69 Notable alumni of Leibniz University of Hanover
Updated: June 09, 2026 EliteDegrees
Leibniz University of Hanover is 365st in the world, 1st in North America, and 30st in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 69 notable alumni from Leibniz University of Hanover sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with Leibniz University of Hanover won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Justus F. Krumbein
1847-1907 (aged 60)
architect
Justus F. Krumbein was an architect based in Portland, Oregon, United States, whose work included Richardsonian Romanesque designs and Italianate, cast-iron architecture. Little of his work survived the 20th Century.
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2. Pauline Van de Graaf Orr
1861-1955 (aged 94)
suffragist
Pauline Van de Graaff Orr was an American educator and suffragist based in Mississippi.
3. Torolf Prytz
1858-1938 (aged 80)
architect
politician
Torolf Prytz was a Norwegian architect, goldsmith and politician for the Liberal Party. He led the goldsmith company J. Tostrup of Oslo from 1890 to 1938, having inherited it from his grandfather-in-law Jacob Tostrup. He also served as Norwegian Minister of Industrial Provisioning from 1917 to 1918 and President of the Norwegian Red Cross from 1922 to 1930.
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4. Hans-Georg Wenzel
1945-1999 (aged 54)
university teacher
surveyor
geophysicist
Hans-Georg Wenzel, also known as George Wenzel, was a German geodesist, geophysicist and university lecturer. His most important field of work was physical geodesy, where he worked after his dissertation on earth tides with geophysical measurements up to global models of the earth gravity field.
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5. Ole Falck Ebbell
1839-1919 (aged 80)
architect
Ole Falck Ebbell was a Norwegian architect. He worked primarily in Trondheim, but he was also responsible for the design of buildings in other parts of Norway.
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6. Edvin Bergroth
1836-1917 (aged 81)
engineer
businessperson
politician
Edvin Leonard Bergroth was a Finnish engineer and businessman who played a prominent role in the development of Finnish industry during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Trained in Hannover, he held leading positions in companies ranging from the Helsinki Gas Illumination Company to the Hietalahti Shipyard and Engineering Works and the oil giant Branobel in the Caucasus. As...
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7. Jens Krag-Juel-Vind
1723-1776 (aged 53)
judge
Amtmann
Jens Krag-Juel-Vind, Baron of Juellinge, was a Danish nobleman, Supreme Court justice and landowner.
8. Waldemar Hansteen
1857-1921 (aged 64)
architect
Albert Waldemar Hansteen was a Norwegian architect.
9. Geerd Diercksen
1936-. (aged 90)
chemist
Geerd Heinrich Friedrich Diercksen is a German theoretical chemist and a pioneer in computational chemistry. In 1963 he was awarded his PhD, supervised by Heinz-Werner Preuß at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität in Frankfurt am Main, in 1973 he was awarded his habilitation in Chemistry by the Technische Universität München and in 1983 he was appointed professor (apl. Professor). From 1965...
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10. Wilhelm Christian Suhrke
1863-1950 (aged 87)
architect
politician
Wilhelm Christian Suhrke was a Norwegian architect and politician for the Conservative Party.
11. Paul Due
1835-1919 (aged 84)
architect
Paul Due was a Norwegian architect and significant contributor to the stations built by the Norwegian State Railways.
12. Hans Reingruber
1888-1964 (aged 76)
university teacher
politician
Hans Reingruber was a German academic and the first minister of transport or traffic of East Germany.
13. Rudolf Grimm
1961-. (aged 65)
university teacher
researcher
physicist
Rudolf Grimm is an experimental physicist from Austria. His work centres on ultracold atoms and quantum gases. He was the first scientist worldwide who, with his team, succeeded in realizing a Bose–Einstein condensation of non-polar molecules.
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14. Haldor Børve
1857-1933 (aged 76)
architect
Haldor Larsen Børve was an architect from Ullensvang Municipality in Hordaland county, Norway. Børve started an architectural practice in Porsgrunn in 1889 and designed numerous buildings in Telemark and Vestfold counties, many of them influenced by Dragestil and the Nordic National Romantic style. Among his best-known works are Dalen Hotel from 1894 and Porsgrunn City Hall from 1904/1905.
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15. George Niemann
1841-1912 (aged 71)
graphic artist
university teacher
building researcher
architect
classical archaeologist
George Niemann was a German-Austrian architect and archaeologist.
16. Sverre Pedersen
1882-1971 (aged 89)
urban planner
architect
Sverre Pedersen was a Norwegian architect and urban planner.
17. Henrik Thrap-Meyer
1833-1910 (aged 77)
architect
Henrik Thrap-Meyer was a Norwegian architect. He is most associated with a wide range of significant buildings, including churches and schools.
