This is a list of notable alumni and academics of the University of Freiburg. 22 Nobel laureates are associated with the university and 13 researchers have been honored with the

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (german: link=no, Förderpreis für deutsche Wissenschaftler im Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz-Programm der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft), in short Leibniz Prize, is awarded by the German Research Foundation to ...

since it was first awarded in 1986.

Humanities, social sciences, arts

* Günther Anders *

Hannah Arendt Hannah Arendt (, , ; 14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975) was a political philosopher, author, and Holocaust survivor. She is widely considered to be one of the most influential political theorists of the 20th century. Arendt was born ...

* Hildegard Behrens * Walter Benjamin * Götz Briefs *

Rudolf Carnap Rudolf Carnap (; ; 18 May 1891 – 14 September 1970) was a German-language philosopher who was active in Europe before 1935 and in the United States thereafter. He was a major member of the Vienna Circle and an advocate of logical positivism. He ...

James Demske James M. Demske, Society of Jesus, S.J., (c. 1922 – June 15, 1994) was an American Jesuit priest, academic, academic administrator and, expert on existentialism. Demske served as the President of Canisius College, a private Association of Jesui ...

, S.J., (Ph.D. 1962) – President of

Canisius College Canisius College is a private Jesuit college in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in 1870 by Jesuits from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. Canisius offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and minors, and around 34 master's ...

(1966–1993) * Davor Dzalto *

Alfred Döblin Bruno Alfred Döblin (; 10 August 1878 – 26 June 1957) 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 ...

* Erasmus of Rotterdam * Eugen Fink * Jonas Grethlein *

Hans F. K. Günther Hans Friedrich Karl Günther (16 February 1891 – 25 September 1968) was a German writer, an advocate of scientific racism and a eugenicist in the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich. He was also known as "''Rassengünther''" ("Race Günther") ...

Albert Bushnell Hart Albert Bushnell Hart (July 1, 1854 – July 16, 1943) was an American historian, writer, and editor based at Harvard University. One of the first generation of professionally trained historians in the United States, a prolific author and editor ...

Hermann Eduard von Holst Hermann Eduard von Holst (June 19, 1841 – January 20, 1904) was a German-American historian. Biography Holst was a Baltic German born at Fellin, Russian Empire. (It is now Viljandi, Estonia.) He was the seventh of ten children of a Lutheran mi ...

Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centur ...

* Andreas Hillgruber * Edmund Husserl * Karl Jaspers * Eberhard Jäckel *

Hans Jonas Hans Jonas (; ; 10 May 1903 – 5 February 1993) was a German-born American Jewish philosopher, from 1955 to 1976 the Alvin Johnson Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York City. Biography Jonas was born ...

Paul Kirchhoff Paul Kirchhoff (17 August 1900, Halle, Province of Westphalia – 9 December 1972) was a German-Mexican anthropologist, most noted for his seminal work in defining and elaborating the culture area of Mesoamerica, a term he coined. Early lif ...

* Emmanuel Lévinas *

Karl Löwith Karl Löwith (9 January 1897 – 26 May 1973) was a German philosopher in the phenomenological tradition. A student of Husserl and Heidegger, he was one of the most prolific German philosophers of the twentieth century. He is known for his t ...

* Niklas Luhmann * Claudio Magris * Karl Mannheim *

Herbert Marcuse Herbert Marcuse (; ; July 19, 1898 – July 29, 1979) was a German-American philosopher, social critic, and political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory. Born in Berlin, Marcuse studied at the Humboldt University ...

* Werner Marx * Friedrich Meinecke * Marie-Eve Morin *

Wilfred Harold Munro Wilfred Harold Munro (August 20, 1849 – August 9, 1934) was an American historian, brother of Dana C. Munro. He was born at Bristol, R. I., and educated at Brown (A.B., 1870; A.M., 1873). He studied in Europe at Heidelberg and Freiburg. He ...

Henry Pachter Henry Pachter (1907–1980) was a Marxist intellectual and a libertarian socialist activist. Perhaps best known as an essayist, who dealt with both historical and political matters, he also authored a number of books on a variety of subjects. An ...

* Hermann Paul * Aileen O'Brien * Heinrich Rickert * Gerhard Ritter * James Harvey Robinson *

Franz Rosenzweig Franz Rosenzweig (, ; 25 December 1886 – 10 December 1929) was a German theologian, philosopher, and translator. Early life and education Franz Rosenzweig was born in Kassel, Germany, to an affluent, minimally observant Jewish family. His fa ...

