This is a list of East Frisian people who are important to the region of
East Frisia
East Frisia or East Friesland (german: Ostfriesland; ; stq, Aastfräislound) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia ...
and its
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
in that they have played a key role in the region or are otherwise renowned and closely linked to East Frisia.
Eggerik Beninga
Eggerik Beninga (1490–1562), also known as Eggeric(k) Benninga or Benynga, was an East Frisian chronicler and steward of the Leerort Fortress. From 1540 to 1556 he was also counselor to Anna of Oldenburg. He wrote an account of the history of the ...
, Frisian chronicler
*
Philipp Heinrich Erlebach
Philipp Heinrich Erlebach (25 July 1657 – 17 April 1714) was a German Baroque composer, a prolific writer of church music and secular music. Much of his work is lost due to a fire.
Life
Erlebach was born in Esens, Lower Saxony, the son of Jo ...
, composer
* Rudolf Eucken, German Nobel prize winner for literature, 1908
* Martin Faber, architect, artist and cartographer
* Recha Freier, Swiss-born playwright, holder of the Israeli State Prize
* Hans-Joachim Hespos, composer
* the family of
Ub Iwerks
Ubbe Ert Iwwerks (March 24, 1901 – July 7, 1971), known as Ub Iwerks ( ), was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, inventor, and special effects technician. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Iwerks grew up with a contentiou ...
Henri Nannen
Henri Nannen (25 December 1913 in Emden – 13 October 1996 in Hanover) was a German journalist and art collector. He became one of the most prominent journalists and magazine publishers in Germany.
His father was a police officer in Emden who ...
Heiko Engelkes
Heiko Engelkes (1 April 1933 – 6 November 2008) was a German journalist.
Born in Norden, Lower Saxony, Norden, he studied law, political science and journalism in Wilhelmshaven, Hamburg and Berlin. Following this he spent time as a Fulbright Pr ...
, journalist, ARD correspondent in Paris, author
* Okka Gundel, presenter on Sportschau and
tagesschau24
Tagesschau24 (stylized as tagesschau24) is a German free-to-air television channel owned by ARD and managed by Norddeutscher Rundfunk. It was launched on 30 August 1997 as "EinsExtra" before the introduction of its current name on 1 May 2012.
...
* Eva Herman, presenter, newscaster and playwright
*
Wolfgang Petersen
Wolfgang Petersen (14 March 1941 – 12 August 2022) was a German film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for the World War II submarine warfare film '' Das Boot'' (1981). His other films include '' The ...
, Hollywood director of ''inter alia''
Das Boot
''Das Boot'' (, English: "The Boat") is a 1981 West German war film written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen, produced by Günter Rohrbach, and starring Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, and Klaus Wennemann. It has been exhibited both as ...
and
Troy
Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...
*
Helma Sanders-Brahms
Helma Sanders-Brahms (20 November 1940 – 27 May 2014) was a German film director, screenwriter and producer.
Biography
Helma Sanders was born on 20 November 1940 in Emden, Germany. She attended a school for acting in Hannover from 1960 to 1 ...
, director
History
*
Edzard the Great
Edzard I, also Edzard the Great (15 January 1462 in Greetsiel – 14 February 1528 in Emden) was count of East Frisia from 1491 until his death in 1528.
Edzard succeeded his brother Enno in 1492. He fought with George, Duke of Saxony over ...
, East Frisian count
*
Klaus Störtebeker
"Nikolaus" Storzenbecher or "Klaus" Störtebeker (1360 – supposed 20 October 1401) was reputed to be leader of a group of privateers known as the Victual Brothers (german: Vitalienbrüder). The Victual Brothers ( la, victualia) were ...
, pirate during the time of the
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label= Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...
Musicians and comedians
*
Carl Carlton (German musician)
Carl Carlton (born Karl Walter Ahlerich Buskohl, 20 April 1955) is a German rock guitarist, composer and producer. His collaboration with Robert Palmer culminated in the Grammy-nominated album '' Drive'', released in 2003. In 2005, Carlton jo ...
, rock musician
*
Karl Dall
Karl Bernhard Dall (, 1 February 1941 – 23 November 2020) was a German comedian, singer, and television presenter. His distinctive 'hanging' eye was caused by a congenital ptosis.
Family
Karl Dall was born in Emden, Germany, the son ...
, comedian, actor, entertainer
*
H.P. Baxxter
Hans Peter Geerdes (born 16 March 1964), professionally known by his stage name H.P. Baxxter, is a German musician who is best known as the lead vocalist of the German techno band Scooter. He founded Scooter with his friend Rick J. Jordan in 1 ...
, real name: Hans-Peter Geerdes, front man of the techno band Scooter
*
Al Shean
Abraham Elieser Adolph Schönberg (May 12, 1868 – August 12, 1949), known as Al Shean, was a comedian and vaudeville performer. Other sources give his birth name variously as Adolf Schönberg, Albert Schönberg, or Alfred Schönberg. He is mos ...
