List of Austrians



This is a list of notable Austrians.

Actors/actresses

 * Helmut Berger (1944–2023), actor
 * Senta Berger (born 1941), actress
 * Klaus Maria Brandauer (born 1943), actor
 * Wolfgang Cerny (born 1984), actor
 * Marie Geistinger (1836–1903), actress and opera singer
 * Gilla (born 1950), also known as Gisela Wuchinger; singer and actor from the disco era
 * Käthe Gold (1907–1997), stage actress
 * Liane Haid (1895–2000), first Austrian movie star
 * Attila Hörbiger (1896–1987), actor
 * Christiane Hörbiger (1938–2022), actress
 * Paul Hörbiger (1894–1981), actor
 * Maria Hofstätter
 * Brigitte Kren
 * Boris Kodjoe (born 1973), actor
 * Melanie Kogler (born 1985), television and theatre actress
 * Hedy Lamarr (1914–2000), actress; also co-inventor of spread spectrum radio technology; became U.S. citizen
 * Karl Merkatz (1930–2022), actor (most notable for his role as a Viennese in "Mundl")
 * Birgit Minichmayr (born 1977), actress
 * Hans Moser (1880–1964), comedy actor
 * Reggie Nalder (1907–1991), actor
 * Maximilian Schell (1930–2014), actor
 * Ursula Strauss
 * Nina Proll
 * Arnold Schwarzenegger (born 1947), bodybuilder, actor, became U.S. citizen, governor of the U.S. state of California (2003–2011)
 * Erich von Stroheim (1885–1957), actor and film director
 * Christoph Waltz (born 1956), actor
 * Maria Weiss, mezzo-soprano and actress
 * Oskar Werner (1922–1984), actor

Artists/architects

 * Felix de Weldon (1907–2003), sculptor
 * Maria Auböck (born 1951), landscape architect
 * Bernhard Cella (born 1969), conceptual artist
 * Karl Duldig (1902–1986), Austrian-Australian sculptor
 * Albin Egger-Lienz (1868–1926), painter
 * Karl Ehn (1884–1957), architect, designer of the Karl-Marx-Hof
 * Trude Fleischmann (1895–1990), photographer
 * Ernst Fuchs (1930–2015), artist
 * Xenia Hausner (born 1951), painter
 * Gottfried Helnwein (born 1948), artist, born in Vienna
 * Kurt Hentschlager (born 1960), new media artist
 * Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928–2000), artist
 * Gustav Klimt (1862–1918), artist, helped found Vienna Secession
 * Oskar Kokoschka (1886–1980), painter
 * Alfred Kubin (1877–1959), graphic artist
 * Adolf Loos (1870–1933), architect, born in Brno (Moravia, present-day Czech Republic)
 * Hans Makart (1840–1884), history painter, designer and decorator
 * Inge Morath (1923–2002), photographer
 * Richard Neutra (1892–1970), architect
 * Wolf Prix (born 1942), architect, co-founder of Coop Himmelb(l)au
 * Willy Puchner (born 1952), photographer
 * Arnulf Rainer (born 1929), painter
 * Johann Michael Rottmayr (1656–1730), Baroque painter
 * Egon Schiele (1890–1918), painter
 * Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky (1897–2000), architect and political activist
 * De Es Schwertberger (born 1942), artist
 * Harry Seidler (1923–2006), architect
 * Helmut Swiczinsky (born 1944), architect, co-founder of Coop Himmelb(l)au
 * Aloys Wach (1892–1940), painter
 * Otto Wagner (1841–1918), Jugendstil architect behind much of turn-of-the-century Viennese architecture
 * Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller (1793–1865), painter
 * Franz West (1947–2012), artist
 * Olga Wisinger-Florian (1844–1926), painter

