List of people from Erfurt

This list contains people both born in Erfurt and notable residents of the city, ordered chronologically.

Born in Erfurt, Germany

The following persons were born in Erfurt respectively within the current city borders.

14th century

Alexander Suslin (died before 1349), rabbi

15th century

Erhard Etzlaub (1460–1532), astronomer
de:Johannes Lang (c. 1487–1548), theologian; the "Reformer of Erfurt"
Henricus Grammateus (1495–1526), mathematician

16th century

Michael Altenburg (1584–1640), theologian, born in Alach
Johannes Thesselius (1590–1643), composer

17th century

Johannes Bach (1604–1673), composer
Hiob Ludolf (1624–1704), orientalist
Johann Michael Vansleb (1635–1679), theologian
Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt (1644–1694), mother of Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Aegidius Bach (1645–1716), organist
Johann Ambrosius Bach (1645–1695), musician
Johann Christoph Bach (1645–1693), musician
Johann Heinrich Buttstett (1666–1727), composer, born in Bindersleben
Johann Christoph Bach (1671–1721), composer
Johann Bernhard Bach (1676–1749), composer
Johann Gottfried Walther (1684–1748), music theorist
Wilhelm Hieronymus Pachelbel (1685–1764), composer
Elias David Häusser (1687–1745), architect
Amalia Pachelbel (1688–1723), painter
Jakob Adlung (1699–1762), organist, born in Bindersleben

18th century

Johann Rudolf Engau (1708–1755), jurist
Sidonia Hedwig Zäunemann (1711–1740), poet
Johann Christian Kittel (1732–1809), composer
Johann Hieronymus Schröter (1745–1816), astronomer
Johann Wilhelm Hässler (1747–1822), composer
Samuel Gottlieb Vogel (1750–1837), physician
Rudolph Zacharias Becker (1752–1822), educator
Johann Joachim Bellermann (1754–1842), theologist
Wilhelm Gottlieb Tennemann (1761–1819), historian
Johann Trommsdorff (1770–1837), chemist
Johann Jakob Bernhardi (1774–1850), botanist
Justus Hecker (1795–1850), physician

19th century

August Soller (1805–1853), architect and Schinkel student
Christian Eduard Langethal (1806–1878), botanist
Hugo Rothstein (1810–1865), officer
August Gottfried Ritter (1811–1885), composer and organist
Anton Dominik Fernkorn (1813–1878), sculptor
Eduard Gerhardt (1813–1888), painter, draftsman, printmaker, lithographer and architect
Ferdinand Bellermann (1814–1889), landscape painter
Fritz Müller (1821–1897), biologist, born in Windischholzhausen
Carl Reinthaler (1822–1896), composer, conductor and director of the cathedral choir in Bremen
Oskar Schade (1826–1906), philologist
Otto Ribbeck (1827–1898), classical scholar
Julius Grosse (1828–1902), writer and theater critic
Alfred Kirchhoff (1838–1907), geographer
Carl von Thieme (1844–1924), co-founder of two large German insurance companies Munich reinsurance company and Allianz AG
Bernhard Ziehn (1845–1912), music theorist
Paul von Kleist (1846–1926), Prussian lieutenant general
Johann Heinrich Hübschmann (1848–1908), philologist
Günther von Kirchbach (1850–1925), general
Oskar von Hutier (1857–1934), General in World War I
Max Weber (1864–1920), sociologist, lawyer, economist and social economist
Johannes Franz Hartmann (1865–1936), astronomer
Hermann Kiese (1865–1923), rosarian, born in Vieselbach
Alfred Weber (1868–1958), economist, sociologist and cultural philosopher
Paul Lipke (1870–1955), chess master
Max E. Binner (born 1883), politician
Hubert Weise (1884–1950), general
Erich Zeigner (1886–1949) politician (SPD/SED), prime minister of Saxony 21 March to 29 October 1923
Willi Münzenberg (1889–1940), communist, publisher and film producer
Erika Glässner (1890–1959), actress
Erich Köhler (1892–1958), politician (CDU), president of the Bundestag from 1949 to 1950
Walter Zander (1898–1993), lawyer

20th century

1900s

Werner Danckert (1900–1970), musicologist
Reinhard Gehlen (1902–1979), German general, first president of Federal Intelligence Service
Hans Hess (1907–1975), museologist
Margaretha Reichardt (1907–1984), textile designer and Bauhaus alumni
Hans Günther (1910–1945), policeman, Sturmbannführer and head of the Central office for Jewish emigration in Prague

1910s

Max Lackmann (1910–2000), ecumenist
Heinrich Schonder (1910–1943), U-boat commander
Hans Fleischhacker (1912–1992), anthropologist, born in Töttleben
Gerhard Schöpfel (1912–2003), flying ace
Rolf Günther (1913–1945), major in SS

1920s

Annemarie Schimmel (1922–2003), orientalist
Wolf Schneider (1925–2022), journalist, nonfiction author and language critic
Peer Schmidt (1926–2010), actor
Gert Schramm (1928–2016), survivor of Buchenwald concentration camp
Winfried Herz (born 1929), footballer
Reinhard Lettau (1929–1996), writer

1930s

Johannes Wallmann (born 1930), professor of church history at the University of Bochum, pietism researcher
Georg Stoltze (1931–2007), cyclist
Wilhelm Brückner (born 1932), luthier
Jutta Langenau (1933–1982), swimmer
Lothar Stäber (born 1936), cyclist
Lothar Ahrendt (born 1936), politician (SED), from 1989 to 1990 Minister of the Interior of the GDR
Joachim Wendler (1939–1975), aquanaut

1940s

Alexander Lang (1941-2024), director and actor
Gerd Nauhaus (born 1942), musicologist
Wolfgang Scheidel (born 1943), luger
Boris Gulko (born 1947), Grandmaster in chess
Christine Westermann (born 1948), television host and author
Christel Augenstein (born 1949), politician, 2001-2009 mayor of Pforzheim
Ralf Schulenberg (born 1949), footballer

1950s

Klaus Wunder (born 1950), footballer
Jochen Babock (born 1953), bobsledder
Ulrich Holbein (born 1953), writer
Ute Lubosch (born 1953), actress
Joachim Werneburg (born 1953), writer
Evelyn Stolze (born 1954), swimmer

1960s

Sabine Busch (born 1962), athlete
Carsten Sänger (born 1962), football player
Stefan Böger (born 1966), football player and coach
Axel Kühn (born 1967), bobsledder
Maik Landsmann (born 1967), cyclist and Olympic champion
Sybille Gruner (born 1969), handball player
Thomas Luther (born 1969), Grandmaster in chess
Eyck Zimmer (born 1969), award-winning chef

1970s

Thomas Rudolph (born 1970), luger
Christoph Genz (born 1971), tenor
Andreas Müller (born 1971), paralympic athlete
Marco Weißhaupt (born 1972), footballer
Steffen Wöller (born 1972), luger
Katrin Apel (born 1973), biathlete
Andreas Bausewein (born 1973), politician (SPD) and mayor of Erfurt
Alexander Beyer (born 1973), film actor (Good Bye Lenin, The Legend of Rita, Sonnenallee)
André Korff (born 1973), cyclist
Erik Niedling (born 1973), artist
Sabine Völker (born 1973), speed skater
Daniela Anschütz-Thoms (born 1974), speed skater and Olympic champion
Franziska Schenk (born 1974), speed skater
Marco Schreyl (born 1974), television host
Matthias Höpfner (born 1975), bobsledder
Carsten Schneider (born 1976), politician (SPD), Member of Bundestag since 1998
Daniel Becke (born 1978), cyclist
Anja Schneiderheinze-Stöckel (born 1978), bobsledder
Stephan Schreck (born 1978), cyclist
René Wolff (born 1978), cyclist
Yvonne Catterfeld (born 1979), singer and actress
Silvio Smalun (born 1979), figure skater

1980s

Clueso (born 1980) (a.k.a. Thomas Hübner), singer
Clemens Fritz (born 1980), footballer
Stefan Lindemann (born 1980), figure skater
Andreas Pohle (born 1981), long jumper and triple jumper
Janin Reinhardt (born 1981), television presenter and actress
Judith Hesse (born 1982), speed skater
Christian Müller (born 1982), cyclist
Simon Schwartz (born 1982), illustrator and comic novel writer
Robert Lehmann (born 1984), speed skater
Elisabeth Pähtz (born 1985), Grandmaster in chess
Martin Ullmann (born 1986), footballer
Kristin Wieczorek (born 1986), figure skater
Patrick Gretsch (born 1987), cyclist
Stephanie Beckert (born 1988), speed skater
Thomas Ströhl (born 1988), footballer
Christian Beck (born 1988), football player

1990s

Patrick Beckert (born 1990), speed skater
Denis Wieczorek (born 1991), figure skater
Florian Wünsche (born 1991), actor
Kevin Möhwald (born 1993), footballer
Silvano Varnhagen (born 1993), footballer

Notable residents of Erfurt

Eoban (died 754), martyr, buried in Erfurt
Eleazar of Worms (1176–1238), taldmudist, worked as hazzan in Erfurt
Henry of Friemar the Elder (c. 1245–1340), an Augustinian friar, philosopher, theologian and aesthetic writer.
Meister Eckhart (c.1260–1327), theologian, lived in Erfurt
Henry of Friemar the Younger (c. 1285–1354) Augustinian friar and theologian
Johannes de Indagine (c.1415–1475), Carthusian monk and theologian
Jacob Weil (died before 1456), rabbinate in Erfurt
Martin Luther (1483–1546), lived as student and later as an Augustinan friar in Erfurt
Adam Ries (1492–1559), mathematician, worked in Erfurt between 1518 and 1522/23
Justus Jonas (1493–1555), Lutheran theologian and Rector of University of Erfurt.
Johannes Loersfeld (fl. 1520s), printer, worked in Erfurt in the 1520s
Basil Faber (1520–1576), schoolmaster, worked in Erfurt between 1571 and 1576
Christoph Bach (1613–1661), worked in Erfurt between 1642 and 1652
Heinrich Bach (1615–1692), organist, worked in Erfurt
Johann Pachelbel (1653–1706), composer and organist, worked in Erfurt between 1678 and 1690
Andreas Armsdorff (1670–1699), composer, worked in Erfurt
Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg (1744–1817), governor of Erfurt
Paulus Stephanus Cassel (1821–1892), writer, lived in Erfurt
Emil Büchner (1826–1908), conductor
Moritz Callmann Wahl (1829–1887), writer, lived in Erfurt
Ernst Dircksen (1831–1899), architect, lived in Erfurt since 1890
Richard Wetz (1875–1935), composer, lived in Erfurt since 1906
Joel Brand (1906–1964), zionist, grew up in Erfurt
Walter Werneburg (1922–1999), artist, lived in Erfurt
Hans-Joachim Göring (1923–2010), footballer, lived in Erfurt
Joachim Meisner (born 1933), cardinal
Paul Friedrichs (1940–2012), motocross racer, lived in Erfurt
Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann (born 1966), speed skater
Marcus Urban (born 1971), footballer with FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt