List of people from Bremen

This article provides a list of people from the city of Bremen. Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany, which belongs to the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (also called just "Bremen" for short), a federal state of Germany.

Early times to 1800

• Adam of Bremen (fl. 1066), author of chronicles and histories of Germany and Scandinavia. ^[1]
• Johann Rode von Wale (c.1445–1511), Catholic cleric; Doctor of Canon and Civil Law; chronicler; long-serving government official (1468–1497); as John III, was Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, 1497–1511
• Arnoldus Clapmarius (1574–1604), German academic, jurist, humanist, known for his writings on statecraft
• Johannes Cocceius (1603–1669), Dutch theologian born in Bremen. ^[2]
• Frans Banninck Cocq (1605–1655), Mayor of Amsterdam, central figure in Rembrandt's masterpiece The Night Watch
• Riksfriherre Sir Johan Fredrik von Friesendorff, 1st Baronet (1617–1669), Swedish diplomat born in Bremen
• Henry Oldenburg (1619–1677), secretary of the Royal Society
• Franz Wulfhagen (c. 1624–1670), German Baroque painter and engraver
• Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve, Count of Laurvig (1638–1704), general in Norway during the Scanian War; illegitimate son of King Frederick III of Denmark and Norway

• 

  Wilhelm Olbers 1758–1840

  Heinrich von Cocceji (1644–1719), professor of natural and international law at the Heidelberg University
• Joachim Neander (1650–1680), rector, pastor, hymn writer. ^[3]
• Johann Baring (1697–1748), name later anglicised to John Baring, German-British merchant; founder of Barings Bank
• Hermanus Meyer (1733–1791), clergyman of the Dutch Reformed Church in America
• Johann Peter Berg (1737–1800), German Protestant theologian, historian and orientalist
• Wilhelm Olbers (1758–1840), physician and astronomer. ^[4]
• Blasius Merrem (1761–1824), naturalist, zoologist, ornithologist, mathematician, and herpetologist
• Albertus Henricus Wiese (1761–1810), Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, 1805–1808
• Gerhard Ludvig Lahde (1765–1833), Prussian-born Danish printmaker and publisher
• Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus (1776–1837), naturalist and botanist, discovered the intercellular space in a plant's parenchyma. ^[5]
• Betty Gleim (1781-1827), German teacher, school founder and author
• Hermann Ernst Freund (1786–1840), German-born Danish sculptor of figures from Nordic mythology

1800 to 1850

• Hermann Heinrich Winter (1805–1884), farmer, local official, member of Wisconsin State Assembly
• Johann Georg Kohl (1808–1878), travel writer, historian, geographer and librarian

Johann Georg Kohl 1808–1878

• Friedrich Wagenfeld (1810–1846), German philologist and author
• Henry Bohlen (1810–1862), American Civil War Union Brigadier General
• Carl Johann Steinhäuser (1813–1879), German sculptor in the classical style
• Nicolaus Delius (1813–1888), German philologist and student of Shakespeare. ^[6]
• Gustav Hartlaub (1814–1900), German physician and ornithologist
• Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Henzen (1816–1887), German philologist and epigraphist
• Julie Schwabe (1818–1896), socialite, education activist and philanthropist, lived in Manchester, UK
• Carl Wilhelm von Zehender (1819–1916), ophthalmologist, pioneer of ophthalmic microsurgery
• Wilhelm Paul Corssen (1820–1875), German philologist; worked on Latin and Etruscan topics. ^[7]
• Frederick L. Schmersahl (1825-c.1905), German-American merchant and eleventh Mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey
• Adolf Bastian (1826–1905), polymath ethnography and anthropologist. ^[8]
• Charles Henry Nimitz (1826–1911), in 1852 built the Nimitz Hotel in Fredericksburg, Texas
• Amalie Murtfeldt (1828-1888), German painter
• Arnold Huchting (1828–1901), member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
• Frederick Halterman (1831-1907), U.S. Congressman
• Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs (1831–1896), geographer, explorer, author and adventurer. ^[9]
• Henry Timken (1831–1909), inventor, founded the Timken Roller Bearing Company
• Hermann Ottomar Herzog (1832–1932), European and American artist of landscapes, from the Düsseldorf school of painting
• August Wilmanns (1833–1917), classical scholar and librarian

August Wilmanns 1833–1917

• Franz Adolf Eduard Lüderitz (1834–1886), merchant and colonist in South West Africa. ^[10]
• Johann Georg Poppe (1837–1915), prominent architect during the German Gründerzeit and interior designer of ocean liners for Norddeutscher Lloyd
• Frederick C. Winkler (1838–1921), American Civil War Union brigadier general
• John Henry Niemeyer (1839–1932), German-born painter, taught drawing at Yale University
• Heinrich Averbeck (1844–1889), physiotherapist