Composers/musicians



 * Wolfgang Ambros (born 1952), pop musician
 * Louie Austen (born 1946), composer and musician
 * Ernst Bachrich (1892/1893–1942), composer and conductor
 * Caroline Bayer (1758–1803), 18th-century violinist and composer
 * Alban Berg (1885–1935), composer
 * Alfred Brendel (born 1931), pianist
 * Anton Bruckner (1824–1896), composer
 * RAF Camora (born 1984), hip-hop musician and producer
 * Friedrich Cerha (1926–2023), composer and conductor
 * Carl Czerny (1791–1857), pianist and composer
 * Anton Diabelli (1781–1858), publisher, editor and composer
 * Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739–1799), composer
 * Karlheinz Essl (born 1960), composer and electronic musician
 * Falco (1957–1998), pop musician
 * Christian Fennesz (born 1962), electronic musician
 * Bernhard Gál (born 1971), composer and artist
 * Georg Friedrich Haas (born 1953), composer
 * Natascha Hagen (born 1974), singer-songwriter
 * Nikolaus Harnoncourt (1929–2016), conductor
 * Joseph Haydn (1732–1809), composer
 * Michael Haydn (1737–1806), composer, younger brother of Joseph Haydn
 * Yung Hurn (born 1995), hip-hop musician
 * Udo Jürgens (1934–2014), singer-songwriter
 * Herbert von Karajan (1908–1989), conductor
 * Bernhard Lang (born 1957), composer
 * Thomas Lang (born 1967), drummer and composer
 * Joseph Lanner (1801–1843), composer
 * Left Boy (born 1988), singer
 * Elisabeth Leonskaja (born 1945), pianist, Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class, in 2006
 * Gustav Mahler (1860–1911), composer
 * Penny McLean (born 1948), singer with the disco group Silver Convention
 * Marianne von Martinez (1744–1812), composer, singer
 * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), musician and composer
 * Olga Neuwirth (born 1968), composer
 * Gerhard Potuznik, electronic musician
 * Franz Schmidt (1874–1939), composer
 * Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951), composer
 * Franz Schubert (1797–1828), composer and musician
 * Parov Stelar (born 1974), electronic musician
 * Eduard Strauss (1835–1916), composer
 * Johann Strauss Jr. (1825–1899), composer
 * Johann Strauss Sr. (1804–1849), composer
 * Josef Strauss (1827–1870), composer
 * Franz von Suppé (1819–1895), composer
 * Anton Webern (1883–1945), composer
 * Franz Welser-Möst (born 1960), conductor
 * Hugo Wolf (1860–1903), composer
 * Conchita Wurst (born 1988), pop musician
 * Joe Zawinul (1932–2007), jazz musician, composer
 * Eric Zeisl (1905–1959), composer
 * Alexander von Zemlinsky (1871–1942), composer

Entrepreneurs

 * Hannes Androsch (born 1938), former minister of finance in the government of Bruno Kreisky
 * Hikmet Ersek, CEO of The Western Union Company, a Fortune 500 company
 * Ignaz Glaser (1853–1916), entrepreneur
 * Gaston Glock (1929-2023), inventor, founder of Glock Ges.m.b.H.
 * Niki Lauda (1949–2019), Formula One race car driver and aviation entrepreneur
 * Richard Lugner (born 1932), entrepreneur and society figure
 * Dietrich Mateschitz (1944–2022), businessman behind the Red Bull brand
 * Ludwig (Louis) von Nathaniel (1882–1955), banker
 * Ferdinand Porsche (1875–1951), automotive engineer, designed the Volkswagen (the "people's car"), born in Vratislavice nad Nisou (Austria-Hungary, Bohemia, present-day Czech Republic)
 * Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche (1909–1998), automotive engineer and entrepreneur, he expanded the sports car manufacturer Porsche AG to what it is now
 * Johann Puch (1862–1914), inventor, mechanic, co-founder of Steyr-Daimler-Puch
 * Albert Salomon von Rothschild (1844–1911), banker
 * Anselm von Rothschild (1803–1874), banker
 * Ferdinand James von Rothschild (1839–1898), investor
 * Nathaniel Mayer Anselm von Rothschild (1836–1905), banker
 * Salomon Mayer von Rothschild (1774–1855), banker
 * Robert Schlumberger (1814–1879), entrepreneur
 * Frank Stronach (born in Austria, 1932), entrepreneur
 * Daniel Swarovski (1862–1956), founder of Swarovski AG, world-famous crystals, born in Jiřetín pod Bukovou, (Bohemia, present-day Czech Republic)