* Nicolae Saramandu * Kuki Shūzō * Villy Sørensen * Humphrey Spender *

Gerd Spittler Gerd Spittler (born 4 April 1939 in Donaueschingen) is a German ethnologist. Spittler became known through his participation in developing the Africa focus at the University of Bayreuth and through his research on Hausa peasants and Tuareg noma ...

* Edith Stein *

Leo Strauss Leo Strauss (, ; September 20, 1899 – October 18, 1973) was a German-American political philosopher who specialized in classical political philosophy. Born in Germany to Jewish parents, Strauss later emigrated from Germany to the United States. ...

* Matthew Sweeney *

Gerd Tellenbach Gerd Tellenbach (17 September 1903 – 12 June 1999) was a German historian and scholar of medieval social and religious history, particularly of the Papacy and German church during the Investiture Controversy and reform movements of the eleventh ...

* James Hayden Tufts * George Vernadsky * Martin Waldseemüller * Charles William Wallace *

Max Weber Maximilian Karl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German sociologist, historian, jurist and political economist, who is regarded as among the most important theorists of the development of modern Western society. His ideas profo ...

Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker, playwright, author, and photographer. He is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among many honors, he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Docum ...

* Heinrich Joseph Wetzer *

H.C. Wolfart Hans Christoph Wolfart (born 1943) is a German-born Canadian researcher, editor, translator and Distinguished Professor of Linguistics at the University of Manitoba. He is a graduate of the University of Freiburg (''German:'' Albert-Ludwigs-Unive ...

Politics and law

* Konrad Adenauer * Richard V. Allen *

M. Cherif Bassiouni Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni (Arabic: محمود شريف بسيوني ; 9 December 1937 – 25 September 2017) was an emeritus professor of law at DePaul University, where he taught from 1964 to 2012. He served in numerous United Nations position ...

* Hildegard Behrens * Gisela Biedermann *

Karl Binding Karl Ludwig Lorenz Binding (4 June 1841 – 7 April 1920) was a German jurist known as a promoter of the theory of retributive justice. His influential book, ''Die Freigabe der Vernichtung lebensunwerten Lebens'' ("Allowing the Destruction of Life ...

Alfred Biolek Alfred Franz Maria Biolek (10 July 1934 – 23 July 2021) was a German entertainer and television producer. Biolek held a PhD in law and was an honorary professor at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. He received many awards for his work on tele ...

* Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde *

Ben Bradshaw Benjamin Peter James Bradshaw (born 30 August 1960) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport from 2009 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Exeter since 1 ...

* Jürgen Chrobog *

Archibald Cary Coolidge Archibald Cary Coolidge (March 6, 1866 – January 14, 1928) was an American educator and diplomat. He was a professor of history at Harvard College from 1908 and the first director of the Harvard University Library from 1910 until his death. Co ...

* Horst Ehmke * Konstantin Fehrenbach *

Hans Filbinger Hans Karl Filbinger (15 September 1913 – 1 April 2007) 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 ...

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...

* John Gormley *

Jürgen-Peter Graf Dr. Jürgen-Peter Graf (born 22 December 1952 in Oberkirch (Baden)) is a German lawyer. He became judge of the German Federal Court of Justice (''Bundesgerichtshof'') on 5 February 2003. Graf studied law in Freiburg/Breisgau and passed his fir ...

* Ulrich Haltern * Volker Kauder *

Julius Leber Julius Leber (16 November 1891 – 5 January 1945) was a German politician of the SPD and a member of the German resistance against the Nazi régime. Early life Leber was born in Biesheim, Alsace, out of wedlock, to Katharina Schubetzer and lat ...

* Otto Lenel * Jutta Limbach *

Carl Otto von Madai Carl Otto von Madai (March 23, 1809 – June 4, 1850) was a German law professor, politician, and statesman. Madai was born in Halle, and studied at the University of Halle. He became a lecturer there in 1832 and professor in 1835. He moved to th ...

Thomas de Maizière Karl Ernst Thomas de Maizière (; born 21 January 1954) 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 f ...

Charles Malik Charles Habib Malik (sometimes spelled ''Charles Habib Malik''; 11 February 1906 – 28 December 1987; ar, شارل مالك) was a Lebanese academic, diplomat, philosopher, and politician. He served as the Lebanese representative to the United ...

