This is a list of notable people from

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

Nobel laureates

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th centu ...

(1902, literature) *

Philipp Lenard Philipp Eduard Anton von Lenard (; hu, Lénárd Fülöp Eduárd Antal; 7 June 1862 – 20 May 1947) was a Hungarian-born German physicist and the winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1905 for his work on cathode rays and the discovery of ...

(1905, physics) *

Eduard Buchner Eduard Buchner (; 20 May 1860 – 13 August 1917) was a German chemist and zymologist, awarded the 1907 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on fermentation. Biography Early years Buchner was born in Munich to a physician and Doctor Extraor ...

(1907, chemistry) *

Paul Ehrlich Paul Ehrlich (; 14 March 1854 – 20 August 1915) was a Nobel Prize-winning German physician and scientist who worked in the fields of hematology, immunology, and antimicrobial chemotherapy. Among his foremost achievements were finding a cure ...

(1908, medicine) *

Gerhart Hauptmann Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (; 15 November 1862 – 6 June 1946) was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into his work as well. He rece ...

(1912, literature) *

Fritz Haber Fritz Haber (; 9 December 186829 January 1934) was a German chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his invention of the Haber–Bosch process, a method used in industry to synthesize ammonia from nitrogen gas and hydroge ...

(1918, chemistry) *

Friedrich Bergius Friedrich Karl Rudolf Bergius (, 11 October 1884 – 30 March 1949) was a German chemist known for the Bergius process for producing synthetic fuel from coal, Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1931, together with Carl Bosch) in recognition of contribu ...

(1931, chemistry) *

Carl von Ossietzky Carl von Ossietzky (; 3 October 1889 – 4 May 1938) was a German journalist and pacifist. He was the recipient of the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in exposing the clandestine German re-armament. As editor-in-chief of the magazine ''Die ...

(1935, peace) *

Gerhard Domagk Gerhard Johannes Paul Domagk (; 30 October 1895 – 24 April 1964) was a German pathologist and bacteriologist. He is credited with the discovery of sulfonamidochrysoidine (KL730) as an antibiotic for which he received the 1939 Nobel Prize in Phy ...

(1939, medicine) *

Otto Stern :''Otto Stern was also the pen name of German women's rights activist Louise Otto-Peters (1819–1895)''. Otto Stern (; 17 February 1888 – 17 August 1969) was a German-American physicist and Nobel laureate in physics. He was the second most n ...

(1943, physics) *

Kurt Alder Kurt Alder (; 10 July 1902 – 20 June 1958) was a German chemist and Nobel laureate. Biography Alder was born in the industrial area of Königshütte, Silesia (modern day Chorzów, Upper Silesia, Poland), where he received his early schoo ...

(1950, chemistry) * Max Born (1954, physics) *

Maria Goeppert-Mayer Maria Goeppert Mayer (; June 28, 1906 – February 20, 1972) was a German-born American theoretical physicist, and Nobel laureate in Physics for proposing the nuclear shell model of the atomic nucleus. She was the second woman to win a Nobel Pri ...

(1963, physics) *

Konrad Bloch Konrad Emil Bloch (; 21 January 1912 – 15 October 2000) was a German-American biochemist. Bloch received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1964 (joint with Feodor Lynen) for discoveries concerning the mechanism and regulation of the ...

(1964, medicine) *

Johannes Georg Bednorz Johannes Georg Bednorz (; born 16 May 1950) is a German physicist who, together with K. Alex Müller, discovered high-temperature superconductivity in ceramics, for which they shared the 1987 Nobel Prize in Physics. Life and work Bednorz was bor ...

(1987, physics) * Hans Georg Dehmelt (1989, physics) *

Reinhard Selten Reinhard Justus Reginald Selten (; 5 October 1930 – 23 August 2016) was a German economist, who won the 1994 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (shared with John Harsanyi and John Nash). He is also well known for his work in boun ...

(1994, economics) *

Günter Blobel Günter Blobel (; May 21, 1936 – February 18, 2018) was a Silesian German and American biologist and 1999 Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology for the discovery that proteins have intrinsic signals that govern their transport and localization in ...