Filmmakers

 * Barbara Albert (born 1970), film director, producer and writer
 * Franz Antel (1913–2007), director, actor and writer
 * Axel Corti (1933–1993), director
 * Elfi von Dassanowsky (1924–2007), film producer, singer, pianist
 * Andrea Maria Dusl (born 1961), film director and writer
 * Amir Esmann (born 1965), director, director of photography, writer
 * Max Fleischer (1883–1972), animator
 * Michael Haneke (born 1942), film director (born in Germany, however lives and works in Austria)
 * Fritz Lang (1890–1976), film director
 * Francis Lawrence (born 1971), Austrian-American film director
 * Otto Preminger (1905–1986), film director
 * Stefan Ruzowitzky (born 1961), film director and writer
 * Arnold Schwarzenegger (born 1947), actor and politician
 * Ulrich Seidl (born 1952), film director and writer
 * Josef von Sternberg (1894–1969), film director
 * Erich von Stroheim (1885–1957), film director
 * Wolfgang Suschitzky (1912–2016), director of photography
 * Edgar G. Ulmer (1904–1972), film director
 * Hans Weingartner (born 1977), film director, producer and writer
 * Virgil Widrich (born 1967), film director, producer and writer
 * Billy Wilder (1906–2002), film director, born in Austria-Hungary
 * Fred Zinnemann (1907–1977), film director

Mountaineers

 * Peter Aufschnaiter (1899–1973), mountaineer and co-traveller of Heinrich Harrer (Seven Years in Tibet)
 * Karl Blodig (1859–1956), mountaineer (first to climb all alpine mountains above 4,000 m)
 * Hermann Buhl (1924–1957), first ascent of Nanga Parbat on the 1953 German–Austrian Nanga Parbat expedition, first ascent of Broad Peak
 * Kurt Diemberger (born 1932), first ascents of Broad Peak (1957) and Dhaulagiri (1960)
 * Peter Habeler (born 1942), first ascent of Mount Everest without oxygen (together with Reinhold Messner)
 * Heinrich Harrer (1912–2006), mountaineer (first ascent of the Carstensz Pyramid) and writer (Seven Years in Tibet)
 * Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner (born 1970), first woman to ascend all eight-thousanders without oxygen (2011)
 * Fritz Moravec (1922–1997), first ascent of Gasherbrum II (1956)
 * Ludwig Purtscheller (1849–1900), first ascent of Kilimanjaro in 1889
 * Marcus Schmuck (1925–2005), first ascent of Broad Peak in 1957 as expedition leader
 * Herbert Tichy (1912–1987), geologist, journalist and mountaineer (first ascent of Cho Oyu)
 * Luis Trenker (1892–1990), mountaineer, film director and writer (born in the southern part of Tyrol, then in Austria-Hungary)
 * Fritz Wintersteller (1927–2018), first ascent of Broad Peak in 1957

Military leaders



 * Haim Bar-Lev (1924–1994), Israeli general and government minister
 * Leopold Josef Graf Daun (1705–1766), field marshal
 * Joseph Radetzky von Radetz (1766–1858), military leader
 * Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663–1736), general in the war against the Turks (17th–18th century)
 * Philipp von Stadion und Thannhausen (1799–1868), field marshal
 * Wilhelm von Tegetthoff (1827–1871), admiral
 * Georg von Trapp (1880–1947), navy officer
 * Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz (1787–1862), general
 * Archduke Charles of Austria (1771–1847), fought against Napoleon

Politicians

 * Kasimir Felix Graf Badeni, statesman and diplomat
 * Leopold Graf Berchtold, foreign minister at the outbreak of the First World War
 * Brigitte Bierlein, Chancellor 2019–2020
 * Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, politician and writer
 * Engelbert Dollfuß, Chancellor 1932–1934 (First Republic), established Austrofascism
 * Leopold Figl, Chancellor 1945–1953, foreign minister 1953–1959
 * Heinz Fischer, former President
 * Werner Faymann, former Chancellor
 * Jörg Haider, politician, governour of Carinthia until his death in 2008
 * Adolf Hitler, leader of Nazi Germany 1933–1945, gained German citizenship in 1932, and became German Chancellor in 1933. In 1938, he annexed Austria with the Anschluß
 * Joseph Hormayr Freiherr zu Hortenburg, statesman and historian
 * Theodor Innitzer, cardinal archbishop of Vienna 1932–1955, minister of social affairs 1929–1930
 * Ernst Kaltenbrunner, NSDAP politician
 * Wenzel Anton Graf Kaunitz, statesman
 * Christian Kern, Chancellor 2016–2017
 * Rudolf Kirchschläger, judge, diplomat and President 1974–1986
 * Thomas Klestil, diplomat, President 1992–2004
 * Teddy Kollek, Israeli Mayor of Jerusalem
 * Bruno Kreisky, Chancellor 1970–1983, foreign minister 1959–1966
 * Sebastian Kurz, Chancellor 2017–2019, 2020–2021
 * Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, diplomat and statesman
 * Julius Raab, Chancellor 1953–1961
 * Karl Renner, Chancellor 1918–1920 and 1945, first President of the Second Republic 1945–1950
 * Adolf Schärf, President 1957–1965
 * Anton von Schmerling, statesman (liberal movement of the 19th century)
 * Kurt Schuschnigg, Chancellor 1934–1938
 * Wolfgang Schüssel, Chancellor 2000–2007
 * Arnold Schwarzenegger, former governor of California
 * Ignaz Seipel, Catholic priest, Chancellor 1922–1924 and 1926–1929
 * Arthur Seyß-Inquart, NSDAP politician, last Chancellor before the Anschluss in 1938
 * Johann Philipp von Stadion, statesman, foreign minister and diplomat 1763–1824
 * Alexander Van der Bellen, former chairman of the Austrian Green Party and President since 2017
 * Kurt Waldheim, diplomat and politician, UN Secretary-General 1972–1982, President of Austria 1986–1992