1850 to 1900

• Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850–1909), German psychologist, studied memory, discovered the forgetting curve and the spacing effect
• Sir Hermann Gollancz (1852–1930), British rabbi and Hebrew scholar
• Johann Heinrich Burchard (1852–1912), Hamburg lawyer, politician, senator, First Mayor of Hamburg
• August Kühne (1855–1932), German businessman, co-founder in 1890 of Kuehne + Nagel
• Heinrich Wiegand (1855-1909), German lawyer and general director of the Norddeutscher Lloyd shipping company
• Carl David Tolmé Runge (1856–1927), German mathematician, physicist, and spectroscopist
• Adolph Fischer (1858–1887), an anarchist and labor union activist, tried and executed in the US after the Haymarket Riot
• Ludwig Quidde (1858–1941), pacifist politician and Nobel Peace Prize laureate 1927
• Ludwig Hermann Plate (1862–1937), German zoologist and disciple of Ernst Haeckel
• Theodor Siebs (1862–1941), German linguist, author of Deutsche Bühnenaussprache in 1898
• Johann Gerhard Husheer (1864–1954), New Zealand tobacco grower, industrialist and philanthropist
• Heinrich Bulle (1867–1945), German archaeologist
• Wilhelm Vöge (1868–1952), German art historian, discovered the Reichenau School of painting, important medievalist
• Karl Hampe (1869–1936), German historian of the High Middle Ages
• Heinrich Vogeler (1872–1942), German painter, Düsseldorf school of painting, designer and architect
• Friedrich August Georg Bitter (1873–1927), German botanist and lichenologist
• Edward Voigt (1873–1934), emigrated 1883, U.S. Representative from Wisconsin
• Ludwig Roselius (1874–1943), patron of the arts, coffee merchant and founder of KAFFEE HAG
• Edward Ernst Kleinschmidt (1876–1977), prolific inventor; one of the inventors of the teleprinter
• Karl Abraham (1877–1925), German psychoanalyst, collaborator of Sigmund Freud
• Heinrich Georg Barkhausen (1881–1956), German physicist, discovered the Barkhausen effect in 1919
• Karl Alfred Pabst (1884–1971), painter, graphic artist and lithographer, worked and died at Bremen
• Hans Dreier (1885–1966), film art director
• Herbert von Böckmann (1886–1974), German general of the infantry
• Grover Cleveland Loening (1888–1976), American aircraft manufacturer
• Henrich Focke (1890–1979), German aviation pioneer, co-founder of Focke-Wulf
• Bernhard Hans Henry Scharoun (1893–1972), German architect, designed the Berlin Philharmonic concert hall, exponent of organic and expressionist architecture
• Lieutenant Friedrich Theodor Noltenius (1894–1936), German flying ace in the First World War
• Friedrich Ebert Jr. (1894–1979), Reichstag deputy (SPD), SED politician, Lord Mayor of East Berlin (1948–1967)
• Friedrich Forster (1895–1958), pseudonym for Waldfried Burggraf, dramatist and screenwriter
• Emil Trinkler (1896–1931), Central Asian geographer and explorer
• Eberhard Gildemeister (1897–1978), German architect, designed the Sparkasse building on Bremen's market square
• Georg Kulenkampff (1898–1948), violinist

1900 to 1950

• Ada Halenza (1900–1990), writer
• Wilhelm Wagenfeld (1900–1990), industrial designer
• Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz (1904–1973), German diplomat, contributed to the rescue of 7000 Danish Jews
• Hans Biebow (1902–1947), chief of Nazi administration of the Łódź Ghetto executed for war crimes
• Alexander Piorkowski (1904–1948), Nazi commandant of Dachau concentration camp
• Harald Damsleth (1906–1971), Norwegian cartoonist, illustrator, ad-man, known for his WW2 posters for Nasjonal Samling
• Harald Genzmer (1909–2007), composer of contemporary classical music
• Hanna Kunath (1909–1994), pilot
• Gerda Krüger-Nieland (1910–2000), lawyer and judge
• Bernard Adolph Schriever (1910–2005), also known as Bennie Schriever, United States Air Force general
• Heinz Linge (1913–1980), SS officer; served as a valet for German dictator Adolf Hitler
• Reinhard Hardegen (1913–2018), Member of Bremen Parliament and former U-boat commander of submarine U-123
• Karl Carstens (1914–1992), German politician (CDU), former President of the Federal Republic of Germany

Karl Carstens 1914–1992

• Hermann Uhde (1914–1965), Wagnerian baritone, died on stage of a heart attack during a performance in Copenhagen
• Gustav Böhrnsen (1914–1998), politician, trade unionist and resistance fighter
• Karl-Heinz Höcker (1915–1998), German theoretical nuclear physicist; worked on the German nuclear weapon project
• Friedrich Thielen (1916–1993), German politician with the CDU and the German Party
• Herbert Vighnāntaka Günther (1917–2006), German Buddhist philosopher and Professor of Far Eastern Studies at the University of Saskatchewan
• Cato Bontjes van Beek (1920–1943), German member of the German resistance to Nazism, guillotined Plötzensee Prison
• Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff (1921–1998), actor, quizmaster, German actor and TV host
• Doris Kuhlmann-Wilsdorf (1922–2010), German metallurgist
• Robert Last (1923–1986), German drummer and bandleader
• Sir Selwyn Charles Cornelius-Wheeler CMG (1923–2008), known as Charles Wheeler, British journalist and BBC broadcaster
• Hilmar Hoffmann (1925–2018), founder of Oberhausen film festival, cultural politician in Frankfurt, director of Goethe-Institut
• Kai Warner (1926–1982), German bandleader and musician, brother of James Last and Robert Last
• Hans Otte (1926–2007), composer
• Hans-Joachim Bremermann (1926–1996), German-American mathematician and biophysicist, wrote Bremermann's limit
• Günter Meisner (1926–1994), German TV and film character actor
• James Last (1929–2015), composer and big band leader
• Hans-Christof von Sponeck (born 1939), German diplomat, served as a UN Assistant Secretary-General and UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq
• Luise Kimme (1939–2013), German artist, sculptor and professor at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
• Volker Spengler (1939–2020), German actor
• Hans Wilhelm (born 1945), German-American writer, children's book author, illustrator and artist
• Uwe Windhorst (born 1946), German neuroscientist, systems scientist and cyberneticist
• Christina Kubisch (born 1948), German composer, performance artist, professor and flautist

1950 to modern times

• Barbara Sukowa (born 1950), German theatre and film actress
• Juergen Nogai (born 1953), architectural photographer and filmmaker
• Jürgen Trittin (born 1954), German Green politician, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, 1998–2005
• Klaus Kleinfeld (born 1957), former CEO of Siemens AG
• Piet Klocke (born 1957), musician, cabaret artist, author and actor
• Gert Postel (born 1958), medical impostor
• Bernhard Siegert (born 1959), German media theorist and media historian
• Barbara Massing (1960–2017), female sea captain
• Sven Regener (born 1961), musician and writer
• Falko E. P. Wilms (born 1961), economist and social scientist
• Torsten Albig (born 1963), politician (SPD)
• Martin Blessing (born 1963), German banker, Chairman of Commerzbank AG
• Bärbel Schäfer (born 1963), television presenter and wife of Michel Friedman
• Barbara Stühlmeyer (born 1964), German musicologist, church musician, writer and scholar of Hildegard of Bingen
• Kersten Artus (born 1964), German journalist, politician; member of The Left; member of the Hamburg Parliament
• Ben Becker (born 1964), German actor, brother of Meret Becker
• Maren Niemeyer (born 1964), journalist, author, and documentary filmmaker
• Meret Becker (born 1969), German actor, sister of Ben Becker
• Esther Haase (born 1966), German photographer and film director, lives in Hamburg and London
• Claudia Garde (born 1966), German film director and screenwriter
• André Erkau (born 1968), film director and screenplay writer
• Stephan Bodzin (born 1969), German DJ, techno-producer, label owner and live artist
• Claudio Martínez Mehner (born 1970), Spanish piano soloist and pedagogue
• Julia Hasting (born 1970), German graphic designer, creative director of Phaidon Press
• Friedemann Friese (born 1970), designer of Power Grid and other board games
• Martin Welzel (born 1972), German organist, musicologist, and music educator; former student of Käte van Tricht (Organist at Bremen Cathedral), associate organist at Munich Cathedral 2021-2022
• Bas Böttcher (born 1974), a German slam poet and visiting lecturer at the German Literature Institute in Leipzig
• Marco Da Silva (born 1977), Portuguese dancer and choreographer
• Sebastian Lege (born 1978), German chef and TV personality
• Nils Mönkemeyer (born 1978), German violist and academic teacher, teaches at the Musikhochschule Munich
• Jan Böhmermann (born 1981), German satirist and television presenter
• Murat Kurnaz (born 1982), Guantanamo Bay prisoner for four years
• Anna-Lena Schwing (born 1996), German actress
• Michael Kölling, German Computer Scientist and creator of BlueJ

Sportspeople

• Uwe Behrens (born 1959), footballer
• Terrence Boyd (born 1991), footballer ^[11]
• Julian Brandt (born 1996), footballer
• Birgit Dressel (1960–1987), heptathlon athlete
• Angelique Kerber (born 1988), German professional tennis player
• Louis Krages (1949–2001), racing driver and businessman
• Simon Lizotte (born 1992), professional disc golf player, PDGA# 8332
• Jonathan Schmude (born 1992), footballer
• Bert Trautmann (1923–2013), footballer
• Florian Wellbrock (born 1997), swimmer

See also

• List of mayors of Bremen

References

1. "Adam of Bremen"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 1 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 171.
2. "Cocceius, Johannes"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 6 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 615.
3. "Neander, Joachim"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 19 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 320–321.
4. "Olbers, Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 20 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 63.
5. "Treviranus, Gottfried Reinhold"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 27 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 255–256.
6. "Delius, Nikolaus"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 7 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 965.
7. "Corssen, Wilhelm Paul"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 7 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 204–205.
8. "Bastian, Adolf"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 3 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 500.
9. "Rohlfs, Friedrich Gerhard"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 23 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 461.
10. Cana, Frank Richardson (1911). "German South-West Africa"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 11 (11th ed.). pp. 800–804.
11. "Terrence Boyd". Major League Soccer . Retrieved February 9, 2025.