 until 2017. In September 2014 he also became vice chancellor of Austria and chairman of the ÖVP. On 9 May 2016 he briefly assumed powers and duties as Acting Chancellor of Austria while his coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party, underwent a change in leadership. After a series of quarrels within the grand coalition as well as his own party, Mitterlehner announced his resignation on 10 May 2017, which became effective on 17 May 2017.
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Heinrich von Treitschke
- Occupations
- historian of Modern Agewriteruniversity teacheropinion journalistpolitician
- Biography
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Heinrich Gotthard von Treitschke was a German historian, political writer and National Liberal member of the Reichstag during the time of the German Empire.
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Katharina Fegebank
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- 1997-2002 studied English studies, political science, and public law
- Occupations
- Landesvorstandpolitician
- Biography
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Katharina Fegebank is a German politician heavyweight for the Alliance '90/The Greens, who has served as Second Mayor of Hamburg since 2015. She has been serving as Senator for the Environment, Climate Action, Energy and Agriculture since May 2025. Prior to that, she served as Senator for Science, Research, Equality and Boroughs from April 2015.
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Hans Filbinger
- Occupations
- judgepolitician
- Biography
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Hans Karl Filbinger was a conservative German politician and a leading member of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union in the 1960s and 1970s, serving as the first chairman of the CDU Baden-Württemberg and vice chairman of the federal CDU. He was Minister President of Baden-Württemberg from 1966 to 1978 and as such also chaired the Bundesrat in 1973/74. He founded the conservative think tank Studienzentrum Weikersheim, which he chaired until 1997.
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Prince Friedrich Christian, Margrave of Meissen
- Occupations
- ruler
- Biography
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Albert Leopold Friedrich Christian Sylvester Anno Macarius, Prince of Saxony, Duke of Saxony, Margrave of Meissen was the second son of Frederick Augustus III, the last reigning king of Saxony before the abolition of the monarchy in 1918. Upon his father's death in 1932, he became the head of the Royal House of Saxony. He was Captain à la suite in the Royal Bulgarian Infantry, and Grand Master of the Order of the Rue Crown, and also a Knight in the Order of the Black Eagle and Knight Grand Cross in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. As head of the Albertine branch of the House of Wettin after 1932, he styled himself as Friedrich Christian, Margrave of Meissen.
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Prince Friedrich, Prince of Hohenzollern
- Occupations
- military officer
- Biography
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Frederick, Prince of Hohenzollern was the head of the Swabian branch of the House of Hohenzollern. He was the eldest son of William, Prince of Hohenzollern and Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He had a twin brother, Franz Joseph, Prince of Hohenzollern-Emden, who was born a few minutes after he was.
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Johann Reuchlin
- Occupations
- juristwritertranslatoruniversity teachertheologian
- Biography
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Johann Reuchlin, sometimes called Johannes, was a German Catholic humanist and a scholar of Greek and Hebrew, whose work also took him to modern-day Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and France. Most of Reuchlin's career centered on advancing German knowledge of Greek and Hebrew.
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Hermann Staudinger
- Occupations
- university teacherorganic chemistpolymer chemistengineerchemist
- Biography
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Hermann Staudinger was a German organic chemist who demonstrated the existence of macromolecules, which he characterized as polymers. For this work he received the 1953 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
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Ernst Zermelo
- Occupations
- university teachermathematicianphilosopher
- Biography
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Ernst Friedrich Ferdinand Zermelo was a German logician and mathematician, whose work has major implications for the foundations of mathematics. He is known for his role in developing Zermelo–Fraenkel axiomatic set theory and his proof of the well-ordering theorem. Furthermore, his 1929 work on ranking chess players is the first description of a model for pairwise comparison that continues to have a profound impact on various applied fields utilizing this method.
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Roman Ingarden
- Occupations
- aestheticianphilosopheruniversity teacherwriter
- Biography
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Roman Witold Ingarden was a Polish philosopher who worked in aesthetics, ontology, and phenomenology.