Religious leaders

 * Theodor Innitzer, cardinal archbishop of Vienna 1932–1955, minister of social affairs 1929–1930
 * Franz König (1905–2004), Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna (1956–1985)
 * Christoph Schönborn, archbishop and cardinal
 * Ignaz Seipel, Catholic priest, Chancellor 1922–1924 and 1926–1929

Royalty



 * Elisabeth, Empress-Consort of Austria, wife of Francis Joseph I
 * Ferdinand I, Emperor of Austria
 * Francis Joseph I, Emperor of Austria
 * Francis II/I, Holy Roman Emperor, first Emperor of Austria
 * Franz Ferdinand, Archduke (assassinated in 1914)
 * Frederick II of Austria, last Babenberger duke of Austria
 * Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, reformer (abolished the death penalty) 1780–1790
 * Karl I, last Emperor of Austria
 * Karl V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558)
 * Leopold V, Babenberg duke of Austria, participated in the Third Crusade
 * Maria Leopoldina, Archduchess, became Empress of Brazil
 * Maria Theresia, Archduchess of Austria, Holy Roman Empress-Consort, last male-line Habsburg
 * Marie Antoinette, Archduchess, became Queen of France
 * Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (1459–1519)
 * Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico, Archduke of Austria
 * Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, Archduke of Austria
 * Rudolph I, King of Germany, first Habsburg king
 * Rudolf IV of Austria, Duke of Austria, self-styled archduke 1358–1365 (Privilegium Maius)

Economists

 * Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk (1851–1914), economist and early member of the Austrian School of Economics
 * Gottfried von Haberler (1900–1995), Austrian-American economist, born in Purkersdorf, Austria-Hungary
 * Friedrich Hayek (1899–1992), economist and social scientist, Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1974 (became a British citizen in 1938)
 * Leopold Kohr (1909–1994), economist, jurist and political scientist
 * Fritz Machlup (1902–1983), Austrian-American economist, born in Wiener Neustadt, Austria-Hungary
 * Carl Menger (1840–1921), founder of the Austrian School of economics
 * Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973), free-market economist
 * Oskar Morgenstern (1902–1977), co-founder of game theory
 * Otto Neurath (1882–1945), socialist, economist and philosopher
 * Joseph Schumpeter (1883–1950), economist, born in Triesch, Austria-Hungary
 * Friedrich von Wieser (1851–1926), economist of the Austrian School

