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 Käthe Menzel-Jordan (1916–2026), architect 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 Paul Friedrichs (1940–2012), motorcycle racer Niels Lund Chrestensen (1940–2025), businessman and plant breeder 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 (2006-2024) 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 Augustinian 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 (1933-2017), 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
References