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Joseph Wirth
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Karl Joseph Wirth was a German politician of the Catholic Centre Party who was chancellor of Germany from May 1921 to November 1922, during the early years of the Weimar Republic. He was also minister of four government departments between 1920 and 1931 (Foreign Affairs, Finance, Interior, and Occupied Territories). Wirth was strongly influenced by Christian social teaching throughout his political career.
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Georg Bätzing
- Occupations
- Catholic priestCatholic bishoptheologianwriter
- Biography
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Georg Bätzing is a progressive German Catholic prelate who has served as Bishop of Limburg since 2016 and chairman of the German Bishops' Conference since March 2020.
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Eugen Fischer
- Occupations
- university teacheranthropologistgeneticistphysicianracial hygienist
- Biography
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Eugen Fischer was a German professor of medicine, anthropology, and eugenics, and a member of the Nazi Party. He served as director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics, and also served as rector of the Frederick William University of Berlin.
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Karl Bühler
- Occupations
- university teacherpsychiatristpsychologist
- Biography
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Karl Ludwig Bühler was a German psychologist and linguist. In psychology he is known for his work in Gestalt psychology, and he was one of the founders of the Würzburg School of psychology. In linguistics he is known for his organon model of communication and his treatment of deixis as a linguistic phenomenon.
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Bernhard Weiß
- Occupations
- juristpolice officer
- Biography
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Bernhard Weiss was a German lawyer and Vice President of the Berlin police during the Weimar Republic. A member of the liberal Deutsche Demokratische Partei, Weiss was known as a key player in the political tensions during the Weimar Republic and a staunch defender of parliamentary democracy against extremists on the left and right.
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Harald Martenstein
- Occupations
- writerjournalistediting staffnon-fiction writer
- Biography
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Harald Martenstein is a German journalist and author.
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Walter Jens
- Occupations
- librettistphilologistliterary criticliterary scholargermanist
- Biography
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Walter Jens was a German philologist, literature historian, critic, university professor and writer.
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Georg, Crown Prince of Saxony
- Occupations
- priestmilitary officerCatholic priest
- Biography
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Georg, Crown Prince of Saxony or George was the last Crown Prince of Saxony and the heir to Frederick Augustus III, the final King of Saxony, at the time of the monarchy’s abolition on 13 November 1918.
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Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker
- Occupations
- university teacherpoliticianphysicist
- Biography
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Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker is a German scientist and politician (SPD). He was a member of the German Bundestag and served as co-president of the Club of Rome jointly with Anders Wijkman from 2011 – 2019.
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Hans Spemann
- Occupations
- physicianbiologistuniversity teacherzoologist
- Biography
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Hans Spemann was a German embryologist who was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1935 for his student Hilde Mangold's discovery of the effect now known as embryonic induction, an influence, exercised by various parts of the embryo, that directs the development of groups of cells into particular tissues and organs, one of the first steps towards cloning. Spemann added his name as an author to Hilde Mangold's dissertation (although she objected) and won a Nobel Prize for her work.
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Joachim Frank
- Occupations
- biophysicistchemist
- Biography
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Joachim Frank HonFRMS; born September 12, 1940) is a German-American biophysicist at Columbia University and a Nobel laureate. He is regarded as the founder of single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2017 with Jacques Dubochet and Richard Henderson. He also made significant contributions to structure and function of the ribosome from bacteria and eukaryotes.
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Bogdan Filov
- Occupations
- anthropologistart historianuniversity teacherpoliticianhistorian
- Biography
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Bogdan Dimitrov Filov was a Bulgarian archaeologist, art historian and politician. He was prime minister of Bulgaria during World War II. During his tenure, Bulgaria became the seventh nation to join the Axis powers.
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Johann Eck
- Occupations
- translatoruniversity teacherpundittheologian
- Biography
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Johann Eck, also known as Johann Maier von Eck and often anglicized as John Eck, was a German Roman Catholic theologian, scholastic, prelate, and opponent of Martin Luther.
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Helmuth Plessner
- Occupations
- anthropologistphilosophersociologistuniversity teacher
- Biography
-
Helmuth Plessner was a German philosopher and sociologist, and a primary advocate of "philosophical anthropology".