Engineers/inventors

 * Thomas Feichtner (born 1970), industrial designer
 * Anselm Franz (1900–1994), pioneer in jet engine engineering, designed the world's first turbojet
 * Gaston Glock (born 1929), inventor, founder of firearms company GLOCK GmbH
 * Eduard Haas (1897–1989), inventor of the Pez candy
 * Hedy Lamarr (1914–2000), co-inventor of spread spectrum wireless communications, along with George Antheil
 * Viktor Kaplan (1876–1934), inventor of turbines for river power plants
 * Wilhelm Kress (1836–1913), aviation pioneer, inventor of the stick control for airplanes
 * Ernst Lauda (1859–1932), hydraulic and bridge engineer
 * Josef Madersperger (1768–1850), invented the sewing machine in 1818
 * Siegfried Marcus (1831–1898), automobile pioneer, inventor of the first gasoline powered automobile (vehicles of 1870 and 1889)
 * Alois Negrelli (1799–1858), engineer and railroad pioneer (created the plans for the Suez Canal)
 * Ferdinand Porsche (1875–1951), automotive engineer, designed the Volkswagen (the "people's car"), inventor of the hybrid car, contributed to the design of the Tiger I and Tiger II tanks (born in Austria-Hungary)
 * Josef Ressel (1793–1857), inventor of the marine screw propeller, pneumatic post and ball bearing
 * Alois Senefelder (1771–1834), inventor of the printing technique of lithography
 * Josef Singer (1923–2009), Israeli aeronautical engineer and President of Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
 * Max Valier (1895–1930), rocketry pioneer
 * Carl Auer von Welsbach (1858–1929), inventor of gaslight
 * Theodor Scheimpflug (1865–1911), inventor of Scheimpflug photography

Philosophers

 * Franz Brentano (1838–1917), philosopher and psychologist
 * Martin Buber (1878–1965), philosopher
 * Christian von Ehrenfels (1859–1932), philosopher
 * Herbert Feigl (1902–1988), philosopher (member of the Vienna Circle)
 * Paul Feyerabend (1924–1994), philosopher
 * Philipp Frank (1884–1966), philosopher and physicist (member of the Vienna Circle)
 * Edmund Husserl (1859–1938), philosopher (born in Prossnitz, Austria-Hungary)
 * Wilhelm Jerusalem (1854–1923), philosopher, born in Drenitz, died in Vienna
 * Hans Köchler (born 1948), philosopher, born in Schwaz
 * Georg Kreisel (1923–2015), philosopher and mathematician
 * Alexius Meinong (1853–1920), philosopher (theory of objects)
 * Otto Neurath (1882–1945), socialist, economist and philosopher
 * Karl Popper (1902–1994), philosopher (born in Austria, became British)
 * Friedrich Waismann (1896–1959), mathematician, philosopher and physicist (member of the Vienna Circle)
 * Otto Weininger (1880–1903), philosopher
 * Felix Weltsch (1884–1964), journalist, philosopher, student of Christian von Ehrenfels
 * Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951), philosopher, born in Vienna

Physicists, mathematicians and chemists

 * Emil Artin, mathematician (Artin's conjecture)
 * Ludwig Boltzmann (1844–1906), physicist, born in Vienna
 * Fritjof Capra
 * Carl Cori, born in Prague, Austria-Hungary, biochemist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1947
 * Christian Doppler (1803–1853), physicist, born in Salzburg (See Doppler effect)
 * Paul Ehrenfest, physicist and mathematician
 * Felix Ehrenhaft (1879–1952), maverick physicist
 * Josef Finger, physicist and mathematician
 * Heinz von Foerster (1911–2002), cyberneticist
 * Kurt Gödel, mathematician (born in Austria-Hungary, became naturalized U.S. citizen)
 * Hans Hahn, mathematician (member of the Vienna Circle)
 * Friedrich Hasenöhrl, physicist
 * Victor Franz Hess, physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics
 * Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, chemist
 * Walter Kohn, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1998
 * Georg Kreisel, philosopher and mathematician
 * Richard Kuhn, chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1938
 * Johann Josef Loschmidt, physicist and chemist
 * Ernst Mach, physicist and philosopher (Mach number)
 * Lise Meitner, physicist
 * Richard von Mises, physicist (younger brother of Ludwig von Mises)
 * John von Neumann, mathematician (Hungarian, Budapest-born)
 * Wolfgang Pauli, physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics 1945
 * Max Ferdinand Perutz, chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1962
 * Johanna Piesch (1898–1992), physicist, mathematician, pioneer in switching algebra
 * Fritz Pregl, chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1923
 * Erwin Schrödinger, physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics
 * Heinrich Franz Friedrich Tietze, mathematician
 * Carl Auer von Welsbach, chemist
 * Gernot Zippe, physicist (developed Zippe-type centrifuge to extract uranium-235 for nuclear weapons)
 * Richard Adolf Zsigmondy, chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1925 (Hungarian origin)