* Johannes Masing *

Stanisław Mieroszewski Count Stanisław Mieroszewski (Mieroszowski) (1827–1900) was a Polish-born politician, writer, historian and member of the Imperial Council of Austria. Life Mieroszewski was born on in Kraków. He was the son of a landowner. From 1843 to 18 ...

* Cameron Munter * Karl von Rotteck *

Panagiotis Pipinelis Panagiotis Pipinelis ( el, Παναγιώτης Πιπινέλης; 21 March 1899 – 19 July 1970) was a Greek politician and diplomat. He was born on 21 March 1899 in the port city of Piraeus. He studied Law and Political science at the Unive ...

Klaus Scharioth Klaus Scharioth (born October 8, 1946) is a former German diplomat. From 2006 to 2011 he served as Embassy of Germany, Washington, D.C., Germany's ambassador to the United States. Since 2011 he has been dean of thMercator Fellowship on Internation ...

* Wolfgang Schäuble *

Peter Schlechtriem Peter Schlechtriem (March 2, 1933, in Jena – April 23, 2007, in Freiburg im Breisgau) was a German jurisprudential scholar. Biography Peter H. Schlechtriem was born March 2, 1933, in Jena (Germany) and studied law at the University of Hamburg and ...

* Bernhard Schlink * Friedrich Schoch * Elsbeth Schragmüller * Gesine Schwan * Jürgen Schwarze * Nikolaus Senn * Zalman Shazar *

Silja Vöneky Silja Vöneky (born September 3, 1969) is a German jurist, specializing in international law and philosophy of law. She is a professor of public law, international law, and ethics of law at the University of Freiburg. Life She studied law and ...

* Andreas Voßkuhle * Joseph Wirth *

Ulrich Zasius Ulrich Zasius (1461 – 24 November 1535 or 1536) was a German jurist. Biography Zasius was born at Konstanz (current Baden-Württemberg) in 1461. After studying at Tübingen he first became episcopal notary at Constance, then town clerk at B ...

Economics

Franz Böhm Franz Böhm (16 February 1895, Konstanz – 26 September 1977, Rockenberg) was a German politician, lawyer, and economist. Early life Franz Böhm was born on 16 February 1895 in Konstanz. He moved along with his family in 1898 to Karlsruhe ...

* Walter Eucken * Friedrich August von Hayek, professor (Nobel Prize 1974, Economics) * Adolph Wagner

Theology

* Wolfgang Capito * Daniel Ciobotea * Johann Eck * Josef Frings * Georg Gänswein * Romano Guardini * Balthasar Hubmaier * Karl Lehmann * Karl Rahner * Gregor Reisch *

Bernardin Schellenberger Bernardin Schellenberger (born 11 February 1944) is a German Catholic theologian, priest and former Trappist. He has worked as a writer and translator, focused on spiritual topics and the monastic tradition. Life Bernd Schellenberger was bor ...

Franz Anton Staudenmaier Franz Anton Staudenmaier (11 September 1800 - 19 January 1856) was a Catholic theologian. He was a major figure in the Catholic theology of Germany in the first half of the nineteenth century. Life Born at Donzdorf, Württemberg, he was a pupil a ...

* Robert Zollitsch

Medicine and sciences

* Ludwig Aschoff *

Robert Bárány Robert Bárány ( hu, Bárány Róbert, ; 22 April 1876 – 8 April 1936) was an Austrian-born otologist. He received the 1914 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the physiology and pathology of the vestibular apparatus. Life ...

, student (Nobel Prize 1914, Physiology or Medicine) * Erwin Baur *

Theodor Bilharz Theodor Maximilian Bilharz (23 March 1825 – 9 May 1862) was a German physician who made pioneering discoveries in the field of parasitology. His contributions led to the foundation of tropical medicine. He is best remembered as the discoverer ...

* Korbinian Brodmann * Vincenz Czerny * Heinrich Anton de Bary * Paul du Bois-Reymond *

Alexander Ecker Johann Alexander Ecker (10 July 1816 – 20 May 1887) was a German anthropologist and anatomist, born in Freiburg im Breisgau. He was the son of Johann Matthias Alexander Ecker (1766–1829), a professor at the University of Freiburg. Biograp ...

* Herman Ehrenberg * Paul Ehrlich, student (Nobel Prize 1908, Physiology or Medicine) * Hermann Emminghaus *

Alice Ettinger Alice Ettinger (October 8, 1899 – April 14, 1993) was a prominent radiologist and professor of medicine. A native of Germany, Ettinger trained there before coming to the Tufts University School of Medicine. She had come for a visit to Boston to ...