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Heinrich August Winkler
- Years
- 1938-.. (age 88)
- Occupations
- historianhistorian of Modern Ageuniversity teacher
- Biography
-
Heinrich August Winkler is a German historian.
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Theodor Lessing
- Occupations
- writeruniversity teacherphilosopheropinion journalistpolitician
- Biography
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Karl Theodor Richard Lessing was a German philosopher.
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Hans Adolf Eduard Driesch
- Occupations
- biologistphilosopheruniversity teacherzoologist
- Biography
-
Hans Adolf Eduard Driesch was a German biologist and philosopher from Bad Kreuznach. He is most noted for his early experimental work in embryology and for his neo-vitalist philosophy of entelechy. He has also been credited with performing the first artificial 'cloning' of an animal in the 1880s, although this claim is dependent on how one defines cloning.
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Günter Blobel
- Occupations
- university teacherbiologistcell biologistbiochemistphysician
- Biography
-
Günter Blobel was a Silesian German and American biologist and 1999 Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology for the discovery that proteins have intrinsic signals that govern their transport and localization in the cell.
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Friedrich Kittler
- Occupations
- media scholaruniversity teacherliterary scholarphilosopherliterary historian
- Biography
-
Friedrich Adolf Kittler was a literary scholar and a media theorist. His works relate to media, technology, and the military.
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Hans-Ulrich Klose
- Occupations
- juristpolitician
- Biography
-
Hans-Ulrich Klose was a German politician from the Social Democratic Party and a member of the German Federal parliament (German: Bundestag). Klose was the First Mayor (German: Erster Bürgermeister) of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg from 1974 up to 1981, serving as President of the Bundesrat in 1979–80.
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Georg Restle
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- 1987-1993 graduated with Staatsexamen in legal science
- Occupations
- journalisttelevision presenter
- Biography
-
Georg Restle is a German journalist and television presenter.
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Christina Obergföll
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- Studied sport and English
- Occupations
- athletics competitor
- Biography
-
Christina Obergföll is a retired German track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. She was World Champion in 2013. Her personal best throw of 70.20 m is the German record. It also ranks her fifth on the overall list.
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Paul Kirchhof
- Occupations
- university teacherjudge
- Biography
-
Paul Kirchhof is a German jurist and tax law expert. He is also a professor of law, member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and, a former judge in the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany (Bundesverfassungsgericht), the highest court in Germany.
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Arnulf Baring
- Occupations
- opinion journalisthistorianjuristuniversity teachercontemporary historian
- Biography
-
Arnulf Martin Baring was a German lawyer, journalist, political scientist, contemporary historian and author. He was a member of the German-British Baring family of bankers.
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Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager
- Occupations
- lawyerentrepreneurpolitician
- Biography
-
Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager is a German lawyer and forester, and was formerly a member of the Sovereign Council of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. He served as Grand Hospitaller from 1989 to 2014, and from 2014 until 3 September 2022 as its grand chancellor. Boeselager was at the centre of a leadership controversy within the Order of Malta in late 2016 and early 2017. After Boeslager was suspended as grand chancellor, Pope Francis intervened to restore him to office and require the resignation of the prince and grand master of the order, Matthew Festing. Pope Francis dissolved the Sovereign Council on 3 September 2022, and appointed Ricardo Paternò di Montecupo as grand chancellor.
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Charles Malik
- Occupations
- writerdiplomatphilosopherpolitician
- Biography
-
Charles Habib Malik was a Lebanese academic, diplomat, philosopher, and politician. He served as the Lebanese representative to the United Nations, the President of the Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations General Assembly, a member of the Lebanese Cabinet, the head of the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education and of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigration, as well as being a theologian. He participated in the drafting of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
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Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Hohenzollern
- Occupations
- entrepreneur
- Biography
-
Friedrich Wilhelm Ferdinand Joseph Maria Manuel Georg Meinrad Fidelis Benedikt Michael Hubert Fürst von Hohenzollern was the head of the Swabian branch of the House of Hohenzollern for over 45 years.
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Fidelis of Sigmaringen
- Occupations
- lawyerphilosopherjuristpriestregular priest
- Biography
-
Fidelis of Sigmaringen, OFM Cap. was a German Capuchin friar who was involved in the Catholic Counter-Reformation. He was martyred by his opponents at Seewis im Prättigau, now part of Switzerland. Fidelis was canonized in 1746.