Physicians



 * Alfred Adler (1870–1937), psychiatrist, father of Individual Psychology
 * Hans Asperger (1906–1980), pediatrician who studied autism, person for whom Asperger syndrome is named
 * Leopold Auenbrugger (1722–1809), physician (method of percussion)
 * Robert Bárány (1876–1936), physician, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
 * Josef Breuer (1842–1925), physician (forerunner in psychoanalysis)
 * Ernst von Fleischl-Marxow (1846–1891), physician and physiologist (studies of nerves and the brain)
 * Viktor Frankl (1905–1997), psychiatrist, father of logotherapy
 * Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), psychiatrist, father of psychoanalysis
 * Karl von Frisch (1886–1982), physician, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
 * Leo Kanner (1894–1981), child psychiatrist
 * Helen Singer Kaplan (1929-1995), sex therapist
 * Karl Landsteiner (1886–1943), physician, serologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
 * Otto Loewi (1873–1961), pharmacologist (born in Germany, but spent 40 years of his life, from age 25, in Austria) Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
 * Karol Ignacy Lorinser (1796–1853), physician
 * Franz Mesmer (1734–1815), physician, developed an early form of hypnotism
 * Paracelsus (1493–1541), (real name: Theophrast von Hohenheim), alchemist and physician
 * Clemens von Pirquet (1874–1929), pediatrician and scientist in bacteriology and immunology
 * Wilhelm Reich (1897–1957), psychiatrist
 * Erwin Ringel (1921–1994), Austrian psychiatrist (presuicidal syndrome)
 * Ignaz Semmelweis (1818–1865), physician (born in Hungary, Austria-Hungary)
 * Julius Wagner-Jauregg (1857–1940), physician, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1927

Psychologists

 * Paul Watzlawick, communication theory
 * Sigmund Freud, psychoanalysis

Other scientists

 * Othenio Abel, paleontologist
 * Karl von Czyhlarz, Czech-Austrian jurist
 * Martin Gerzabek, ecologist and soil scientist
 * Helene Gröger-Wurm, Austrian-born Australian ecologist
 * Hans Hass, biologist and diving pioneer
 * Max Hecker (born 1879), Austrian-born Israeli President of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
 * Hans Kelsen, jurist (father of the Austrian constitution)
 * Konrad Lorenz zoologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
 * Gregor Mendel, pioneer of genetics
 * Leo Reinisch (1832-1919), linguist, Africanist and Egyptologist
 * Julius Pokorny, linguist
 * Rupert Riedl, zoologist
 * Eric Kandel, neuroscientist

Sports

 * Margarete Adler (1896–1990), swimmer, Olympic bronze medalist (4x100m freestyle relay)
 * David Alaba (born 1992), footballer, winner of 2012–13 UEFA Champions League with FC Bayern Munich
 * Felix Baumgartner (born 1969), world record setting skydiver
 * Gunther (wrestler) (born 1987), professional wrestler signed to WWE
 * Gerhard Berger (born 1959), racing driver
 * Richard Bergmann (1919–1970), seven-time world table tennis champion, ITTF Hall of Fame
 * Albert Bogen (Albert Bógathy) (1882–1961), saber fencer, Olympic silver medalist
 * Fritzi Burger (1910–1999), figure skater, two-time Olympic silver medalist, two-time World silver medalist
 * Hans Dobida (born 1929), inductee into the IIHF Hall of Fame
 * Michaela Dorfmeister (born 1973), alpine skier
 * Eva Duldig (born 1938), Austrian-born Australian and Dutch tennis player, author
 * Erich Eliskases (1913–1997), chess grandmaster
 * Otto Fischer (1901–1941), footballer and coach
 * Siegfried Flesch (1872–1939), sabre fencer, Olympic bronze medalist
 * Marcel Sabitzer (born 1994), footballer
 * Toni Fritsch (1945–2005), soccer and football player who won the Super Bowl in 1972
 * Michael Grabner (born 1987), NHL player
 * Ernst Grünfeld (1893–1962), chess grandmaster
 * Hans Haas (1906–1973), Olympic champion weightlifter (lightweight), silver medalist
 * Tunç Hamarat (born 1946), correspondence chess world champion (2004)
 * Ernst Happel (1925–1992), football player and coach
 * Judith Haspel (born "Judith Deutsch"; 1918–2004), held every Austrian women's middle and long-distance freestyle record in 1935
 * Otto Herschmann (1877–1942), two-time Olympic silver medalist (in saber fencing/team sabre and 100m freestyle)
 * Hansi Hinterseer (born 1954), skier, singer, actor, entertainer
 * Nickolaus Hirschl (1906–1991), two-time Olympic bronze medalist in wrestling (heavyweight freestyle and Greco-Roman), shot put and discus junior champion, weightlifting junior champion, and pentathlon champion
 * Felix Kaspar (1915–2003), figure skater, Olympic bronze medalist
 * Franz Klammer (born 1953), Olympic alpine ski champion
 * Alfred König (1913–1987), Austrian-Turkish Olympic sprinter
 * Hans Krankl (born 1953), football player and coach
 * Niki Lauda (1949–2019), Formula One race car driver and aviation entrepreneur
 * Hermann Maier (born 1972), Olympic alpine ski champion
 * Alex Manninger (born 1977), professional footballer for Arsenal F.C., winner of 1997–98 FA Premier League title
 * Klara Milch (born 1970), swimmer, Olympic bronze medalist (4x100m freestyle relay)
 * Uberto De Morpurgo (1896–1961), Austrian-born Italian tennis player
 * Annemarie Moser-Pröll (born 1953), alpine skier
 * Thomas Muster (born 1967), tennis champion
 * Paul Neumann (1875–1932), Olympic champion swimmer (500m freestyle)
 * Fred Oberlander (born 1996), wrestler; world champion (freestyle heavyweight); Maccabiah champion
 * Eva Pawlik (1927–1983), European figure skating Champion, World and Olympic runner-up, show star, actress, the world's first female sports commentator on TV (from 1962–1972)
 * Felix Pipes (1887–1983), tennis player, Olympic silver medalist (doubles)
 * Maxim Podoprigora (born 1978), Olympic swimmer
 * Jakob Pöltl (born 1995), basketball player; played two seasons of U.S. college basketball at Utah before declaring for the 2016 NBA draft
 * Ellen Preis (1912–2007), foil fencer, three-time world champion (1947, 1949, and 1950), Olympic champion, 17-time Austrian champion
 * Herbert Prohaska (born 1955), football player and coach
 * Roland Ratzenberger (1960–1994), race car driver, Formula One driver
 * Jochen Rindt (1942–1970), race car driver, 1970 Formula One World Champion (posthumous)
 * Toni Sailer (1935–2009), Alpine skiier, earned the Triple Crown of Alpine Skiing (by winning all three gold medals) at 1956 Olympic Games
 * Otto Scheff (born "Otto Sochaczewsky"; 1889–1956), Olympic champion swimmer (400m freestyle) and two-time bronze medalist (400m freestyle, 1,500m freestyle)
 * Max Scheuer (1895–1941), footballer; national team
 * Werner Schlager (born 1972), 2003 Table Tennis World Champion
 * Carl Schlechter (1874–1918), chess grandmaster
 * Gregor Schlierenzauer (born 1990), ski jumper, Olympic bronze medalist, World and 4 Hills Tournament champion
 * Heinrich Schönfeld (1900–1976), football player
 * Matthias Sindelar (1903–1939), footballer
 * Wilhelm Steinitz (1836–1900), winner of first-ever world chess championship in 1886
 * Josephine Sticker (1894–1963), swimmer, Olympic bronze medalist (4x100m freestyle relay)
 * Rudolf Spielmann (1883–1942), chess grandmaster
 * Herma Szabo (1902–1986), Olympic and five-time World figure skating champion
 * Dominic Thiem (born 1993), top-20 tennis player and Grand Slam Champion (Men's Singles, US Open 2020)
 * Nicole Trimmel (born 1982), kickboxing champion
 * Thomas Vanek (born 1984), NHL hockey player for the Montreal Canadiens
 * Anita Wachter (born 1967 in Schruns), Olympic alpine ski champion
 * Otto Wahle (1879–1963), swimmer, two-time Olympic silver medalist (1,000m freestyle, 200m obstacle race) and Olympic bronze medalist (400m freestyle); inducted into International Swimming Hall of Fame
 * Walter Wasservogel (1919–1993), inductee into the IIHF Hall of Fame

