List of people from Kiel

The following is a list of notable people who were born in Kiel.

Up to 1800

 * Peter III of Russia (1728–1762), emperor of Russia for six months in 1762.
 * Johannes Nikolaus Tetens (1736–1807), German-Danish philosopher and statistician
 * Karl Leonhard Reinhold (1757–1823), an Austrian philosopher
 * Johan Ludwig Lund (1777–1867), Danish painter
 * Carl Loewe (1796–1869), composer, tenor singer and conductor
 * Gustav Adolf Michaelis (1798–1848), obstetrician and physician

1801 to 1850

 * August Howaldt (1809–1889), founder of Howaldtswerke
 * Friedrich Wilhelm Hermann Delffs (1812–1894), chemist
 * Otto Jahn (1813–1869) an archaeologist, philologist and writer on art and music.
 * Henri Lehmann (1814–1882), born French historical painter and portraitist
 * Adolf Michaelis (1835–1910), classical scholar, a professor of art history
 * Robert Michaelis von Olshausen (1835–1915), obstetrician and gynecologist
 * August Mau (1840–1909), art historian and archaeologist
 * August Leskien (1840–1916), linguist, active in comparative linguistics
 * Detlev von Liliencron (1844–1909), lyric poet and novelist
 * Hermann Graedener (1844–1929), composer, conductor and teacher

1851 to 1900

 * Ferdinand Tönnies (1855–1936), sociologist, philosopher
 * Kuno Francke (1855–1930), American educator and historian at Harvard University
 * Friedrich Ferdinand of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1855–1934), the fourth Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, became Duke of Schleswig-Holstein in 1931
 * Eduard Schwartz (1858–1940), classical philologist, wrote about the second Catilinarian conspiracy
 * Max Planck (1858–1947), theoretical physicist whose work on quantum mechanics won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918
 * Johannes Weiss (1863–1914), Protestant theologian and Biblical exegete
 * George Eyser (1870–1919) German-American gymnast
 * Ernst Steinitz (1871–1928), mathematician, wrote on projective configuration
 * Anton Schifferer (1871–1943), business executive and politician (NLP; DVP)
 * Hans Geiger (1882–1945), physicist, co-invented the Geiger–Müller Counter in 1928
 * Hans Anton Aschenborn (1888–1931), animal painter of African wildlife
 * Paul Werner Wenneker (1890–1979), admiral and diplomat
 * Alfred Brinckmann (1891–1967), chess International Master and author
 * Carl Zuckmayer (1896–1977), writer and playwright
 * Bruno Diekmann (1897–1982), politician (SPD), Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein 1949–1950
 * Karl Ristenpart (1900–1967), conductor
 * Ernst Busch (1900–1980), actor, singer, writer and collector of songs

1901 to 1925

 * Rudolf Hell (1901–2002), inventor, invented the Hellschreiber
 * Kurt Otto Friedrichs (1901–1982), American mathematician, worked on partial differential equations
 * Ernst von Salomon (1902–1972), national-revolutionary writer and right-wing Freikorps member
 * Eduard Wald (1905–1978), Communist politician, trade unionist and member of the German Resistance against Nazism
 * Walther Müller (1905–1979), physicist, co-invented the Geiger–Müller Counter 1928
 * Heinrich Heesch (1906–1995), mathematician, worked on Group theory
 * Helmut Lemke (1907–1990), Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein 1963-1971
 * Harro Schulze-Boysen (1909–1942), Resistance fighter
 * Herbert Schultze (1909–1987), U-boat commander
 * Klaus Wittkugel (1910–1985), commercial and poster artist in the East Germany
 * Lauritz Lauritzen (1910–1980), politician (SPD)


 * Erna Flegel (1911–2006), nurse in the Führerbunker
 * Elisabeth von Janota-Bzowski (1912–2012), graphic artist known for her postage stamps designs
 * Karl Hass (1912–2004), German Lieutenant-Colonel in the SS
 * Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker (1912–2007), physicist, philosopher
 * Hermann Michel (1912–1984?), SS officer
 * Otto Kretschmer (1912–1998), U-boat commander
 * Joachim Hamann (1913–1945), Baltic-German Nazi SS officer
 * Heinrich Wöhlk (1913–1991), optometrist, invented the plastic contact lens
 * Sigrid Hunke (1913–1999), author, made claims of Muslim influence over Western values
 * Heinrich Springer (1914–2007), Waffen-SS knights cross winner
 * Kunigunde Bachl (1919–1994), member of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein
 * Eberhard Blum (1919–2003), fourth head of the German Federal Intelligence Bureau


 * Heinrich Dahlinger (1922–2008), field handball player
 * Shimon Wincelberg (1924–2004), American television writer and Broadway playwright

1926 to 1950

 * Judith Malina (1926–2015), American actress
 * Elyakim Haetzni (1926–2022), Israeli lawyer and member of the Knesset
 * Ulric Gustav Neisser (1928–2012), American psychologist and member of the US National Academy of Sciences
 * Oswalt Kolle (1928–2010), sex educator
 * Gerhard Stoltenberg (1928–2001), politician (CDU), minister and minister-president
 * Manfred Rulffs (1935–2007), rower
 * Heiner Zieschang (1936–2004), mathematician, was a topologist
 * Heiko Braak (born 1937), anatomist, contributed to the neuropathology of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease
 * Eckart Johannes Wagner (1938–2002), sailor
 * Ilse Gramatzki (born 1939), operatic mezzo-soprano and contralto
 * Eric Braeden (born 1941), German-American actor
 * Dieter Laser (1942–2020), actor
 * Marina Lewycka (born 1946), British novelist of Ukrainian origin
 * Egon Müller (born 1948), motorcycle speedway rider

1951 to 1975

 * Manfred Stahnke (born 1951), composer and musicologist
 * Ewald Schnug (born 1954), agricultural researcher, professor, Honorary-President of the International Scientific Center for Fertilizers
 * Duchess Donata of Mecklenburg (born 1956), senior remaining member of the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
 * Axel Milberg (born 1956), actor
 * Anke Ehlers (born 1957), psychologist, expert in post traumatic stress disorder
 * Andreas Brandstätter (1959–2006), diplomat
 * Ilme Schlichting (born 1960), biophysicist studied biomolecules using protein crystallography
 * Thilo Martinho (born 1960), musician, singer, guitarist and songwriter
 * Michael F. Feldkamp (born 1962), historian and journalist
 * Andreas Köpke (born 1962), footballer
 * Heike Henkel (born 1964), high jumper, 1992 Olympic winner
 * Feridun Zaimoğlu (born 1964), German author and playwright
 * Detlev Bork (born 1967), classical and flamenco guitarist
 * Tomma Abts (born 1967), painter and Turner Prize winner
 * Fritz Felgentreu (born 1968), politician (SPD)
 * Cora E. (born 1968), hip-hop artist
 * Daniel Günther (born 1973), politician (CDU)
 * Francisco Copado (born 1974), footballer
 * Gesche Joost (born 1974), design researcher, e.g. on human-computer interaction
 * Kim Dotcom (born 1974), German-Finnish Internet entrepreneur and political activist

Since 1976

 * Alexander Bommes (born 1976), handball player and journalist
 * Ulrich Schnauss (born 1977), electronic musician and producer
 * Daniel Ansorge (born 1978), electronic musician, producer and DJ
 * Britta Carlson (born 1978), footballer
 * Lasse Rempe-Gillen (born 1978), mathematician
 * Caspar Frantz (born 1980), classical pianist
 * Sidney Sam (born 1988), footballer
 * Laura Freigang (born 1998), footballer