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Augustin Bea
- Occupations
- university teachertheologianCatholic priest
- Biography
-
Augustin Bea SJ was a German Jesuit priest, cardinal, and scholar at the Pontifical Gregorian University, specialising in biblical studies and biblical archaeology. He also served as the personal confessor of Pope Pius XII.
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Constantin Fehrenbach
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
-
Constantin Fehrenbach, sometimes erroneously Konstantin Fehrenbach,, was a German politician who was one of the major leaders of the Catholic Centre Party. He served as president of the Reichstag in 1918 and then as president of the Weimar National Assembly from 1919 to 1920. In June 1920, Fehrenbach became Chancellor of Germany. During his time in office, the central issue he had to face was German compliance with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. He resigned in May 1921 when his cabinet was unable to reach a consensus on war reparations payments to the Allies. Fehrenbach remained in the Reichstag and headed the Centre Party's contingent there from 1923 until his death in 1926.
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Duke George, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
- Biography
-
George, Duke of Mecklenburg was the head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz from 1934 until his death. Through his father, he was a descendant of Emperor Paul I of Russia.
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Lorenz Oken
- Occupations
- philosopherentomologistornithologistbotanistuniversity teacher
- Biography
-
Lorenz Oken was a German naturalist, botanist, biologist, and ornithologist. He became a professor of natural history at the University of Jena and from 1833 at the newly founded University of Zurich. He founded the journal Isis.
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Christoph von Marschall
- Occupations
- historianopinion journalistjournalist
- Biography
-
Christoph von Marschall is a German journalist working for the daily Berlin newspaper Der Tagesspiegel. He is currently titled the diplomatic correspondent of the newspaper's editorial offices.
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Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau
- Occupations
- diplomatjuristpolitician
- Biography
-
Ulrich Karl Christian Graf von Brockdorff-Rantzau was a German diplomat who became the first Foreign Minister of the Weimar Republic. In that capacity, he led the German delegation at the Paris Peace Conference but resigned over the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. He was also the German ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1928.
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Bert Sakmann
- Occupations
- neurophysiologistbiologistuniversity teacherbiophysicistphysiologist
- Biography
-
Bert Sakmann is a German cell physiologist. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Erwin Neher in 1991 for their work on "the function of single ion channels in cells," and the invention of the patch clamp. Bert Sakmann was Professor at Heidelberg University and is an Emeritus Scientific Member of the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg, Germany. Since 2008 he leads an emeritus research group at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology.
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Leonor Michaelis
- Occupations
- university teacherphysicistchemistbiochemistphysician
- Biography
-
Leonor Michaelis was a German biochemist, physical chemist, and physician. He is known for his work with Maud Menten on enzyme kinetics in 1913, as well as for work on enzyme inhibition, pH and quinones.
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Eugen Fink
- Occupations
- university teacherphilosopher
- Biography
-
Eugen Fink was a German philosopher.
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Abraham Gottlob Werner
- Occupations
- university teachergeologistmineralogist
- Biography
-
Abraham Gottlob Werner was a German geologist who set out an early theory about the stratification of the Earth's crust and propounded a history of the Earth that came to be known as Neptunism. While most tenets of Neptunism were eventually set aside, Werner is remembered for his demonstration of chronological succession in rocks; for the zeal with which he infused his pupils; and for the impulse he thereby gave to the study of geology. He has been called the "father of German geology".
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Dieter Salomon
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Dieter Salomon is a German politician of Alliance '90/The Greens who served as mayor of Freiburg im Breisgau for two terms from 2002 until 2018.
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Franz Hengsbach
- Occupations
- Catholic theologianCatholic bishopCatholic priest
- Biography
-
Franz Hengsbach was a German Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Bishop of Essen from 1957 to 1991, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1988.
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Adolf Windaus
- Occupations
- university teacherchemist
- Biography
-
Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus was a German chemist who won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1928 for his work on sterols and their relation to vitamins. He was the doctoral advisor of Adolf Butenandt who also won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1939.