, US American-German comedian
* Theodore Thomas, born Theodor Thomas, musician, composer, founder of the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenu ...
*
Otto Waalkes
Otto Gerhard Waalkes (born 22 July 1948) is a German comedian, actor, and musician. He became famous in the 1970s and 1980s in Germany with his shows, books and films. His best known trademark are the 'Ottifanten' ('Ottiphants'), elephant-like c ...
Heidi Hartmann
Heidi I. Hartmann is an American feminist economist who is founder and president of the Washington-based Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR), a research organization created to conduct women-centered, public policy research. She is an e ...
, world boxing champion
*
Marco Kutscher
Marco Kutscher (born 2 May 1975 in Norden, Lower Saxony) is a German equestrian who competes in the sport of show jumping.
Kutcher originally finished fourth in the show jumping competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, but ...
, showjumper (European and Olympic bronze medallist)
* Silvia Rieger, track and field athlete (hurdles)
*
Ferydoon Zandi
Ferydoon Zandi (born 26 April 1979) is an Iranian retired professional footballer.
Early life
Zandi was born in the city of Emden, in northern Germany, to an Iranian father and a German mother. He speaks German and Persian. He started playing ...
, footballer
Theology
*
Menso Alting
Menso Alting (Eelde, 9 November 1541 – Emden, 7 October 1612) was a Dutch Reformed preacher and reformer.
Alting was born in Eelde and was raised in a Catholic family. After visiting several schools in the Netherlands and Germany, he st ...
*
David Fabricius David Fabricius (9 March 1564 – 7 May 1617) was a German pastor who made two major discoveries in the early days of telescopic astronomy, jointly with his eldest son, Johannes Fabricius (1587–1615).
David Fabricius (Latinization of his proper ...
, theologian, important amateur astronomer and cartographer
*
Eduard Norden
Eduard Norden (21 September 1868 – 13 July 1941) was a German classical philologist and historian of religion. When Norden received an honorary doctorate from Harvard, James Bryant Conant referred to him as "the most famous Latinist in the wor ...
, philologist and religious historian
Science
*
Eggerik Beninga
Eggerik Beninga (1490–1562), also known as Eggeric(k) Benninga or Benynga, was an East Frisian chronicler and steward of the Leerort Fortress. From 1540 to 1556 he was also counselor to Anna of Oldenburg. He wrote an account of the history of the ...
Ubbo Emmius
Ubbo Emmius (5 December 15479 December 1625) was a German historian and geographer.
Early life
Ubbo Emmius was born on 5 December 1547 in Greetsiel, East Frisia. From the ages of 9 to 18 Emmius studied in a Latin school, before having to leave o ...
, pastor, historian and founder of the University of
Groningen
Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of t ...
Johannes Fabricius
Johann Goldsmid, better known by his Latinisation of names, Latinized name Johann(es) Fabricius (8 January 1587 – 19 March 1616), eldest son of David Fabricius (1564–1617), was a Frisians, Frisian/Germans, German astronomer and a discoverer of ...
, one of the discoverers of sunspots
*
Wilhelm von Freeden
Wilhelm Ihno Adolf von Freeden (12 May 1822 Norden, Lower Saxony – 11 January 1894 Bonn) was a German mathematician and expert on navigation. He was the founder of the North German Naval Observatory. Freeden Bank bears his name.
Biography
He ...
, German mathematician, scientist and oceanographer, founder of the North German Hydrographic Office in Hamburg
* Rudolf von Jhering, German lawyer
* Hermann Lübbe, philosopher
*
Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt
Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt (; born 12 August 1942 in Leerhafe, today part of Wittmund, East Frisia) is a German orthopedist. He gained recognition for his roles as Germany national football team doctor (1995–2018) and club doctor of Bayer ...
, sports doctor and doctor to the
Germany National Football Team
The Germany national football team (german: link=no, Deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft) represents Germany in men's international football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football Association (''Deuts ...
and
FC Bayern Munich
Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
Jan van Koningsveld
Jan van Koningsveld (born 1969 in Emden) is a mental calculator. He is the champion of Extracting Square Roots of 2004 and 2008 as well as the champion of Calendar Calculation of 2008 at the Mental Calculation World Cups. In addition, he finishe ...
, world champion in mental arithmetic
* Minnie Schönberg, mother of the
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...
, who came from Dornum
* Tamme Hanken, vet and TV presenter
Literature
* Martin Tielke (ed.): ''Biographisches Lexikon für Ostfriesland.'' Ostfriesische Landschaft, Aurich, 1993 {{in lang, ff, 5 volumes, Vol. 4, 2007.
! People
East Frisia
East Frisia or East Friesland (german: Ostfriesland; ; stq, Aastfräislound) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia ...