List of German inventors and discoverers

This is a list of German inventors and discoverers. The following list comprises people from Germany or German-speaking Europe, and also people of predominantly German heritage, in alphabetical order of the surname.


For the list containing items and ideas invented and/or discovered by Germans, see list of German inventions and discoveries.

Existing:  A B C D E F G H  I   J  K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
See also Notes References External links

A

B

Martin Behaim's Globe 1493
Ludwig Bölkow, instrumental in the development of the Me 262

C

Carl von Clausewitz, father of modern military theory.

D

Gottlieb Daimler, co-founder of Mercedes-Benz

E

Albert Einstein in 1921, the year he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics

F

Werner Forssmann (1904 - 1979)
Joseph von Fraunhofer (1787 - 1826)

G

Fagus Factory, designed by Walter Gropius and Adolf Mayer
  • Johann Galle: astronomer, discovery of planet Neptune
  • Hermann Ganswindt: Inventor and spaceflight scientist, whose inventions (such as the dirigible, the helicopter, and the internal combustion engine) are thought to have been ahead of his time.
  • Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss: German mathematician and physical scientist who contributed significantly to many fields, including number theory, statistics, analysis, differential geometry, geodesy, geophysics, electrostatics, astronomy and optics. Sometimes referred to as "the Prince of Mathematicians".
  • Hans Geiger: Inventor of the Geiger–Müller counter in 1928. It detects the emission of nuclear radiation through the ionization produced in a low-pressure gas in a Geiger–Müller tube. Further improved by Walther Müller.
  • Heinrich Geißler: Inventor of the Geissler tube.
  • Reinhard Genzel: Astrophysicist, he and his group were the first to track the motions of stars at the centre of the Milky Way and show that they were orbiting a very massive object, probably a supermassive black hole.
  • Walter Gerlach: Physicist who co-discovered spin quantization in a magnetic field, the Stern–Gerlach effect.
  • Edmund Germer: Inventor of the neon lamp (Neonlampe).
  • Max Giese: Inventor of the first concrete pump in 1928.
  • Heinrich Göbel: Inventor of Hemmer for Sewing Machines, 1865,[6] Vacuum Pump (Improvement of the Geissler-System of vacuum pumps, 1881[7] and Electric Incandescent Lamp (sockets to connect the filament of carbon and the conducting wires), 1882[8]
  • Kurt Gödel: Important discoveries in math and logic, such as the incompleteness theorems
Johannes Gutenberg in a 16th-century copper engraving

H

Otto Hahn, the first man to split the atomic nucleus
  • Fritz Haber: German chemist and Nobel laureate who pioneered synthetic ammonia and chemical warfare.
  • Theodor W. Hänsch: Physicist, developed laser-based precision spectroscopy further to determine optical frequency extremely accurately. Nobel laureate in 2005.
  • Otto Hahn: German chemist and Nobel laureate who pioneered the fields of radioactivity and radiochemistry. Considered to be "the father of nuclear chemistry" and the "founder of the atomic age". Discovered many isotopes, Protactinium and nuclear fission.
  • Samuel Hahnemann: Physician, best known for creating a system of alternative medicine called homeopathy.
  • Harald zur Hausen: Virologist, discovered the role of papilloma viruses in the development of cervical cancer. His research made the development of a vaccine against papilloma possible, which will drastically reduce cervical cancer in future. Nobel laureate as of 2008.
  • Werner Heisenberg: Theoretical physicist who made fundamental contributions to quantum mechanics. Discovered a particle's position and velocity cannot be known at the same time. Discovered atomic nuclei are made of protons and neutrons.
  • Wolfgang Helfrich: Co-inventor of Twisted nematic field effect.
  • Rudolf Hell: Inventor of the first fax machine (Hellschreiber).
  • Richard Hellmann: Hellmann's (Blue Ribbon) Mayonnaise, 1905.

I

J

K

Monument to Robert Koch on his name square in Berlin.

L

Me 163 Replica designed by Alexander Lippisch.