* Sidney Farber * Eugen Fischer * Ulrich Förstermann * Otfrid Foerster *

Salome Gluecksohn-Waelsch Salome Gluecksohn-Waelsch (October 6, 1907 – November 7, 2007) was a German-born U.S. geneticist and co-founder of the field of developmental genetics, which investigates the genetic mechanisms of development.Scott Gilbert"Salome Gluecksohn ...

* Felix Hausdorff *

Harald zur Hausen Harald zur Hausen NAS EASA APS (; born 11 March 1936) is a German virologist and professor emeritus. He has done research on cervical cancer and discovered the role of papilloma viruses in cervical cancer, for which he received the Nobel ...

, professor (Nobel Prize 2008, Physiology or Medicine) *

Alfred Hegar Ernst Ludwig Alfred Hegar, ''aka'' Alfred Hegar, was a German gynecologist famous for developing new medical tools and techniques. He was born on 6 January 1830 in Darmstadt, Germany and died on 5 August 1914. He was buried in Breisgau. Hegar was ...

* Philip Hench, student (Nobel Prize 1950, Physiology or Medicine) *

Karl Herxheimer Karl Herxheimer (; 26 June 1861 – 6 December 1942) was a German-Jewish dermatologist who was a native of Wiesbaden. He studied medicine at the universities of Freiburg, Strasbourg and Würzburg, receiving his doctorate in 1885 with a thesi ...

* George de Hevesy, student and professor (Nobel Prize 1943, Chemistry) * Alfred Hoche *

Karen Horney Karen Horney (; ; 16 September 1885 – 4 December 1952) was a German psychoanalyst who practised in the United States during her later career. Her theories questioned some traditional Freudian views. This was particularly true of her theories of ...

* Waldemar Hoven (1903–1948), German Nazi physician executed for war crimes * J. Hans D. Jensen, student (Nobel Prize 1963, Physics) * Gustav Killian * Martin Kirschner * Magnus von Knebel Doeberitz *

Georges J. F. Köhler Georges Jean Franz Köhler (; 17 April 1946 – 1 March 1995) was a German biologist. Together with César Milstein and Niels Kaj Jerne, Köhler won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1984, "for work on the immune system and the prod ...

, student and professor (Nobel Prize 1984, Physiology or Medicine) *

Otto Krayer Otto Hermann Krayer (22 October 1899 in Teningen#Köndringen, Köndringen, Großherzogtum Baden, Baden – 18 March 1982 in Tucson, Arizona) was a German-American physician, pharmacologist and university professor. He was the only German scientist ...

* Hans Adolf Krebs, student and scientist (Nobel Prize 1953, Physiology or Medicine) *

Adolph Kussmaul Adolph Kußmaul (german: Carl Philipp Adolf Konrad Kußmaul; 22 February 1822 – 28 May 1902) was a German physician and a leading clinician of his time. He was born as the son and grandson of physicians at Graben near Karlsruhe and studied at He ...

* Cornelius Lanczos * Paul Langerhans *

Theodore K. Lawless Theodore Kenneth (T.K.)"Theodore La ...

, American dermatologist, medical researcher, and philanthropist * Friedrich Wilhelm Levi * Kurt Lewin * Erich Lexer * Ferdinand von Lindemann * Hubert von Luschka *

Rudolf Robert Maier Rudolf Robert Maier (9 April 1824 – 7 November 1888) was a German pathologist who was a native of Freiburg im Breisgau. He studied medicine at the University of Freiburg, where one of his instructors was orthopedist Louis Stromeyer (1804–1876) ...

* Frank Burr Mallory * Ernst Messerschmid * Otto Meyerhof, student (Nobel Prize 1922, Physiology or Medicine) * Karin B. Michels * Gustav Mie * Woldemar Mobitz * Mario Molina, student (Nobel Prize 1995, Chemistry) *

Paul Morawitz Paul Oskar Morawitz (April 3, 1879 in St. Petersburg – July 1, 1936) was a German internist and physiologist whose most important work was in studying the coagulation of blood. After completing his medical studies at Leipzig (in 1901) he comp ...

Hugo Münsterberg Hugo Münsterberg (; June 1, 1863 – December 16, 1916) was a German-American psychologist. He was one of the pioneers in applied psychology, extending his research and theories to industrial/organizational (I/O), legal, medical, clinical, edu ...

