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 Heisenberg1901-1976 · Germany · Scientists10 decades
  2. 2Erwin Schrödinger1887-1961 · Germany · Scientists11 decades
  3. 3Fritz Haber1868-1934 · Germany · Scientists11 decades
  4. 4Ferdinand Porsche1875-1951 · Germany · Scientists9 decades
  5. 5Otto Hahn1879-1968 · Germany · Scientists14 decades
  6. 6Konrad Zuse1910-1995 · Germany · Scientists6 decades
  7. 7Leo Szilard1898-1964 · Germany · Scientists0 decades
  8. 8Maria Goeppert Mayer1906-1972 · Germany · Scientists0 decades
  9. 9Carl Bosch1874-1940 · Germany · Scientists10 decades
  10. 10Arnold Sommerfeld1868-1951 · Germany · Scientists11 decades
  11. 11Max von Laue1879-1960 · Germany · Scientists10 decades
  12. 12Fritz Todt1891-1942 · Germany · Scientistsnot measured-
  13. 13Johannes Stark1874-1957 · Germany · Scientists12 decades
  14. 14Otto Stern1888-1969 · Germany · Scientistsnot measured-
  15. 15Christiane Nüsslein-Volhardborn 1942 · Germany · Scientists2 decades
  16. 16Arno Allan Penzias1933-2024 · Germany · Scientists0 decades
  17. 17Walther Bothe1891-1957 · Germany · Scientists6 decades
  18. 18Ernst Ruska1906-1988 · Germany · Scientists4 decades
  19. 19Rudolf Mössbauer1929-2011 · Germany · Scientists0 decades
  20. 20Wolfgang Ketterleborn 1957 · Germany · Scientists0 decades
  21. 21Hermann Staudinger1881-1965 · Germany · Scientists9 decades
  22. 22Hermann Tilkeborn 1954 · Germany · Scientistsnot measured-
  23. 23Joachim Sauerborn 1949 · Germany · Scientistsnot measured-
  24. 24Peter Grünberg1939-2018 · Germany · Scientists0 decades
  25. 25Theodor W. Hänschborn 1941 · Germany · Scientists0 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.