215,950 profiles ranked

← Fame through time1900-1999

The 20th century

Whose names filled the books of the 20th 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 20th century, whenever they lived.

  1. 1Thomas Mann1875-1955 · 20th century · United States · Writers6.1
  2. 2Novalis1772-1801 · 19th century · Germany · Writers5.5
  3. 3Karl Marx1818-1883 · 19th century · Germany · Academics4.7
  4. 4Jean Paul1763-1825 · 18th century · Germany · Writers4.3
  5. 5Adolf Hitler1889-1945 · 20th century · Austria · Politicians2.6
  6. 6Maria Theresa1717-1780 · 18th century · Austria · Historical Figures2.5
  7. 7Max Weber1864-1920 · 19th century · Germany · Academics2.5
  8. 8Paracelsus1493-1541 · 16th century · Switzerland · Doctors2.5
  9. 9Richard Wagner1813-1883 · 19th century · Germany · Musicians2.4
  10. 10Friedrich Engels1820-1895 · 19th century · United Kingdom · Academics2.3
  11. 11Friedrich Schlegel1772-1829 · 19th century · Germany · Writers1.8
  12. 12Erich Honecker1912-1994 · 20th century · Germany · Politicians1.7
  13. 13Heinrich Mann1871-1950 · 20th century · Germany · Writers1.7
  14. 14Martin Luther1483-1546 · 16th century · Germany · Religious Figures1.6
  15. 15Heinrich Heine1797-1856 · 19th century · France · Writers1.6
  16. 16Charles Augustus, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach1757-1828 · 18th century · Politicians1.5
  17. 17Karl Kraus1874-1936 · 20th century · Austria · Writers1.5
  18. 18Walter Ulbricht1893-1973 · 20th century · Politicians1.4
  19. 19Hans Sachs1494-1576 · 16th century · Germany · Writers1.4
  20. 20William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel1532-1592 · 16th century · Germany · Scientists1.4
  21. 21Gottfried Keller1819-1890 · 19th century · Switzerland · Writers1.4
  22. 22Rosa Luxemburg1871-1919 · 20th century · Germany · Activists1.4
  23. 23Gerhart Hauptmann1862-1946 · 19th century · Germany · Writers1.4
  24. 24Gustav Adolph, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow1633-1695 · 17th century · Germany · Writers1.3
  25. 25Tannhäuser1300-1300 · 14th century · Germany · Writers1.3
Show 75 more

Lived then

The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 20th century, ranked where coverage and readership agree.

  1. 1Werner Herzogborn 1942 · Germany · Directors6 decades
  2. 2Leni Riefenstahl1902-2003 · Germany · Directors9 decades
  3. 3Wim Wendersborn 1945 · Germany · Directors5 decades
  4. 4Roland Emmerichborn 1955 · Germany · Directors3 decades
  5. 5Fritz Lang1890-1976 · Germany · Directors9 decades
  6. 6Rainer Werner Fassbinder1945-1982 · Germany · Directors5 decades
  7. 7Wolfgang Petersen1941-2022 · Germany · Directors4 decades
  8. 8Pina Bausch1940-2009 · Germany · Directorsnot measured-
  9. 9F. W. Murnau1888-1931 · Germany · Directors4 decades
  10. 10Ernst Lubitsch1892-1947 · Germany · Directors8 decades
  11. 11Volker Schlöndorffborn 1939 · Germany · Directorsnot measured-
  12. 12Lotte Reiniger1899-1981 · Germany · Directorsnot measured-
  13. 13Bernd Eichinger1949-2011 · Germany · Directorsnot measured-
  14. 14Christian Petzoldborn 1960 · Germany · Directorsnot measured-
  15. 15Margarethe von Trottaborn 1942 · Germany · Directorsnot measured-
  16. 16Douglas Sirk1897-1987 · Germany · Directorsnot measured-
  17. 17Christoph Schlingensief1960-2010 · Germany · Directorsnot measured-
  18. 18Doris Dörrieborn 1955 · Germany · Directorsnot measured-
  19. 19Rosa von Praunheim1942-2025 · Germany · Directorsnot measured-
  20. 20Michael Verhoeven1938-2024 · Germany · Directorsnot measured-
  21. 21Bernhard Grzimek1909-1987 · Germany · Directorsnot measured-
  22. 22Wolfgang Wagner1919-2010 · Germany · Directorsnot measured-
  23. 23Helmut Dietl1944-2015 · Germany · Directorsnot measured-
  24. 24Robert Siodmak1900-1973 · Germany · Directorsnot measured-
  25. 25Veit Harlan1899-1964 · Germany · Directorsnot measured-
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.