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

File:Johann Ambrosius Bach.jpg

Johann Ambrosius Bach 1685

• 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

File:Wilhelm Gottlieb Tennemann (1761-1819).jpg

Wilhelm Gottlieb Tennemann 1817

• 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

File:Carl Martin Reinthaler Büste von Kropp 1902.jpg

Carl Martin Reinthaler Bust by Kropp 1902

• 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

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-27237-0001, Reinhard Gehlen.jpg

Reinhard Gehlen

• 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