100 Notable alumni of
University of Freiburg
Updated:
The University of Freiburg is 152nd 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
- resistance fighterpolitical theoristuniversity teacherwriterhistorian
- 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
- Studied philosophy and theology
- Occupations
- university teacherpoetphilosopherfurniture designer
- Biography
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Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. His work covers a wide range of topics including ontology, technology, art, metaphysics, humanism, language and history of philosophy. He is often considered to be among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th century, especially in the continental tradition.
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Konrad Adenauer
- Occupations
- judgeChancellor of Germanyart collectorlawyerassessor
- Biography
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Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer was a German statesman who served as the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of 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.
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Robert Habeck
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- In 1991 studied German studies, philology, and philosophy
- Occupations
- environmentalistpoliticianscreenwriterwritertranslator
- Biography
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Robert Habeck is a German politician (Alliance 90/The Greens) and writer who has been serving 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 since 2021. 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-Jewish philosopher, cultural critic, media theorist, and essayist. An eclectic thinker who combined elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, Jewish mysticism, and neo-Kantianism, Benjamin made influential contributions to aesthetic theory, literary criticism, and historical materialism. He was associated with the Frankfurt School and also maintained formative friendships with thinkers such as playwright Bertolt Brecht and Kabbalah scholar Gershom Scholem. He was related to German political theorist and philosopher Hannah Arendt through her first marriage to Benjamin's cousin Günther Anders, though the friendship between Arendt and Benjamin outlasted her marriage to Anders. Both Arendt and Anders were students of Martin Heidegger, whom Benjamin considered a nemesis.
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Wolfgang Schäuble
- Occupations
- politicianjuristlawyer
- 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
- sociologistpolitical theoristuniversity teacherphilosopherpolitical scientist
- 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 and then at Freiburg, where he received his Ph.D. 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
- resistance fighterphilosopherlinguistnununiversity teacher
- Biography
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Edith Stein OCD was a German Jewish philosopher who converted to Catholicism and became a Discalced Carmelite nun. Edith Stein was murdered in the gas chamber at Birkenau 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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Paul Ehrlich
- Occupations
- physicianchemistbiologistpharmacologistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Paul Ehrlich was a Nobel Prize-winning German physician and scientist who worked in the fields of hematology, immunology and antimicrobial chemotherapy. 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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Chaim Weizmann
- Occupations
- pedagoguechemistuniversity teacherpoliticianautobiographer
- 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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Kurt Zadek Lewin
- Occupations
- psychologistuniversity teachereconomist
- Biography
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Kurt 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
- university teacherwriterethicistphilosopher
- 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
- writeruniversity teacherphilosopher
- Biography
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Byung-Chul Han is a South Korean-born philosopher 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 a critique 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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Alexandra Elbakyan
- Occupations
- activistcomputer scientistprogrammerneuroscientist
- 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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Thomas de Maizière
- Occupations
- university teacherpoliticianjuristminister
- 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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Niklas Luhmann
- Occupations
- university teachercyberneticistlawyersociologist
- Biography
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Niklas Luhmann was a German sociologist, philosopher of social science, and a prominent thinker in systems theory.
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Leo Strauss
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- Studied in 1925
- Occupations
- university teacherpoliticianphilosopherpolitical scientist
- Biography
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Leo Strauss was an American scholar of political philosophy. Born in Germany to Jewish parents, Strauss later emigrated from Germany to the United States. He spent much of his career as a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, where he taught several generations of students and published fifteen books.
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Mario Molina
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- Studied in 1965
- Occupations
- engineeruniversity teacherchemist
- 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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Max Horkheimer
- Occupations
- pedagoguesociologistliterary criticuniversity teacherphilosopher
- Biography
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Max Horkheimer was a German philosopher and sociologist who was famous for his work in critical theory as a member of the Frankfurt School of social research. Horkheimer addressed authoritarianism, militarism, economic disruption, environmental crisis, and the poverty of mass culture using the philosophy of history as a framework. This became the foundation of critical theory. His most important works include Eclipse of Reason (1947), Between Philosophy and Social Science (1930–1938) and, in collaboration with Theodor Adorno, Dialectic of Enlightenment (1947). Through the Frankfurt School, Horkheimer planned, supported and made other significant works possible.
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Karen Horney
- Occupations
- psychoanalystwriterpsychiatristpsychotherapist
- 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. This was particularly true of her theories of sexuality and of the instinct orientation of psychoanalysis. She is 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
- physiologistbiochemistphysicianuniversity teacherchemist
- 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
- politicianpoet lawyerwriteropinion journalistjurist
- Biography
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Jürgen Todenhöfer is a German author, journalist, politician, and executive.
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Norbert Elias
- Occupations
- philosopherpoetwritersociologistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Norbert Elias was a Jewish German sociologist who later became a British citizen. He is especially famous for his theory of civilizing/decivilizing processes.
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Bernhard Schlink
- Occupations
- judgepoet lawyerjuristscreenwriteruniversity teacher
- 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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Hans Jonas
- Occupations
- philosopherenvironmentalistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Hans Jonas was a German-born American Jewish 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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Udo Ulfkotte
- Occupations
- political scientistopinion journalistconspiracy theoristnon-fiction writerjournalist
- 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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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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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
- university teacherwriterphilosophertranslatorpoet
- Biography
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Günther Anders was a German-born philosopher, journalist and critical theorist.
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Volker Wissing
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- 1991-1994 studied jurisprudence
- Occupations
- judgepoliticianprosecutor
- Biography
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Volker Wissing is a German lawyer and former judge who has been serving as the Minister for Transport in the federal government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz since 2021 and as Minister of Justice since 2024.
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Kurt Hahn
- Occupations
- pedagogueteacherhead teacher
- Biography
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Kurt Matthias Robert Martin Hahn CBE 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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Martin Waldseemüller
- Occupations
- theologiangeographercosmographercartographer
- 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. Waldseemüller was also the first to map South America as a continent separate from Asia, 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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Karl Rahner
- Occupations
- university teachertheologianwriterLatin Catholic priest
- 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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Gerhard Ludwig Müller
- Occupations
- Catholic bishoparchbishopuniversity teacherCatholic priesttheologian
- 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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Alfred Döblin
- Occupations
- poettheatre criticscreenwriterscience fiction writerjournalist
- 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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Ralf Stegner
- 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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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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Joachim Fest
- Occupations
- historian of Modern Agescreenwriterwriterhistorianfilm director
- 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. In recent years his writings have earned both praise and strong criticism.
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Hans Krebs
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- Studied in 1919-1923
- Occupations
- physiologistbiochemistphysicianWhitley Professor of Biochemistryuniversity teacher
- 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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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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Hartmut Rosa
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- Studied in 1986-1993
- Occupations
- university teacherphilosophereditorsociologist
- Biography
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Hartmut Rosa is a German sociologist and political scientist, most well known for his theory of resonance and temporal sociology of social acceleration.
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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
- patriarch
- 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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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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Karl Lehmann
- Occupations
- Catholic priestuniversity teacherCatholic 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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Reinhard Genzel
- Occupations
- university teacherastrophysicistastronomerscientist
- 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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Franz Rosenzweig
- Occupations
- translatortheologianhistorianBible translatorphilosopher
- Biography
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Franz Rosenzweig was a German theologian, philosopher, and translator.
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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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Hengameh Yaghoobifarah
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- Studied Scandinavian studies and media culture studies
- Occupations
- journalistauthor
- Biography
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Hengameh Yaghoobifarah is a German-Iranian non-binary journalist and author.
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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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Heinrich von Treitschke
- Occupations
- opinion journalistpoliticianhistorianhistorian of Modern Agewriter
- Biography
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Heinrich Gotthard Freiherr von Treitschke was a German historian, political writer and National Liberal member of the Reichstag during the time of the German Empire. He was an extreme nationalist, who favored German colonialism and opposed the British Empire. He also opposed Catholics, Poles, Jews and socialists inside Germany.
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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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Hermann Staudinger
- Occupations
- engineeruniversity teacherchemist
- 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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Prince Friedrich, Prince of Hohenzollern
- Occupations
- military officer
- Biography
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Frederick, Prince of Hohenzollern 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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Katharina Fegebank
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- 1997-2002 studied public law, English studies, and political science
- Occupations
- Landesvorstandpolitician
- Biography
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Katharina Fegebank is a German politician for the Alliance '90/The Greens, who has served as Second Mayor of Hamburg and Senator for Science, Research and Equality since 2015. She briefly served as acting First Mayor in March 2018.
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Johann Reuchlin
- Occupations
- philosopherjuristwritertranslatoruniversity teacher
- 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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Ernst Zermelo
- Occupations
- philosopheruniversity teachermathematician
- 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
- university teacherwriteraestheticianphilosopher
- Biography
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Roman Witold Ingarden was a Polish philosopher who worked in aesthetics, ontology, and phenomenology.
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Karl Bühler
- Occupations
- psychologistuniversity teacherpsychiatrist
- 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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Eugen Fischer
- Occupations
- physicianracial hygienistuniversity teacheranthropologistgeneticist
- 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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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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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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Georg Bätzing
- Occupations
- theologianwriterCatholic priestCatholic bishop
- Biography
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Georg Bätzing is a 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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Harald Martenstein
- Occupations
- writerjournalistediting staffnon-fiction writer
- Biography
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Harald Martenstein is a German journalist and author.