18. Conrad Fredrik von der Lippe
1833-1901 (aged 68)
architect
Conrad Fredrik "Fritz" von der Lippe was a Norwegian architect.
19. Gesine Meißner
1952-. (aged 74)
politician
Gesine Meißner is a German politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2009 until 2019. She is a member of the Free Democratic Party, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
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20. Jürgen Handke
1954-. (aged 72)
university teacher
linguist
Jürgen Handke is a German professor of English linguistics.
21. Heinrich Breling
1849-1914 (aged 65)
painter
Heinrich Christoph Gottlieb Breling was a German painter of historical and genre scenes. He was the first artist in what would later become known as the "Artists' Colony" at Fischerhude.
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22. Detlev Buchholz
1944-. (aged 82)
university teacher
theoretical physicist
physicist
Detlev Buchholz is a German theoretical physicist. He investigates quantum field theory, especially in the axiomatic framework of algebraic quantum field theory.
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23. Christian Christie
1832-1906 (aged 74)
architect
Eilert Christian Brodtkorb Christie was a Norwegian architect.
24. Eduard Schönfeld
1828-1891 (aged 63)
university teacher
astronomer
Eduard Schönfeld was a German astronomer.
25. Hjalmar Welhaven
1850-1922 (aged 72)
architect
Hjalmar Welhaven was a Norwegian architect, palace manager, and sportsman.
26. Balthazar Lange
1854-1937 (aged 83)
architect
Balthazar Conrad Lange was a Norwegian architect.
27. Elke Christina Roeder
1966-. (aged 60)
politician
Elke Christina Roeder is a German politician and a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). From 2018 to 2024 she was Lord Mayor of the city of Norderstedt, which borders Hamburg.
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28. Khouloud Daibes
1965-. (aged 61)
engineer
diplomat
politician
architect
Khuloud Khalil Daibes, also transliterated as Khouloud D'eibes, is a Palestinian architect and former politician and diplomat. She was born on 16 April 1965 in Jerusalem.
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29. Jan-Christoph Oetjen
1978-. (aged 48)
politician
Jan-Christoph Oetjen is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019. Between January and July 2024, he was one of the Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament under the leadership of President Roberta Metsola, replacing Nicola Beer.
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30. Émile P. Torres
2020-2023 (aged 3)
writer
academic
philosopher
musician
Émile P. Torres, formerly known as Phil Torres, is an American philosopher and intellectual historian. Their research focuses on eschatology, existential risk, and human extinction. Along with computer scientist Timnit Gebru, Torres coined the neologism "TESCREAL" to criticize what they see as a group of related philosophies: transhumanism, extropianism, singularitarianism, cosmism, rationalism, effective altruism, and longtermism.
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31. Carola Lentz
1954-. (aged 72)
sociologist
executive
university teacher
ethnologist
Carola Lentz is a German social anthropologist and, since November 2020, president of the Goethe-Institut. She is senior research professor at the Department of Anthropology and African Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz.
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32. Reinhold Baer
1902-1979 (aged 77)
mathematician
university teacher
Reinhold Baer was a German mathematician, known for his work in algebra. He introduced injective modules in 1940. He is the eponym of Baer rings, Baer groups, and Baer subplanes.
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33. Wilhelm Launhardt
1832-1918 (aged 86)
university teacher
politician
mathematician
economist
civil engineer
Carl Wilhelm Friedrich Launhardt was a German mathematician and economist.
34. Dirk Hillbrecht
1972-. (aged 54)
mathematician
politician
Dirk Hillbrecht is a software developer and a former leader of the Pirate Party Germany.
35. Patrick Döring
1973-. (aged 53)
politician
Patrick Döring is a German politician and member of the FDP in the Bundestag from 2005 to 2013.
36. Hagen Kleinert
1941-2025 (aged 84)
university teacher
theoretical physicist
physicist
Hagen Kleinert was a professor of theoretical physics at the Free University of Berlin, Germany (since 1968), Honorary Doctor at the West University of Timișoara, and at the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University in Bishkek. He is also Honorary Member of the Russian Academy of Creative Endeavors. For his contributions to particle and solid-state physics he was awarded the Max Born Prize...
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37. Edzard Schmidt-Jortzig
1941-. (aged 85)
jurist
judge
university teacher
politician
Edzard Schmidt-Jortzig is a German jurist. He currently holds the chair for public law at the University of Kiel. A member of the Free Democratic Party, he served as Federal Minister of Justice in the Fifth Kohl cabinet between 1996 and 1998.