* Carl Nägeli * Max Nonne * Wilhelm Normann * Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, scientist (Nobel Prize 1995, Physiology or Medicine) * Lorenz Oken *

Georgios Papanikolaou Georgios Nikolaou Papanikolaou (or George Papanicolaou ; el, Γεώργιος Ν. Παπανικολάου ; 13 May 1883 – 19 February 1962) was a Greek physician who was a pioneer in cytopathology and early cancer detection, and inventor of ...

* John Parkinson * Georg Perthes * Hagen Pfundner * Otto Friedrich Ranke, physiologist * Julius von Sachs * Bert Sakmann, student (Nobel Prize 1991, Physiology or Medicine) * Christoph Scheiner *

Otto Schirmer Otto Schirmer (13 December 1864, in Greifswald – 6 May 1918) was a German ophthalmologist from Greifswald. He studied medicine at several universities including the University of Greifswald. In 1896 he attained the chair of ophthalmology at Gr ...

Rudolph Schoenheimer Rudolf Schoenheimer (May 10, 1898 – September 11, 1941) was a German-American biochemist who developed the technique of isotope labelling/''tagging'' of biomolecules, enabling detailed study of metabolism. This work revealed that all the cons ...

* Hans Spemann, professor (Nobel Prize 1935, Physiology or Medicine) *

Otto Spiegelberg Otto Spiegelberg (9 January 1830 – 9 August 1881) was a German gynecologist. He was born in Peine and died in Breslau. He studied medicine at the University of Göttingen, afterwards furthering his education in Berlin, Prague and throughout th ...

Hermann Staudinger Hermann Staudinger (; 23 March 1881 – 8 September 1965) 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. He is also ...

, professor (Nobel Prize 1953, Chemistry) * Mikhail Stepanovich Voronin *

Louis Stromeyer Georg Friedrich Louis Stromeyer (6 March 1804 – 15 June 1876) was a German surgeon. He was born and died in Hanover. He was the son of surgeon Christian Friedrich Stromeyer (1761–1824).Wilhelm Trendelenburg Ernst Wilhelm Theodor Trendelenburg (16 July 1877 – 16 March 1946) was a German physiologist known for his work in physiological optics. He studied physiology at the University of Freiburg, receiving his doctorate from the University of Leipzig ...

* Paul Uhlenhuth *

Herbert E. Walter Herbert Eugene Walter (1867–1945), was a prominent biologist, author, Professor at Brown University and researcher. Herbert Walter was born in Burke, Vermont in 1867. He attended the Lyndon Institute, and then graduated from Bates College in ...

* Otto Heinrich Warburg, student (Nobel Prize 1931, Physiology or Medicine)". * August Weismann *

Stephan Westmann Stephan Kurt Westmann (23 July 1893 – 7 October 1964) was a German soldier and physician. In the World War I, First World War, Westmann served in the German 29th Infantry Division on the Western Front (World War I), Western and Eastern Front ( ...

, professor of obstetrics *

Robert Wiedersheim Robert Ernst Eduard Wiedersheim (21 April 1848 in Nürtingen – 12 July 1923 in Schachen (Lindau)) was a German anatomist who is famous for publishing a list of 86 "vestigial organs" in his book ''The Structure of Man: An Index to His Past Histor ...

, professor of Anatomy between 1887 and 1918. *

Heinrich Otto Wieland Heinrich Otto Wieland (; 4 June 1877 – 5 August 1957) was a German chemist. He won the 1927 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research into the bile acids. Career In 1901 Wieland received his doctorate at the University of Munich while study ...

, professor (Nobel Prize 1927, Chemistry) * Adolf Windaus, student and scientist (Nobel Prize 1928, Chemistry) * Georg Wittig, professor (Nobel Prize 1979, Chemistry) * Ernst Zermelo, mathematician * Stephanie Zimmermann, physicist

Other

* Rabbi David Cohen,"The Nazirite Rabbi" *

Wilhelm Ehmann Wilhelm Ehmann (5 December 1904 – 16 April 1989) was a German musicologist, editor, church musician and conductor. He founded the choir Westfälische Kantorei that toured internationally and made many recordings. He was a cofounder and director o ...

(1904–1989), musicologist, conductor, founder and director of the Herford School of Church Music * Pascal Krauss (Sport Science), wrestler; professional mixed martial artist, former Cage Warriors Welterweight Champion and current UFC Welterweight

References

{{University of Freiburg University of Freiburg