M

N

Walther Nernst, Nobel laureate

O

P

R

Paul Reuter aged 53 years (1869) by artist Rudolf Lehmann

S

Hand mit Ringen: print of Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen's first "medical" x-ray, of his wife's hand, taken on 22 December 1895 and presented to Professor Ludwig Zehnder of the Physik Institut, University of Freiburg, on 1 January 1896
Borosilicate glass as used in chemical labs - Type 3.3 according to (DIN ISO 3585)

T

U

  • Dietrich "Diedrich" Uhlhorn: Engineer, mechanic and inventor, who invented the first mechanical tachometer (1817), between 1817 and 1830 inventor of the Presse Monétaire (level coin press known as Uhlhorn Press) which bears his name.

V

  • Abraham Vater: Professor of anatomy; Ampulla of Vater.
  • Richard Vetter: Developed the most fuel efficient condensing boiler for heating systems in 1980. Used in many houses in Europe.
  • Rudolf Virchow: "Father of modern pathology"; numerous discoveries in the area of medicine.
  • Hans Vogt: Invented sound-on-film (idea 1905) together with Jo Engl and Joseph Massolle, first sound-on-film for the public on 17 September 1922 in Filmtheater Alhambra, Berlin, Germany.
  • Woldemar Voigt (often: Waldemar Voigt): Physicist, who taught at the Georg August University of Göttingen. He worked on crystal physics, thermodynamics and electro-optics. He discovered the Voigt effect in 1898.
  • Waldemar Voigt (aerospace engineer): Chief designer at Messerschmitt's Oberammergau offices and pioneer of the Me 163 and Me 264, project leader of the development of Me P. 1101, Me P. 1106, Me P. 1110, Me P. 1111, Me P. 1112 and Me P. 1116.[13]
  • Jacob Volhard: Chemist who discovered, together with his student Hugo Erdmann, the Volhard–Erdmann cyclization.

W

Wankel engine, type DKM54 (1957)

X

Konrad Zuse's Z1; replica in the German Museum of Technology in Berlin

Z

See also

Notes

  1. Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger (1770-1829), known as the "Flying Tailor of Ulm", started with flight experiments in Ulm, Germany, in the early 19th century. He gained experience in downhill gliding with a maneuverable airworthy semi-rigid hang-glider and then attempted to cross the Danube River at Ulm's Eagle's Bastion on 31 May 1811. The tricky local winds caused him to crash and he was rescued by fishermen, making him the first survivor of a water immersion accident of a heavier-than-air manned "flight machine". Though he failed in his attempt to be the first man to fly, Berblinger can be regarded as one of the significant aviation pioneers who applied the "heavier than air" principle and paved the way for the more effective glide-flights of Otto Lilienthal (1891) and the Wright Brothers (1902). Less known are Berblinger's significant contributions to the construction of artificial limbs for medical use, as well as the spring-application in aviation. His invention of a special mechanical joint was also used for the juncture of the wings of his "flying machine". Because of his worthwhile contributions to medicine and flight, in 1993 the German Academy of Aviation Medicine named an annual award for young scientists in the field of aerospace medicine in his honor.

References

  1. "Espacenet - Bibliografische Daten". Worldwide.espacenet.com. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  2. "DEPATISnet - Dokument AT000000074310B". Depatisnet.dpma.de. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  3. John M. Barry, The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History (New York: Penguin Books, 2005) 70.
  4. "Blattnerphone", Orbem.co.uk, retrieved 07 February 2014
  5. Renouf, Edward (1901-02-15). "Noble gases". Science. 13 (320): 268–270. Bibcode:1901Sci....13..268R. doi:10.1126/science.13.320.268.
  6. "Retrieving Patent from PAT2PDF.org - Free PDF copies of patents: Download and print!". Pat2pdf.org. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  7. "Retrieving Patent from PAT2PDF.org - Free PDF copies of patents: Download and print!". Pat2pdf.org. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  8. "Retrieving Patent from PAT2PDF.org - Free PDF copies of patents: Download and print!". Pat2pdf.org. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  9. "Wilhelm Schickard invented a calculating machine, - Computing History". www.computinghistory.org.uk. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  10. "Things that Count - Early Evolution of the Modern Calculator". metastudies.net. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  11. "Christian Friedrich Schönbein". Epsomandewellhistoryexplorer.org.uk. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  12. Androulakis, Ioannis. "How coins were minted in the past". Fleur-de-coin.com. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  13. Boyne, Walter J. (1980). Messerschmitt Me 262 : arrow to the future. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-87474-276-3.
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