1. Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was one of the most influential and renowned physicists of the 20th century. He was born in Ulm, Germany, on March 14, 1879, to a Jewish family. He showed an early interest in mathematics and physics, but had difficulty with the rigid schooling system. He moved to Switzerland in 1895 and enrolled in the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich, where he met his first wife, Mileva Marić, a fellow physics student. He graduated in 1900 with a diploma in physics, but had trouble finding an academic position. He worked as a patent clerk in Bern from 1902 to 1909, while pursuing his own research in his spare time. In 1905, he published four groundbreaking papers on the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, special relativity, and mass-energy equivalence, which earned him the reputation of a scientific genius. He received his PhD from the University of Zurich in 1905, and became a lecturer at the University of Bern in 1908. He moved to Prague in 1911 as a full professor, and then returned to Zurich in 1912 as a professor of theoretical physics. In 1914, he accepted a prestigious position at the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin, where he worked until 1933. He also became a German citizen in 1914, but renounced it in 1933 when Adolf Hitler came to power. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect, and his contributions to theoretical physics. He developed the general theory of relativity, a more comprehensive theory of gravity, between 1907 and 1915, which was confirmed by the observation of the bending of light by the Sun during a solar eclipse in 1919. He also made significant contributions to quantum mechanics, cosmology, statistical mechanics, and the unified field theory. He was a pacifist and a humanitarian, who advocated for social justice, civil rights, and nuclear disarmament. He was a supporter of the Zionist movement, and was offered the presidency of Israel in 1952, which he politely declined. He moved to the United States in 1933, where he joined the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He became an American citizen in 1940, and remained at Princeton until his death. He was involved in the Manhattan Project, which developed the atomic bomb, but later regretted his role and warned of the dangers of nuclear weapons. He died of an abdominal aortic aneurysm on April 18, 1955, at the age of 76, in Princeton Hospital. He left behind a legacy of scientific discoveries and insights that have shaped our understanding of the universe and inspired generations of scientists and thinkers.

2. Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher who challenged the foundations of traditional Western thought and morality. He was born in 1844 in a small town near Leipzig, where his father was a Lutheran pastor. He studied classical philology at the universities of Bonn and Leipzig, and became a professor of Greek at the University of Basel in Switzerland at the age of 24. He resigned from his position in 1879 due to health problems that plagued him most of his life. He spent the next decade traveling and writing prolifically on various topics, such as art, history, religion, culture, and philosophy. His main works include The Birth of Tragedy, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, On the Genealogy of Morals, The Antichrist, and Ecce Homo. He developed original and provocative ideas, such as the death of God, the Übermensch, the eternal return, the will to power, the master-slave morality, and the transvaluation of values. He also criticized Christianity, democracy, nationalism, and modernity as manifestations of decadence and nihilism. He suffered a mental breakdown in 1889 and spent his last years in the care of his mother and sister. He died in 1900 in Weimar from pneumonia and multiple strokes. His sister Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche edited his unpublished writings and promoted his philosophy to the public. However, she also distorted his views and associated them with Nazism and fascism. Nietzsche's philosophy has been widely influential and controversial in various fields of art, literature, psychology, politics, and culture. He is regarded as one of the most original and profound thinkers of modern times.

3. Ludwig van Beethoven

4. Hermann Hesse

Hermann Hesse was a German-Swiss writer and poet who explored the themes of individuality, spirituality, and self-knowledge in his novels and poems. He was born in 1877 in Calw, Germany, to a family of Protestant missionaries. He had a rebellious and restless childhood, often clashing with his parents and teachers. He attempted suicide at the age of 15 and was sent to a mental institution. He later ran away from school and worked as a bookseller, mechanic, and clockmaker. Hesse began writing poetry and fiction in his early twenties. His first novel, Peter Camenzind (1904), was a success and allowed him to pursue writing full-time. He traveled extensively in Europe and Asia, seeking inspiration and spiritual enlightenment. He was influenced by various philosophical and religious traditions, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Jungian psychology. He also developed an interest in painting and music. Some of his most famous works include Demian (1919), a coming-of-age story that reflects his own inner struggles; Siddhartha (1922), a spiritual journey of a young man in ancient India; Steppenwolf (1927), a psychological portrait of a lonely and tormented intellectual; Narcissus and Goldmund (1930), a contrast between two medieval friends with different paths in life; and The Glass Bead Game (1943), a utopian novel set in a futuristic society devoted to intellectual pursuits. Hesse was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946 for his contribution to German literature. He also received the Goethe Prize and the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. He was admired by many readers and writers around the world, especially during the 1960s counterculture movement. He died in 1962 in Montagnola, Switzerland, where he had lived since 1919. He is buried at the Sant'Abbondio Cemetery in Gentilino.

5. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, poet, dramatist, and philosopher. He is considered one of the greatest literary figures of the modern era. His works span various genres, including poetry, novels, plays, essays, and scientific treatises. He is best known for his two-part drama Faust, which he started around 1775 and completed shortly before his death in 1832. Faust is a tragic play that explores the themes of human nature, free will, and the quest for knowledge and happiness. Goethe also wrote other influential works, such as The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774), a novel that sparked a wave of emotion and suicide among young readers; Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship (1795-1796), a novel that depicts the education and development of an artist; and Theory of Colours (1810), a scientific work that challenged Newton's theory of light and color. Goethe was also a statesman who served as a minister in the court of Duke Karl August of Saxe-Weimar. He was involved in various political and cultural affairs, such as the reopening of silver mines, the reform of the university of Jena, and the planning of a botanical park. He also traveled extensively throughout Europe, especially to Italy, where he was inspired by the art and culture of the classical era. Goethe had a rich and complex personal life. He had many romantic relationships with women, some of whom inspired his literary works. He married Christiane Vulpius in 1806, after living with her for 18 years and having a son with her. He also had a close friendship with Friedrich Schiller, another prominent German writer and philosopher. They collaborated on several projects and influenced each other's works. Goethe died in 1832 at the age of 82 in Weimar. He was buried in the Vault of the Princes in the Historical Cemetery. His legacy is immense and lasting. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the German language and one of the most influential thinkers in Western civilization. His works have been translated into many languages and adapted into various forms of art, such as opera, film, and music. He also inspired many writers and artists who came after him, such as Thomas Mann, Herman Hesse, Franz Kafka, Gustav Mahler, and Paul Klee.

6. Heinrich Rudolf Hertz

Heinrich Hertz was a German physicist who made groundbreaking contributions to the field of electromagnetism. He was the first to conclusively prove the existence of electromagnetic waves by generating and detecting them in his laboratory. He also discovered the photoelectric effect, which showed that light can eject electrons from a metal surface. His experiments confirmed the validity of James Clerk Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism and paved the way for the development of radio, television, radar, and other wireless technologies. Hertz was also interested in contact mechanics, optics, meteorology, and geophysics. He published several papers and books on his research, including Electric Waves (1893) and Principles of Mechanics (1894). He received many honors and awards for his work, such as the Matteucci Medal (1888) and the Rumford Medal (1890). He died at the age of 36 from blood poisoning caused by an infection in a wound he received while working on a cathode ray tube. He was buried in Ohlsdorf Cemetery in Hamburg, where a monument was erected in his memory. His name is commemorated in the SI unit of frequency, the hertz (Hz), which is equal to one cycle per second. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of modern physics and one of the greatest scientists of all time.

7. Karl Lagerfeld

Karl Lagerfeld was one of the most influential and celebrated fashion designers of the 21st century. He was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1933, and showed an early interest in art and design. He moved to Paris at the age of 14 and studied at the Lycée Montaigne. He began his career in fashion in the 1950s, working as an assistant to Pierre Balmain and later Jean Patou. He also freelanced for various labels, including Valentino, Krizia, and Chloé². In 1965, he joined Fendi as a creative director, where he introduced the use of fur as a fashion material and created the double F logo². In 1983, he became the creative director of Chanel, the legendary French fashion house founded by Coco Chanel. He was credited with reviving the brand's image and popularity, by introducing new elements such as tweed suits, quilted bags, and interlocking C logos. He also launched his own label, Karl Lagerfeld, in 1984, which offered a more accessible and casual line of clothing and accessories². Lagerfeld was not only a fashion designer, but also a photographer, publisher, and book collector. He shot many of his own advertising campaigns and published several books of his photographs. He also owned one of the largest private libraries in the world, with over 300,000 books². He was known for his distinctive style and appearance, which included a white ponytail, black sunglasses, fingerless gloves, and high-collared shirts². Lagerfeld died on 19 February 2019, at the age of 85, after suffering from pancreatic cancer¹. He was widely mourned and praised by the fashion industry and celebrities. He left behind a legacy of creativity, innovation, and elegance that shaped the world of fashion for decades¹.