Writers

 * Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–1973), poet
 * Hermann Bahr (1863–1934), playwright, novelist
 * Ludwig Bemelmans (1898–1962), author of the Madeline books
 * Thomas Bernhard (1931–1989), dramatist, novelist, poet, born in Cloister Heerlen, Netherlands
 * Hermann Broch (1886–1951), novelist
 * Max Brod (1884–1968), writer, born in Prague, Austria-Hungary, (Bohemia, present-day Czech Republic), wrote in German
 * Heimito von Doderer (1896–1966), writer, born in Hadersdorf-Weidlingau near Vienna
 * Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830–1916), writer (style: psychological novelist)
 * Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872), poet, Vienna
 * Robert Hamerling (1830–1889), poet
 * Peter Handke (born 1942), author, born in Griffen (Carinthia)
 * Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874–1929), dramatist, writer
 * Martin Horváth (born 1967), writer
 * Franz Kafka (1883–1924), novelist, born in Prague, Austria-Hungary
 * Marie-Thérèse Kerschbaumer (born 1936), novelist, poet
 * Werner Kofler (1947–2011), novelist and dramatist
 * Karl Gottfried Ritter von Leitner (1800–1890), poet, writer, born in Graz
 * Alexander Lernet-Holenia (1897–1976), novelist, poet, dramatist, critic
 * Olga Misař (1876–1950), peace activist, feminist, writer
 * Robert Musil (1880–1942), writer
 * Johann Nestroy (1801–1862), playwright
 * Christine Nöstlinger (1936–2018), writer (especially literature for children)
 * Ferdinand Raimund (1790–1836), writer and dramatist
 * Christoph Ransmayr (born 1954), writer
 * Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926), poet and novelist, born in Prague, (Bohemia, present-day Czech Republic)
 * Peter Rosegger (1843–1918), writer, teacher & Styrian hero and visionary
 * Joseph Roth (1894–1939), novelist
 * Arthur Schnitzler (1862–1931), novelist and playwright
 * Adalbert Stifter (1805–1868), poet and artist
 * Bertha von Suttner (1843–1914), writer and pacifist Nobel Peace Prize winner, born in Prague, (Bohemia, present-day Czech Republic)
 * Georg Trakl (1887–1914), poet
 * Josef Weinheber (1892–1945), poet and essayist
 * Stefan Zweig (1881–1942), novelist and playwright

People of the Nazi Party and regime

 * Amon Göth, commandant of the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp and executed Nazi war criminal
 * Aribert Heim, physician ("Dr. Death") in the Mauthausen concentration camp
 * Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi Party and Nazi Germany
 * Ernst Kaltenbrunner, high ranking SS officer and Nazi war criminal
 * Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Reich Commissioner of the Netherlands

Other notables

 * Maria Altmann, niece of Adele Bloch-Bauer
 * Walter Wolf, business person
 * Oscar Baumann, explored the interior of German East Africa (present-day Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi)
 * Robert Bernardis, resistance fighter during WW2 (July 20 Plot)
 * Edward Bernays, Austrian-American pioneer in public relations, referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations"
 * Adele Bloch-Bauer, subject of famous painting by Gustav Klimt
 * Josef Fritzl, notorious rapist
 * Otto von Habsburg, politician, writer, heir to the thrones of Austria-Hungary
 * Theodor Herzl, "father of Zionism", lived most of his life in Austria
 * Alois Hitler, father of Adolf Hitler
 * Klara Hitler, mother of Adolf Hitler
 * Andreas Hofer, Tyrolian freedom fighter (against Napoleon)
 * Sylvie di Giusto, professional Speaker, Consultant and Author
 * Heinrich Kanner, journalist and editor of the newspaper "Die Zeit" in the k.u.k. Monarchy
 * Alma Mahler, wife and muse to Mahler, Gropius, Werfel
 * Andreas Maislinger, founder of the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service
 * Erna Patak (1871–1955), Zionist, social worker
 * Julius von Payer, polar explorer
 * Wolfgang Puck, celebrity chef and restaurateur
 * Max Reinhardt, renowned theatre director
 * Sister Maria Restituta, nun and nurse murdered by the Nazis
 * Günther Schifter, radio personality
 * Oskar Schindler (1908–1974), industrialist and famous World War II hero (saved his Jewish factory workers from Auschwitz), born in Svitavy, Moravia
 * Otto Skorzeny, Nazi commando (rescuer of Benito Mussolini)
 * Carl Szokoll, resistance fighter ("saviour of Vienna"), author and film producer
 * Georg Ludwig von Trapp, head of The Sound of Music family
 * Franz Viehböck, cosmonaut
 * Hede von Trapp, painter artist
 * Karl Weyprecht, polar explorer
 * Georg Weissacher, fashion designer
 * Simon Wiesenthal (1908–2005), pre-eminent Nazi hunter