German Celebrities Born In August

Albert, Prince Consort was the husband of Queen Victoria who earned a reputation for promoting public causes like the abolition of slavery worldwide and educational reform. He also helped develop Britain's constitutional monarchy by guiding his wife during her dealings with Parliament. After his untimely death at age 42, Queen Victoria started wearing black for the remainder of her life. 

Regarded as the greatest literary figure in Germany's modern era, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a statesman and writer. Apart from writing poetry and prose, he also wrote treatises on color, anatomy, and botany. Thanks to his literary genius, Goethe was made part of the Duke's privy council in Weimar and he implemented several reforms at the University of Jena.

Bastian Schweinsteiger is a German former football player. Considered one of the greatest midfielders ever, Schweinsteiger was renowned for his tackling ability. Schweinsteiger represented Germany in three World Cups, playing a major role in his team's victory in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. One of the greatest German footballers of all time, Schweinsteiger is the fourth most-capped player for Germany.

Kim Petras is a German singer-songwriter currently based in USA. She was assigned male at birth and underwent medical gender transition as a teenager. Interested in music from a young age, she began recording music as a teenager. Her debut single topped several viral music charts on Spotify. Since then, she has released many hit albums and singles. 

Nico Hülkenberg initially worked as a forwarding agent at his father’s shipping company. He had started his racing career with go-karting at age 10 and grew up to race for Formula BMW, Formula Three, and GP2, among others. He scripted history by winning the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race in his first attempt.

Turkish-German actor and model Meryem Uzerli soared to fame playing Hürrem Sultan in the Turkish series Muhteşem Yüzyıl, a role that earned her a Golden Butterfly Award. She has also appeared in German series such as Notruf Hafenkante and films such as Journey of No Return.

Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, mother of Queen Victoria of the U.K., was a German princess who became the Duchess of Kent and Strathearn by virtue of her marriage to Prince Edward. She was initially married to Charles, Prince of Leiningen. The Royal Chapel of All Saints was dedicated to her.

Leni Riefenstahl was a German film director and actress best remembered for her role in producing Nazi propaganda. She made her directorial debut in 1932, becoming one of the few women to direct a movie during the Weimar Period. Riefenstahl is credited with directing two of the most technically innovative propaganda films of all time, Olympia and Triumph des Willens.

Wilhelm Wundt was a German physiologist, professor, and philosopher. He is often counted among the founders of modern psychology and is widely considered the father of experimental psychology. He is also credited with founding the first laboratory for psychological research, which he founded at the University of Leipzig in 1879.

The daughter of former German ice-hockey player Rainer Makatsch, Heike Makatsch initially apprenticed as a dressmaker. She began her entertainment career hosting shows such as Interaktiv. She later appeared in movies such as Love Actually and Am I Beautiful? She also earned an Emmy nomination for Margarete Steiff.

Helene Fischer is a German singer, dancer, actress, and TV presenter. She attended the Frankfurt Stage & Musical School to study singing and acting. She made her debut in 2005 and found immediate success. Eventually, she started singing in English as well. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including 17 Echo awards and four "Krone der Volksmusik" prizes. 

The Soldier King Frederick William I of Prussia is remembered for transforming his nation into a prosperous state. He was known for his simple lifestyle, as opposed to his father’s kingly excesses. His experience at the War of the Spanish Succession led him to strengthen Prussia militarily, too.

Cédric Soares is a Portuguese football player who plays as a defender for the Portugal national team. He was part of the team that won the 2016 UEFA European Football Championship and also represented Portugal at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Apart from his national team, Cédric Soares is also currently a part of the Arsenal Football Club.

A descendant of Pennsylvania founder William Penn through his mother, Hermann von Helmholtz studied medicine, pushed by his father, in spite of being interested in the natural sciences. Best known for his law of conservation of energy, he coalesced the fields of medicine, physiology, math, and physics in his studies.

Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer widely regarded as one of the 20th century's most prominent and controversial composers. Remembered for his pioneering work in electronic music, Stockhausen received several distinctions and prizes throughout his career. His compositions remain widely influential on jazz, popular music, and composers. 

The queen consort of the UK and Hanover by her marriage to King William IV, Adelaide was also the daughter of George I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. She miscarried twice and lost 2 more children as infants, and the royal throne eventually went to Princess Alexandrina Victoria, who later ruled as Queen Victoria.

German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder is best remembered as a significant figure of the Sturm und Drang literary movement. Born into poverty and largely self-educated till 17, he later became a disciple of Immanuel Kant and was associated with Enlightenment and Weimar Classicism. He was eventually ennobled.

German-Japanese classical pianist Alice Sara Ott began learning the piano at age 5. At 13, she was the youngest finalist of the Hamamatsu International Piano Academy Competition ever. She has also designed bags and app stickers. In 2019, she announced on Instagram that she had been suffering from multiple sclerosis.

Carl Bosch was a German engineer and chemist. He is credited with founding IG Farben, which went on to become one of the largest chemical companies in the world. He is also credited with developing the Haber–Bosch process, which is used even today for the production of ammonia. Carl Bosch was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1931.

Hans Oster was a German military officer who served as a general in Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany. Oster was one of the most important members involved in the German resistance to Nazism. One of the key participants of the Oster Conspiracy, Oster was also involved in the assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler on 20 July 1944.

Nobel Prize-winning author Herta Müller grew up under the dictatorial regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu in Romania. She was fired from her first job for not co-operating with the Romanian secret police. Her works, such as Oppressive Tango and The Passport, mirror the oppression of Germans she has witnessed in Romania.

German physician Werner Forssmann is best-known for developing a method that allowed cardiac catheterization. This led him to jointly receive the 1956 Nobel Prize in Medicine. Forssmann started clinical application of cardiac catheterization in 1929, when he inserted a catheter into a vein of his forearm and safely passed it into his heart and took an X-ray picture of it.

Known for her roles in numerous German films like Des Teufels General, Heldinnen, and Hollywood cinemas like Four Girls in Town, Interlude and A Fistful of Dollars,, actress Marianne Koch was also successful television host, serving as a panelist in Was bin ich for many years. Also a qualified doctor, she served as a specialist for internal medicine in Munich.

Carl Ritter was a German geographer considered one of the founders of modern geography. He taught history at the University of Berlin and was one of the mentors of the explorer Heinrich Barth, who traveled in Northern and Western Africa. A prolific researcher and writer, Ritter produced a staggering amount of geographical literature in his lifetime. 

The son of Danish cook Brian Bojsen, Jaden Bojsen was initially featured regularly on cookery programs on the German channel ZDF. Aa child actor, he began his career playing the younger Tarzan in the musical Tarzan. He later joined the boy band New District and also performed as a DJ.

German-born British economist E. F. Schumacher was one of the significant figures behind the formation of Britain’s post-World War II welfare state plans. His ground-breaking book Small Is Beautiful explained how capitalism was detrimental to culture. He also developed the concept of intermediate technology.

Ellen Kessler is one-half of the popular Kessler Twins. Ellen and her twin sister Alice Kessler are among the well-known twin entertainers in Europe. After achieving popularity as dancers and actors, the Kessler Twins appeared on the cover of one of the editions of Playboy, at the age of 40. That edition became the fastest-selling Playboy in Italy.

James Franck was a German physicist. Along with fellow physicist Gustav Hertz, he jointly received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1925. He had a prominent academic career and served as the director of the Second Institute for Experimental Physics at the University of Göttingen. He later moved to USA and participated in the Manhattan Project during World War II.