8. Max Born

Max Born was a German-British physicist and mathematician who made significant contributions to the fields of quantum mechanics, solid-state physics, and optics. He was one of the founders of the modern theory of the atomic structure and the statistical interpretation of the wave function, which is known as the Born rule. He also developed several mathematical methods and concepts that are widely used in physics, such as the Born approximation, the Born coordinates, the Born equation, the Born probability, the Born reciprocity, the Born rigidity, the Born series, the Born square, the Born–Landé equation, the Born–Infeld theory, and the Born–Haber cycle. He supervised and collaborated with many eminent physicists in the 1920s and 1930s, such as Werner Heisenberg, Wolfgang Pauli, Pascual Jordan, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Maria Goeppert-Mayer, Enrico Fermi, and Max Delbrück. He received numerous honors and awards for his scientific achievements, including the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1954. He was also a pacifist and a humanist who opposed fascism and nationalism. He was forced to flee Germany in 1933 due to his Jewish ancestry and his criticism of the Nazi regime. He settled in Britain and became a naturalized British citizen in 1939. He worked at the University of Edinburgh until his retirement in 1952. He then moved to Bad Pyrmont in West Germany and died in Göttingen in 1970 at the age of 87. He was married to Hedwig Ehrenberg, a fellow German-Jewish refugee and a descendant of Martin Luther. They had three children: Irene, Gustav Victor Rudolf, and Margarete. His grandchildren include Olivia Newton-John, an Australian singer and actress; Gustav Newton-John, an Australian race car driver; Georgina Born, a British academic and musician; and Tania Mallet, a British model and actress. His great-grandchildren include Chloe Lattanzi, an American singer and actress; Ben Newton-John, an Australian race car driver; and Emerson Newton-John, an American race car driver. Max Born was a prolific writer who published several books and articles on physics, mathematics, philosophy, history, and social issues. Some of his notable works are The Restless Universe (1935), Natural Philosophy of Cause and Chance (1949), Atomic Physics (1935), The Statistical Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (1954), Physics in My Generation (1956), My Life: Recollections of a Nobel Laureate (1978), and The Born-Einstein Letters (1971). He was also a friend and correspondent of Albert Einstein, with whom he had a long-standing scientific and philosophical dialogue. Max Born was a remarkable scientist and a remarkable human being who left a lasting legacy in both science and society.

9. Johannes Kepler

Johannes Kepler was a German astronomer and mathematician who is best known for his three laws of planetary motion, which describe how the planets orbit the sun in elliptical paths. He also made important contributions to optics, geometry, and natural philosophy. He was a key figure in the scientific revolution and a defender of the Copernican system, which placed the sun at the center of the solar system. He worked as an assistant to Tycho Brahe, the imperial mathematician to Emperor Rudolf II, and later as his successor. He also wrote several books on astronomy, such as Astronomia nova (1609), Harmonices Mundi (1619), and Epitome astronomiae Copernicanae (1618–1621). He faced many hardships in his life, such as religious persecution, poverty, family tragedies, and legal disputes. He died of a fever in 1630 at the age of 58. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest astronomers and mathematicians of all time.

10. Ferdinand Alexander Porsche

Ferdinand Alexander Porsche was a German designer who was best known for creating the first Porsche 911, one of the most iconic and influential sports cars in history. He was the son of Ferry Porsche, the founder of the Porsche car company, and the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, the engineer who designed the Volkswagen Beetle and other vehicles for Nazi Germany. He grew up surrounded by cars and engineering, and began working at the family-owned company in 1957. He became the head of the design department in 1962 and was responsible for shaping the appearance of many Porsche models, such as the 904 and the 917. He also designed other products, such as watches, sunglasses, pens, and household items under the brand name Porsche Design. He left the car company in 1972 after it became a public corporation and founded his own design studio in Zell am See, Austria. He remained involved in the supervisory board of Porsche until 2005, when he became its honorary president. He died in 2012 at the age of 76 from pneumonia. He was survived by his second wife Heidemarie and his eleven children from both marriages. He was buried in the family grave at Schüttgut in Zell am See.