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Hans Spemann
- Occupations
- university teacherzoologistphysicianbiologist
- 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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Walter Jens
- Occupations
- screenwritercriticlibrettistphilologistliterary critic
- 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
- Catholic priestpriestmilitary officer
- Biography
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Georg, Crown Prince of Saxony or George the last Crown Prince of Saxony, was the heir to the King of Saxony, Frederick Augustus III, at the time of the monarchy's abolition on 13 November 1918. He later became a Roman Catholic priest and a Jesuit.
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Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker
- Occupations
- politicianphysicistuniversity teacher
- 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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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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Johann Eck
- Occupations
- pundittheologiantranslatoruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Johann Maier von Eck, often anglicized as John Eck, was a German Catholic theologian, scholastic, prelate, and opponent of Martin Luther.
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Helmuth Plessner
- Occupations
- university teacheranthropologistphilosophersociologist
- Biography
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Helmuth Plessner was a German philosopher and sociologist, and a primary advocate of "philosophical anthropology".
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Bogdan Filov
- Occupations
- politicianhistorianarchaeologistanthropologistart historian
- 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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Heinrich August Winkler
- Years
- 1938-.. (age 87)
- Occupations
- university teacherhistorianhistorian of Modern Age
- Biography
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Heinrich August Winkler is a German historian.
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Theodor Lessing
- Occupations
- politicianjournalistwriteruniversity teacherphilosopher
- Biography
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Karl Theodor Richard Lessing was a German Jewish philosopher.
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Hans Adolf Eduard Driesch
- Occupations
- university teacherzoologistbiologistphilosopher
- Biography
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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
- biochemistphysicianuniversity teacherbiologistcell biologist
- Biography
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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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Christina Obergföll
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- Studied sport and English
- Occupations
- athletics competitor
- Biography
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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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Friedrich Kittler
- Occupations
- literary historianhistorianmedia scholaruniversity teacherliterary scholar
- Biography
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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
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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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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
- political scientistopinion journalisthistorianjuristuniversity teacher
- 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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Charles Malik
- Occupations
- philosopherpoliticianwriterdiplomat
- 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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Georg Restle
- Enrolled in the University of Freiburg
- 1987-1993 graduated with Staatsexamen in legal science
- Occupations
- journalisttelevision presenter
- Biography
-
Georg Restle is a leftist German journalist and television presenter.
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Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager
- Occupations
- entrepreneurpoliticianlawyer
- 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 September 3rd, 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 September 3, 2022, and appointed H.E. Ricardo Paternò di Montecupo as grand chancellor.
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Fidelis of Sigmaringen
- Occupations
- regular priestlawyerphilosopherjuristpriest
- 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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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 House of Hohenzollern for over 45 years.
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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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Augustin Bea
- Occupations
- Catholic priestuniversity teachertheologian
- 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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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
- physicianphilosopherentomologistornithologistbotanist
- Biography
-
Lorenz Oken was a German naturalist, botanist, biologist, and ornithologist.
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Leonor Michaelis
- Occupations
- chemistbiochemistphysicianuniversity teacherphysicist
- 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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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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Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau
- Occupations
- politiciandiplomatjurist
- 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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Ulrich Kutschera
- Occupations
- annelidologistbotanistuniversity teacheranti-vaccine activistevolutionary biologist
- Biography
-
Ulrich Kutschera is a former German professor of biology who works as an academic advisor at I-Cultiver, Inc. in San Francisco and as a visiting scientist in Stanford/Palo Alto, California, US. He is the founder and head of "AK Evolutionbiologie", an association of evolutionary biologists in Germany. Starting in the 2000s, Kutschera started engaging with the public, first as a critic of creationism and intelligent design. Since the mid-2010s, his public statements and popular books focused on climate skepticism and criticism of gender studies.
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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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Christoph von Marschall
- Occupations
- opinion journalistjournalisthistorian
- 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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Eugen Fink
- Occupations
- university teacherphilosopher
- Biography
-
Eugen Fink was a German philosopher.
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Bert Sakmann
- Occupations
- physiologistphysicianneurophysiologistbiologistuniversity teacher
- 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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Georges J. F. Köhler
- Occupations
- university teacherbiologistimmunologistchemist
- Biography
-
Georges Jean Franz Köhler was a German biologist.
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Gerd Bucerius
- Occupations
- judgepoliticianwriterjournalistpublisher
- Biography
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Gerd Bucerius was a German politician, publisher and journalist, one of the founding members of Die Zeit. He is the namesake of the Bucerius Law School in Hamburg and of the Bucerius Kunst Forum, an art gallery.