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38. Markus Pieper
1963-. (aged 63)
geographer
politician
Markus Pieper is a German politician and member of the European Parliament for Germany. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Union, part of the European People's Party.
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39. Doris Achelwilm
1976-. (aged 50)
politician
Doris Maria Achelwilm is a German journalist and politician of The Left party. Between 2017 and 2021 she was a member of the Bundestag. In 2025 she was reelected to her seat in Bremen.
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40. Alfred Bucherer
1863-1927 (aged 64)
physicist
university teacher
Alfred Heinrich Bucherer was a German physicist, who is known for his experiments on relativistic mass. He also was the first who used the phrase "theory of relativity" for Einstein's theory of special relativity.
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41. Eduard Pestel
1914-1988 (aged 74)
politician
university teacher
physicist
engineer
economist
Eduard Kurt Christian Pestel was a German industrial designer, economist, professor of mechanics and politician who was born in Hildesheim and died in Hannover. He was coauthor with Mihajlo Mesarovic of Mankind at the turning point, the second report to the Club of Rome in 1974 which reviewed and greatly expanded the methodology and predictions of The Limits to Growth.
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42. Minoo Lenarz
1966-2015 (aged 49)
university teacher
Minoo Lenarz, born Minoo Moshrefi, was an Iranian-German Professor and medical scientist.
43. Konrad Dannenberg
1912-2009 (aged 97)
military flight engineer
inventor
physicist
Konrad Dannenberg was a German-American rocket pioneer and member of the German rocket team brought to the United States after World War II.
44. Taner Akçam
1953-. (aged 73)
university teacher
film director
historian
human rights defender
sociologist
Altuğ Taner Akçam is a Turkish-German historian and sociologist. During the 1990s, he was the first Turkish scholar to acknowledge the Armenian genocide, and has written several books on the genocide, such as A Shameful Act (1999), From Empire to Republic: Turkish Nationalism and the Armenian Genocide (2004), The Young Turks' Crime Against Humanity (2012), and Killing Orders (2018). He...
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45. Theodor Blank
1905-1972 (aged 67)
politician
Theodor Anton Blank was a German politician of the CDU. He was one of the founders of the CDU in 1945.
46. Michael Braungart
1958-. (aged 68)
chemist
entrepreneur
non-fiction writer
university teacher
Michael Braungart is a German chemist who advocates that humans can make a positive instead of a negative environmental impact by redesigning industrial production and therefore that dissipation is not waste. A former Greenpeace activist who once lived in a tree as protest, he is now considered to be a visionary environmental thinker.
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47. Werner Gitt
1937-. (aged 89)
non-fiction writer
physicist
Werner Gitt is a German engineer and young earth creationist. Before retirement, he was Head of the Department of Information Technology at Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt.
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48. Christian Otto Mohr
1835-1918 (aged 83)
university teacher
mathematician
civil engineer
Christian Otto Mohr was a German civil engineer. He is renowned for his contributions to the field of structural engineering, such as Mohr's circle, and for his study of stress.
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49. Ijad Madisch
1980-. (aged 46)
businessperson
virologist
Ijad Madisch is a German virologist, founder and CEO of the research network ResearchGate and was a member of the Digital Council (Digitalrat) of the Cabinet of Germany (Bundesregierung).
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50. Adis Ahmetovic
1993-. (aged 33)
politician
Adis Ahmetovic is a German politician. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and a Member of the Bundestag.
51. Thorsten Heins
1957-. (aged 69)
manager
Thorsten Heins is a German-Canadian businessman and the former chief executive officer (CEO) of BlackBerry. He stepped down as CEO of BlackBerry and was replaced by John Chen on November 4, 2013. Heins later was the CEO of Powermat Technologies.
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52. Yasmin Fahimi
1967-. (aged 59)
chemist
politician
trade unionist
Yasmin Fahimi is a German trade unionist and politician who has been chairing the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) since 2022.
53. David McAllister
1971-. (aged 55)
lawyer
politician
David James McAllister is a German politician who has been a member of the European Parliament since 2014. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), part of the European People's Party. He is the current vice president of the European People's Party and he is also vice chairman of the International Democrat Union. He was appointed Chair...
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54. Pascual Jordan
1902-1980 (aged 78)
politician
university teacher
physicist
non-fiction writer
mathematician
Ernst Pascual Jordan was a German theoretical and mathematical physicist who made significant contributions to quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. He contributed much to the mathematical form of matrix mechanics, and developed canonical anticommutation relations for fermions. He introduced Jordan algebras in an effort to formalize quantum field theory; the algebras have since found numerous applications within mathematics.
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55. Düzen Tekkal
1978-. (aged 48)
journalist
Düzen Tekkal is a German author, television journalist, filmmaker, war correspondent, political scientist, and social entrepreneur of Kurdish descent. She is a Yazidi.
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56. Belit Onay
1981-. (aged 45)
politician
Belit Nejat Onay is a German politician for the Alliance 90/The Greens. He was elected Mayor of Hanover in 2019, and took office on 22 November.
57. Christian Dürr
1977-. (aged 49)
politician
economist
Christian Dürr is a German politician who has been the Leader of the Free Democratic Party since May 2025, having previously led the parliamentary group of the party in the Bundestag from 2021 to 2025, in whom he served as a member of the Bundestag from 2017 to 2025.
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58. Matthias Miersch
1968-. (aged 58)
lawyer
politician
Matthias Miersch is a German criminal defense lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as Member of the Bundestag since the 2005 German federal election, representing the Hannover-Land II district. Since 2025, he has been chairing his party's parliamentary group.
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59. Lars Klingbeil
1978-. (aged 48)
politician
political scientist
Lars Klingbeil is a German politician who has been serving as the Vice Chancellor of Germany and Federal Minister of Finance since 6 May 2025. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), he has served as the SPD's Co-leader since 2021, together with Saskia Esken (2021–2025) and Bärbel Bas (since 2025).
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60. H.P. Baxxter
1964-. (aged 62)
master of ceremonies
rapper
singer
musician
Hans Peter Geerdes, professionally known by his stage name H. P. Baxxter, and sometimes by his nickname Dave, is a German musician best known as the lead vocalist of the German techno band Scooter. He founded Scooter with his friend Rick J. Jordan in 1993.
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61. Harald Welzer
1958-. (aged 68)
professor
sociologist
non-fiction writer
psychologist
Harald Welzer is a German social psychologist. He studied sociology, psychology and literature at the University of Hannover. He has been a professor of transformation design at the University of Flensburg since 2012. His research is focused on memory, violence and the social impacts of climate change. His books have been translated into 15 languages.
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62. Francis Buchholz
1954-2026 (aged 72)
composer
bass guitarist
entrepreneur
record producer
Francis Buchholz was a German musician best known as the bass guitarist of the German rock band Scorpions from 1973 until 1992, a group that was successful internationally; his bass riffs for hits such as "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and "Wind of Change" were regarded as iconic. After leaving Scorpions, he was a member of Michael Schenker's Temple of...
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63. Wolfram von Richthofen
1895-1945 (aged 50)
aircraft pilot
military officer
Wolfram Karl Ludwig Moritz Hermann Freiherr von Richthofen was a German World War I flying ace who rose to the rank of Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) in the Luftwaffe during World War II.
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64. Arthur Scherbius
1878-1929 (aged 51)
mathematician
engineer
Arthur Scherbius was a German electrical engineer who invented the mechanical cipher Enigma machine. He patented the invention and later sold the machine under the brand name Enigma.
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65. Wilhelm Busch
1832-1908 (aged 76)
watercolorist
caricaturist
draftsperson
writer
cartoonist
Heinrich Christian Wilhelm Busch was a German humorist, poet, illustrator, and painter. He published wildly innovative illustrated tales that remain influential to this day.
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66. Götz Kubitschek
1970-. (aged 56)
political activist
opinion journalist
publisher
Götz Kubitschek is a German publisher, journalist and far-right political activist. He espouses ethnocentric positions and is one of the most important protagonists of the Neue Rechte (New Right) in Germany. Hailing from the staff of right-wing newspaper Junge Freiheit, Kubitschek is one of the founders of the Neue Rechte think tank Institut für Staatspolitik (Institute for State Policy; IfS)....
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67. Peter Andreas Blix
1831-1901 (aged 70)
engineer
architect
Peter Andreas Blix was a Norwegian architect and engineer best known for designing railway stations and villas in Swiss chalet style. He was also occupied with the conservation of Norwegian stave churches and the construction of canals in 19th century Norway.
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68. Gerhard Ertl
1936-. (aged 90)
university teacher
chemist
physicist
Gerhard Ertl is a German physicist and a Professor emeritus at the Department of Physical Chemistry, Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft in Berlin, Germany. Ertl's research laid the foundation of modern surface chemistry, which has helped explain how fuel cells produce energy without pollution, how catalytic converters clean up car exhausts and even why iron rusts, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences...
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69. Jiří Drahoš
1949-. (aged 77)
scientist
teacher
politician
pedagogue
chemist
Jiří Drahoš is a Czech physical chemist and politician who has been the Senator of Prague 4 since October 2018. Previously, Drahoš served as President of the Czech Academy of Sciences from 2009 to 2017, and was a candidate in the 2018 Czech presidential election.
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