215,950 profiles ranked

← Fame through time1800-1899

The 19th century

Whose names filled the books of the 19th century - anyone at all, however long dead - counted as mentions per million words printed, so a period that simply published more does not inflate anyone.

Talked about then

Whose names appeared most in German books during the 19th century, whenever they lived.

  1. 1Maria Theresa1717-1780 · 18th century · Austria · Historical Figures3.8
  2. 2Jean Paul1763-1825 · 18th century · Germany · Writers1.8
  3. 3Paracelsus1493-1541 · 16th century · Switzerland · Doctors1.4
  4. 4Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor1741-1790 · 18th century · Austria · Historical Figures1.3
  5. 5Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor1316-1378 · 14th century · Historical Figures1.3
  6. 6Gustav Adolph, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow1633-1695 · 17th century · Germany · Writers1.2
  7. 7Hans Sachs1494-1576 · 16th century · Germany · Writers0.99
  8. 8William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel1532-1592 · 16th century · Germany · Scientists0.85
  9. 9Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor1685-1740 · 18th century · Austria · Historical Figures0.85
  10. 10Charles Augustus, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach1757-1828 · 18th century · Politicians0.84
  11. 11George Frederick of Waldeck-Eisenberg1620-1692 · 17th century · Models0.84
  12. 12Władysław of Głogów1420-1460 · 15th century · Germany0.78
  13. 13Martin Luther1483-1546 · 16th century · Germany · Religious Figures0.78
  14. 14Novalis1772-1801 · 19th century · Germany · Writers0.77
  15. 15Louis Philip, Count Palatine of Simmern-Kaiserslautern1602-1655 · 17th century · Germany0.75
  16. 16Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor1165-1197 · 12th century · Germany · Historical Figures0.72
  17. 17Frederick Charles, Duke of Württemberg-Winnental1652-1698 · 17th century · Politicians0.71
  18. 18Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor1768-1835 · 19th century0.65
  19. 19Albrecht Dürer1471-1528 · 16th century · Germany · Artists0.64
  20. 20Frederick William IV of Prussia1795-1861 · 19th century · Politicians0.59
  21. 21Conradin1252-1268 · 13th century · Germany · Musicians0.58
  22. 22Ernest Augustus, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg1629-1698 · 17th century · Germany · Historical Figures0.55
  23. 23Catherine the Great1729-1796 · 18th century · Russia · Historical Figures0.55
  24. 24Richard Wagner1813-1883 · 19th century · Germany · Musicians0.55
  25. 25Francis Anthony, Count of Hohenzollern-Haigerloch1657-1702 · 17th century · Germany0.53
Show 75 more

Lived then

The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 19th century, ranked where coverage and readership agree.

  1. 1Max Planck1858-1947 · Germany · Scientists14 decades
  2. 2Wilhelm Röntgen1845-1923 · Germany · Scientists11 decades
  3. 3Ernst Haeckel1834-1919 · Germany · Scientists16 decades
  4. 4Karl Benz1844-1929 · Germany · Scientists11 decades
  5. 5Gottlieb Daimler1834-1900 · Germany · Scientists11 decades
  6. 6Hermann von Helmholtz1821-1894 · Germany · Scientists14 decades
  7. 7Justus von Liebig1803-1873 · Germany · Scientists17 decades
  8. 8Otto Lilienthal1848-1896 · Germany · Scientists13 decades
  9. 9Georg Ohm1789-1854 · Germany · Scientists12 decades
  10. 10Werner von Siemens1816-1892 · Germany · Scientists13 decades
  11. 11Ferdinand von Zeppelin1838-1917 · Germany · Scientists5 decades
  12. 12Philipp Lenard1862-1947 · Germany · Scientists11 decades
  13. 13Robert Bosch1861-1942 · Germany · Scientists13 decades
  14. 14Carl Zeiss1816-1888 · Germany · Scientists13 decades
  15. 15Robert Bunsen1811-1899 · Germany · Scientists9 decades
  16. 16August Kekulé1829-1896 · Germany · Scientists4 decades
  17. 17Joseph von Fraunhofer1787-1826 · Germany · Scientists4 decades
  18. 18Wilhelm Ostwald1853-1932 · Germany · Scientists13 decades
  19. 19Hugo Junkers1859-1935 · Germany · Scientists11 decades
  20. 20Ernst Abbe1840-1905 · Germany · Scientists12 decades
  21. 21Walther Nernst1864-1941 · Germany · Scientists12 decades
  22. 22Friedrich Wöhler1800-1882 · Germany · Scientists17 decades
  23. 23Adolf von Baeyer1835-1917 · Germany · Scientists12 decades
  24. 24Karl Ferdinand Braun1850-1918 · Germany · Scientists12 decades
  25. 25Wilhelm Maybach1846-1929 · Germany · Scientists8 decades
Show 75 more

How to read these rankings

  • Attention, not reputation. A place on these lists reflects the attention a person still draws in the public record. It is not a judgement on the life.
  • Fame in print. The curves show how often a name appeared in the books of each decade from 1800 to 2019, drawn from the Google Books Ngram corpus.
  • Gaps are left as gaps. Where the record is too thin to be fair, we would rather show nothing than guess.