(1999, medicine) *

Olga Tokarczuk Olga Nawoja Tokarczuk (; born 29 January 1962) is a Polish writer, activist, and public intellectual. She is one of the most critically acclaimed and successful authors of her generation in Poland; in 2019, she was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize ...

(2018, literature)

Alphabetical order

A

Erich Abraham Erich Abraham (27 March 1895 – 7 March 1971) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany who command the 76th Infantry Division then the LXIII Corps on the Western Front during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of ...

, officer * Andreas Acoluthus, theologian and orientalist *

Melchior Adam Melchior Adam (c. 1575 – 26 December 1622) was a German Calvinist literary historian. Life Adam was born in Grottkau, Duchy of Nysa, Nysa, Habsburg Silesia (present-day Grodków, Opole Voivodeship). He visited the college in ''Brieg'' Brzeg, t ...

, literary historian *bishop

Stanisław Adamski Stanisław Adamski (12 April 1875 – 12 November 1967) was a Polish bishop, politician, and social and political activist of the Union of Catholic Societies of Polish Workers (Związek Katolickich Towarzystw Robotników Polskich), founder and edit ...

Joy Adamson Friederike Victoria "Joy" Adamson ( Gessner; 20 January 1910 – 3 January 1980) was a naturalist, artist and author. Her book, ''Born Free'', describes her experiences raising a lion cub named Elsa. ''Born Free'' was printed in several langua ...

(born Friederike Victoria Gessner), naturalist and writer * Eufemia von Adlersfeld-Ballestrem, novelist *

, chemist *

Henryk Alszer Henryk Alszer (7 May 1918 in Chorzów – 31 December 1959 in Ruda Śląska) was a Polish footballer. He was part of the Poland national team who were at the 1952 Summer Olympics. Before the war he participated in several sports for the sports a ...

, soccer player *

Johann Baptist Alzog Johann Baptist Alzog (8 June 1808 – 1 March 1878) was a German theologian and Catholic church historian. He was born at Ohlau, in Silesia. He studied at the universities of Breslau and Bonn and was ordained a priest at Cologne in 1834. In th ...

, theologian and historian * Zygmunt Anczok, soccer player *

Adolf Anderssen Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen (July 6, 1818 – March 13, 1879)"Anderssen, Adolf" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 385. was a German chess master. He won the great internat ...

, chess grandmaster * Georg Graf von Arco, physicist, radio pioneer *

Hans-Jürgen von Arnim Hans-Jürgen Bernard Theodor von Arnim (; 4 April 1889 – 1 September 1962) was a German general in the Nazi Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded several armies. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Early life ...

, general *

Iris von Arnim Iris Von Arnim (born 25 January 1945 in Berbisdorf ( Dziwiszów), Silesia, today Poland) is an internationally acclaimed German fashion designer. History von Arnim's career began in the early 1976 when she began knitting while recovering in a hosp ...

, fashion designer * Hans Erasmus Aßmann, statesman and poet *

Andreas von Aulock Andreas Maria Karl von Aulock (23 March 1893 – 23 June 1968) was a highly decorated Oberst in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded the 79th Infantry Division. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Le ...

, colonel *, general *

Walter Arndt Walther Arndt (8 January 1891 in Landeshut, Silesia, now Kamienna Góra, Poland – 26 June 1944 in Brandenburg) was a German zoologist and physician. A curator at the in Berlin, and a professor, he was executed for being critical of the Nazi ...

, zoologist and physician

B

Paul Baender Paul Baender, also known in Spanish as Pablo Baender (30 November 1906 – 18 December 1985), was a German–Bolivian chess player and functionary. Born in Rosdzin, now part of Katowice, Upper Silesia, he moved to Görlitz in 1921. When Nazis cam ...

, politician and chess player * Adolf Aron Baginsky, pediatrician * John Baildon, Scottish pioneer in metallurgy in Silesia *

Michael Ballack Michael Ballack (; born 26 September 1976) is a German former professional footballer. He is among the top goal scorers in the history of the German national team. Ballack wore the number 13 shirt for every team he has played for, except 1. FC ...

, soccer player *the House of Ballestrem, de, pl *

Hans Baluschek Hans Baluschek (9 May 1870 – 28 September 1935) was a German painter, graphic artist and writer. Baluschek was a prominent representative of German Critical Realism, and as such he sought to portray the life of the common people with vivid fra ...

, painter *

Jan Banaś Jan Banaś (born Hans Dieter Banas on 29 March 1943 in the Schöneberg district of Berlin), nicknamed Bubi, is a Polish footballer, who began his career as a youngster playing for AKS Mikołów (1956–59) before moving to Zryw Chorzów in 195 ...

, soccer player * Franz Bardon, occultist * Walter Bathe, swimmer *bishop Herbert Bednorz *

, physicist *

Hans Bellmer Hans Bellmer (13 March 1902 – 24 February 1975) was a German artist, best known for the life-sized pubescent female dolls he produced in the mid-1930s. Historians of art and photography also consider him a Surrealist photographer. Biography B ...

, painter and sculptor * Benedict of Poland, explorer * Henryk Bereska; pl, de, translator and poet * Max Berg, architect *

, chemist * Saul Berlin, scholar * Gottfried Bermann, publisher *cardinal

Adolf Bertram Adolf Bertram (14 March 1859 – 6 July 1945) was archbishop of Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland) and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Early life Adolf Bertram was born in Hildesheim, Royal Prussian Province of Hanover (now Lower Saxony), ...

Petr Bezruč Petr Bezruč () was the pseudonym of Vladimír Vašek (; 15 September 1867 – 17 February 1958), a Czech poet and short story writer who was associated with the region of Austrian Silesia. His most notable work is ''Silesian Songs,'' a coll ...

, poet * von Bibran-Modlau family * Albert Bielschowsky, literary historian *

Max Bielschowsky Max Israel Bielschowsky (20 February 1869 – 15 August 1940) was a German neuropathologist born in Breslau. After receiving his medical doctorate from the University of Munich in 1893, he worked with Ludwig Edinger (1855–1918) at the ...

, neuropathologist *

Horst Bienek Horst Bienek (May 7, 1930 in Gliwice, Gleiwitz – December 7, 1990 in Munich) was a German novelist and poet. Life Born in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia, Germany (today Gliwice, Poland), Bienek was forced to leave there in 1945, when Germans were F ...

, writer * Stanisław Bieniasz, writer; pl *

Elżbieta Bieńkowska Elżbieta Ewa Bieńkowska (; ''née'' Moycho; born on 4 February 1964 in Katowice) is a Polish politician who served as Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Regional Development and Transport before being nominated as European Commission ...

, politician, deputy prime minister of Poland * Iva Bittová, violinist, singer, and composer *rev.

Franciszek Blachnicki Franciszek Blachnicki (24 March 1921 – 27 February 1987) was a Polish Roman Catholic priest and the founder of the Light-Life movement - also known as the Oasis Movement - and the Secular Institute of the Immaculate Mother of the Church. He ...

William Blandowski Johann Wilhelm Theodor Ludwig von Blandowski, known as William Blandowski (21 January 1822 – 18 December 1878), was a German explorer, soldier, zoologist and mining engineer of Polish roots, he is most famous for his exploration of the Murray an ...

, zoologist and mining engineer *

Leszek Blanik Leszek Robert Blanik (born 1 March 1977 in Wodzisław Śląski) is a Polish gymnast, World and Olympic champion in vault. He was the first to perform a handspring double front vault in piked position which now has been named after him. Olympic ...

, gymnast * Barbara Blida, politician * Konrad Emil Bloch, biochemist * Josef Block, painter *

, biologist * Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler, pianist * Maurice Bloomfield, philologist *

Friedrich Blühmel Friedrich Blühmel (born 1777, died before 1845) was a German horn player and musical instrument builder. He is credited as one of the earliest inventors of brass instrument valves. Biography Friedrich Blühmel initially worked as a coal miner, w ...

; de *

Krystyna Bochenek Krystyna Maria Bochenek (née Neuman) (30 June 1953 – 10 April 2010) was a Polish journalist, politician and Vice-Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland representing Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska). She died in office on board th ...

, politician * Hermann Boehm, admiral *

Sebastian Boenisch Sebastian Boenisch (, ; ; born 1 February 1987) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a feft-back. At international level, he made 14 appearances for the Polish national team between 2010 and 2013. Early career Boenisch was born i ...

, soccer player *Bishop *

Lothar Bolz Lothar Bolz (3 September 190328 December 1986) was an East German politician. From 1953 to 1965 he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of East Germany (GDR). Biography Lothar Bolz was born in Gleiwitz in Upper Silesia, now Poland, on 3 Septemb ...

, politician *

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Dietrich Bonhoeffer (; 4 February 1906 – 9 April 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident who was a key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writings on Christianity's role in the secular world have ...

, theologian *

Karl Bonhoeffer Karl Bonhoeffer (; March 31, 1868 – December 4, 1948) was a German neurologist, psychiatrist and physician. Life Bonhoeffer was born in Neresheim in the Kingdom of Württemberg to Friedrich von Bonhoeffer (1828–1907), who worked as judg ...

, psychiatrist *

Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer Karl-Friedrich Bonhoeffer (13 January 1899 – 15 May 1957) was a German chemist. Education and career Born in Breslau, he was an older brother of martyred theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. His father was neurologist Karl Bonhoeffer and his moth ...

, chemist * Klaus Bonhoeffer, lawyer * Ernst Borinski, sociologist * Max Born, physicist *

Willibald Borowietz __NOTOC__ Willibald Borowietz (17 September 1893 – 1 July 1945) was a German general during World War II who commanded several divisions. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany. Borowiet ...

, general * Arka Bożek, Silesian politician; pl * Josef Božek, engineer and inventor * Ernst-Joachim Bradel, colonel *

Walter Brom Walter Henryk Brom (14 January 1921 – 18 June 1968) was a Polish soccer goalkeeper. Brom, who played for Ruch Chorzów, was a reserve player of Polish team in FIFA World Cup 1938. He was (and to this day is) the youngest goalie who has ever bee ...

, soccer player *

Lucjan Brychczy Lucjan Antoni Brychczy (otherwise known as Kici; born 13 June 1934) is a former Polish football player who is most notable for winning four top-tier titles with Legia Warsaw, but was also a keen archer. In football, he represented ŁTS Łab� ...

, soccer player *

Ignatz Bubis Ignatz Bubis (12 January 1927 – 13 August 1999), German Jewish leader, was the influential chairman (and later president) of the Central Council of Jews in Germany (''Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland'') from 1992 to 1999. In this capacity ...

, politician *

Andrzej Buncol Andrzej Bernard Buncol (born 21 September 1959) is a Polish former footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career He played for clubs such as Ruch Chorzów and Legia Warsaw in Poland. In the (West) German top-flight he made over 180 appea ...

, soccer player * Agata Buzek, actress *

Jan Buzek Jan Jerzy Buzek (27 March 1874 – 24 November 1940) was a Polish physician, activist and politician. He came from the region of Trans-Olza. Biography Buzek was born in Końska as a son of a peasant. He graduated from primary school there, and ...

, physician and politician * Jerzy Buzek, engineer and politician, prime minister of Poland *

Józef Buzek Józef Buzek (16 November 1873 in Końska – 22 September 1936 in Cieszyn) was a Polish lawyer, economist, statistician and politician from the region of Cieszyn Silesia. He was born in the village of Końska to a peasant's family. He graduat ...

, economist and politician * Jan Bystroń, linguist * Jan Stanisław Bystroń, sociologist

C

Ernst Cassirer Ernst Alfred Cassirer ( , ; July 28, 1874 – April 13, 1945) was a German philosopher. Trained within the Neo-Kantian Marburg School, he initially followed his mentor Hermann Cohen in attempting to supply an idealistic philosophy of science. A ...

, philosopher * Ewald Cebula, soccer player *Blessed

Ceslaus Ceslaus, O.P., ( pl, Czesław) (c. 1184 – c. 1242) was born in Kamień Śląski in Silesia, Poland, of the noble family of Odrowąż, and was a relative, possibly the brother, of Hyacinth of Poland. Biography Having studied philosophy a ...

; (bł. Czesław Odrowąż), Dominican friar * Dietrich von Choltitz, general * Jerzy Chromik, long-distance runner *rev. Jan Piotr Chrząszcz; pl, de, historian * Claudia Ciesla, female model *

Gerard Cieślik Gerard Cieślik (27 April 1927 – 3 November 2013), also known as Gienek, was a football player of Ruch Chorzów (1949-1955 Unia Chorzów, 1956 Unia-Ruch Chorzów). Playing for the Poland national football team, he is most noted for hav ...

, soccer player * Ferdinand Cohn (1828–1898), biologist * Maria Cunitia (Cunitz) (1610–1664), astronomer *

Richard Courant Richard Courant (January 8, 1888 – January 27, 1972) was a German American mathematician. He is best known by the general public for the book '' What is Mathematics?'', co-written with Herbert Robbins. His research focused on the areas of real ...

, mathematician *

Johannes Crato von Krafftheim Johannes Crato von Krafftheim (born Johannes Krafft; 22 November 1519 – 19 October 1585) was a German humanist and court physician to three Holy Roman emperors. Origins and education Crato von Krafftheim was born Johannes Krafft''.'' He was ...

(1519–1585), imperial physician *bishop Andrzej Czaja; pl * Herbert Czaja, politician * Richard Czaya; de, chess master

D

Kurt Daluege Kurt Max Franz Daluege (15 September 1897 – 24 October 1946) was chief of the national uniformed ''Ordnungspolizei'' (Order Police) of Nazi Germany. Following Reinhard Heydrich's assassination in 1942, he served as Deputy Protector for th ...

, SS-general, Deputy Protector of Bohemia and Moravia *

Frank Damrosch Frank Heino Damrosch (June 22, 1859 – October 22, 1937) was a German-born American music conductor and educator. In 1905, Damrosch founded the New York Institute of Musical Art, a predecessor of the Juilliard School. Life and career Damrosch w ...

, music conductor and educator *

Ernst Degner Ernst Degner (born Ernst Eugen Wotzlawek on 22 September 1931 in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia, Germany - died 10 September 1983 in Arona, Tenerife, Spain) was a professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from Eastern Germany. Degner was noted f ...

, motorcycle road racer * Hans Georg Dehmelt, physicist, Nobel Prize laureate * Hans Karl Graf von Diebitsch-Sabalkanski (Graf Ivan Ivanovich Dibich-Zabalkansky), Russian field marshal *cardinal Melchior von Diepenbrock, Prince-Bishop of Breslau * Leopold Wilhelm von Dobschütz, general *the House of

Henckel von Donnersmarck The House of Henckel von Donnersmarck is an old Austro-German noble family that originated in the former region of Spiš in Upper Hungary, now in Slovakia. The founder of the family was Henckel de Quintoforo in the 14/15th century. The original ...

Hans-Jürgen Dörner Hans-Jürgen "Dixie" Dörner (25 January 1951 – 19 January 2022) was a German football player and coach. He distinguished himself during his career by being named East Germany's player of the year three times (1977, 1984 and 1985) – the o ...

, soccer player and coach *

Bernard Drzyzga Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...

; pl, colonel * Ireneusz Dudek; pl, blues vocalist * Jerzy Dudek, soccer player * Rafał Dutkiewicz, politician * Ewald Dytko, soccer player * Wojciech Dzieduszycki; pl, count *

Johann Dzierzon Johann Dzierzon, or Jan Dzierżon or Dzierżoń , also John Dzierzon (16 January 1811 – 26 October 1906), was a Polish apiarist who discovered the phenomenon of parthenogenesis in bees. Dzierzon came from a Polish family in Silesia. Trained ...

, apiarist

E

Katja Ebstein Katja Ebstein (born Karin Witkiewicz; 9 March 1945) is a German singer. She was born in Girlachsdorf (now Gniewków, Poland). She achieved success with songs such as "Theater (song), Theater" and "Es war einmal ein Jäger". She was married to , w ...

, singer *

Franz Eckert Franz Eckert (5 April 1852 – 6 August 1916) was a German composer and musician who composed the harmony for Japan's national anthem, "Kimigayo" and the national anthem of the Korean Empire, " Aegukga". Early life and education Eckert was ...

, musician who composed the national anthem of Japan *

(1854–1915), physiologist *

Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (10 March 178826 November 1857) was a German poet, novelist, playwright, literary critic, translator, and anthologist. Eichendorff was one of the major writers and critics of Romanticism.Cf. J. A. Cuddon: ' ...

, poet * Bernd Eistert, chemist *

Norbert Elias Norbert Elias (; 22 June 1897 – 1 August 1990) was a German sociologist who later became a British citizen. He is especially famous for his theory of civilizing/decivilizing processes. Biography Elias was born on 22 June 1897 in Bresla ...

(1897–1990), sociologist *

Józef Elsner Józef Antoni Franciszek Elsner (sometimes ''Józef Ksawery Elsner''; baptismal name, ''Joseph Anton Franz Elsner''; 1 June 176918 April 1854) was a composer, music teacher, and music theoretician, active mainly in Warsaw. He was one of the firs ...

, composer, music teacher and theoretician * Emin Pasha (Isaak Eduard Schnitzer), physician * Leszek Engelking, writer, poet, translator, scholar * Berthold Englisch, chess master * Anzelm Ephorinus; pl, physician *

Johann Samuel Ersch Johann Samuel Ersch (23 June 1766 – 16 January 1828) was a German bibliographer, generally regarded as the founder of German bibliography. Biography He was born in Großglogau (now Głogów), in Silesia. In 1785 he entered the University of H ...

, bibliographer

F

Eugeniusz Faber Eugeniusz Faber (6 April 1939 – 24 September 2021) was a Polish footballer who played as a forward for Ruch Chorzów and Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A s ...

, soccer player *

Nikolaus von Falkenhorst Paul Nikolaus von Falkenhorst (17 January 1885 – 18 June 1968) was a German general and a war criminal during World War II. He planned and commanded the German invasion of Denmark and Norway in 1940, and was commander of German troops during ...

, general * Gottfried Bermann Fischer, publisher *

Grzegorz Fitelberg Grzegorz Fitelberg (18 October 1879 – 10 June 1953) was a Polish conductor, violinist and composer. He was a member of the Young Poland group, together with artists such as Karol Szymanowski, Ludomir Różycki and Mieczysław Karłowicz. Li ...

, conductor, violinist and composer * Walenty Fojkis; pl, politician * Jan Foltys, chess master * Emanuel Aloys Förster, composer * Friedrich Heinrich Ferdinand Leopold von Forcade de Biaix (1747–1808), Royal Prussian lieutenant colonel, Knight of the Order of ''

Pour le Mérite The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Order of the Red Eag ...

'' * Friedrich Wilhelm Ferdinand Ernst Heinrich von Forcade de Biaix (1787–1835), Royal Prussian major and Knight of the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...

2nd Class * Friedrich Wilhelm Leopold Konstantin Quirin, Baron von Forcade de Biaix (1784–1840), Royal Prussian major, Knight of the

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

of the Order of St. John Bailiwick of Brandenburg (1817), Royal Prussian

Chamberlain Chamberlain may refer to: Profession *Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure People *Chamberlain (surname) **Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927), German-British philosop ...

, and '' Castellan of

Neuenrade Neuenrade is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the hills of the Sauerland in the ''Märkischer Kreis''. Geography The highest elevation in the town area is the ''Kohlberg'' with an altitude of 514 m above sea level. The lowes ...

'' in the

County of Mark The County of Mark (german: Grafschaft Mark, links=no, french: Comté de La Marck, links=no colloquially known as ) was a county and state of the Holy Roman Empire in the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle. It lay on both sides of the Ruhr Rive ...

* Rudolf Fränkel, architect *

Heinz Fraenkel-Conrat Heinz Ludwig Fraenkel-Conrat (July 29, 1910 – April 10, 1999) was a biochemist, famous for his research on viruses. Early life Fraenkel-Conrat was born in Breslau/Germany. He was the son of Lili Conrat and Professor Ludwig Fraenkel, direc ...

, biochemist * Egon Franke, fencer *

Zecharias Frankel Zecharias Frankel, also known as Zacharias Frankel (30 September 1801 – 13 February 1875) was a Bohemian-German rabbi and a historian who studied the historical development of Judaism. He was born in Prague and died in Breslau. He was the foun ...

, historian *

Gustav Freytag Gustav Freytag (; 13 July 1816 – 30 April 1895) was a German novelist and playwright. Life Freytag was born in Kreuzburg (Kluczbork) in Silesia. After attending the school at Oels (Oleśnica), he studied philology at the universities of ...

, writer * Fritz von Friedlaender-Fuld; de (1858–1917), industrialist *

Johnny Friedlaender Johnny Friedlaender (26 December 1912 – 18 June 1992) was a leading German/French 20th-century artist, whose works have been exhibited in Germany, France, Netherlands, Italy, Japan and the United States. He has been influential upon oth ...

(1912–1992), painter * Max Friedlaender (1852–1934), musicologist *

Carl Friedländer Carl Friedländer (19 November 1847, Brieg (Brzeg), Silesia – 13 May 1887, Meran (Merano), County of Tyrol) was a German pathologist and microbiologist who helped discover the bacterial cause of pneumonia in 1882. He also first described t ...

(1847–1887), bacteriologist * Max Friedländer (1829–1872), journalist *

Max Jakob Friedländer Max Jakob Friedländer (5 July 1867 in Berlin – 11 October 1958 in Amsterdam) was a German museum curator and art historian. He was a specialist in Early Netherlandish painting and the Northern Renaissance, who volunteered at the Kupferstichkab ...

(1867–1958), art historian * Walter Friedländer (1873–1966), art historian *

Anni Friesinger-Postma Anna ("Anni") Christine Friesinger-Postma (born 11 January 1977) is a German former speed skater. Her father Georg Friesinger, of Germany, and mother Janina ("Jana") Korowicka, of Poland, were both skaters; Jana was on the Polish team at the 197 ...

, speed skater *

Willy Fritsch Willy Fritsch (27 January 1901 – 13 July 1973) was a German theater and film actor, a popular leading man and character actor from the silent-film era to the early 1960s. Biography Early life He was born Wilhelm Egon Fritz Fritsch, the only s ...

, actor *rev. August Froehlich * Radek Fukala, historian * Jan Furtok, soccer player

G

* Hubert Gad, soccer player * Christian Ganczarski, terrorist *archbishop

Józef Gawlina Józef Feliks Gawlina, born in 1892 in Strzybnik ( Racibórz County) in Silesia - died 1964 in Rome was a Divisional general in the Polish Armed Forces. He was an ordained priest, Doctor of Theology and from 1933, Catholic bishop in the Military ...

* Dan Gawrecki, historian * Adam Gdacjusz, writer * Adam Abraham von Gaffron und Oberstradam, Danish general * Gunther Gebel-Williams, circus performer, animal trainer * Oscar Gelbfuhs, chess master *

Rudolf Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff Rudolf Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff (27 March 1905 – 27 January 1980) was an officer in the German Army. He attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler by suicide bombing on 21 March 1943; the plan failed when Hitler left early, but Gersdorff ...

, general * Eugeniusz Get-Stankiewicz; pl, sculptor *

Edmund Giemsa Edmund Giemza (Giemsa) (16 October 1912 – 30 September 1994) was a Polish interwar soccer player. He was born on 16 October 1912 in Upper Silesian city of Ruda Śląska and died on 30 September 1994 in Chinnor, England. Giemsa played for Ruc ...

, soccer player * Georg von Giesche; de, merchant and manufacturer *

Karl Gilg Karl Gilg (20 January 1901, in Mankovice (Mankendorf), Austrian Silesia – 4 December 1981, in Kolbermoor, Bavaria) was a German chess International Master from Czechoslovakia. Biography Gilg played for Czechoslovakia in several Chess Olympiads. ...

, chess master *

Krzysztof Globisz Krzysztof Maria Globisz (born 16 January 1957 in Siemianowice Śląskie) is a Polish theatre and film actor. His best-known role is as Piotr Balicki, the newly qualified barrister whose opinion of capital punishment undergoes a radical change in ...

, actor *rev. Joseph Glowatzki; de, politician * Karl Godulla, industrialist *

, physicist *

Eugen Goldstein Eugen Goldstein (; 5 September 1850 – 25 December 1930) was a German physicist. He was an early investigator of discharge tubes, the discoverer of anode rays or canal rays, later identified as positive ions in the gas phase including the h ...

, physicist *

Kurt Goldstein Kurt Goldstein (November 6, 1878 – September 19, 1965) was a German neurologist and psychiatrist who created a holistic theory of the organism. Educated in medicine, Goldstein studied under Carl Wernicke and Ludwig Edinger where he focused on ne ...

, neurologist *

Robert Gonera Robert Gonera is a Polish film, stage and television actor. He played leading roles in Krzysztof Krauze's political drama ''Street Games'' and the thriller '' The Debt'', for which he received Best Actor at the Polish Film Awards:Eagles. He bec ...

, actor *

Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki (ca. 1665 to 1667 – 30 April 1734) was a Polish Baroque composer. Considered one of the greatest composers of Polish Baroque music, during his lifetime he was called the "Polish Handel". Life Born in Rozbark near Byt ...

, composer, musician *

Jerzy Gorgoń Jerzy Paweł Gorgoń (born 18 July 1949 in Zabrze) is a Polish former football player who is remembered for his participation in the 1972 Summer Olympics. He was a 6'4" tall central defender, who became well known in 1967 while playing for Górn ...

, soccer player * Emil Görlitz; de, soccer player * Jerzy Gorzelik, Silesian politician * Rudolf von Gottschall, poet, dramatist, chess master *

Wilhelm Góra Wilhelm Antoni Góra (18 January 1916 – 21 May 1975) was a Polish midfield soccer player. His career started in Szarlej (Scharley O/S) - a small hamlet located near Bytom -Beuthen O/S. After some years, he moved to Pogon Katowice (which no lo ...

, soccer player * Halina Górecka, athlete (sprinter) *

Henryk Górecki Henryk Mikołaj Górecki ( , ; 6 December 1933 – 12 November 2010) was a Polish composer of contemporary classical music. According to critic Alex Ross, no recent classical composer has had as much commercial success as Górecki. He became a l ...

, composer * Joachim Grallert, watchmaker and jeweler *

Heinrich Graetz Heinrich Graetz (; 31 October 1817 – 7 September 1891) was amongst the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective. Born Tzvi Hirsch Graetz to a butcher family in Xions (now Książ Wielko ...

, historian *

Jerzy Grotowski Jerzy Marian Grotowski (; 11 August 1933 – 14 January 1999) was a Polish theatre director and theorist whose innovative approaches to acting, training and theatrical production have significantly influenced theatre today. He was born in Rzesz ...

, theatre director * Friedrich Grundmann; pl, businessman, co-founder of Katowice * Ignatz Grünfeld; pl, architect *

Andreas Gryphius Andreas Gryphius (german: Andreas Greif; 2 October 161616 July 1664) was a German poet and playwright. With his eloquent sonnets, which contains "The Suffering, Frailty of Life and the World", he is considered one of the most important Baroque ...

, poet * Joanna Gryzik von Schomberg-Godula; pl, (Johanna Gräfin von Schaffgotsch); de, industrialist * Karol Grzesik; pl, politician * Bernhard Grzimek, zoologist *cardinal Henryk Gulbinowicz * Torsten Gütschow, soccer player

H

*the House of Habsburg; Branch of Toscania/Teschen *

, chemist * Stanisław Hadyna; pl, composer * Richard Hanke, soccer player *

Daniel Harrwitz Daniel Harrwitz (22 February 1821 – 2 January 1884) was a German chess master. Harrwitz was born in Breslau (Wrocław) in the Prussian Province of Silesia. Harrwitz's correct birth and death dates (22 February 1821 and 2 January 1884 respectiv ...

, chess master * Alfred Hauptmann; de, neurologist *

, dramatist *

Felix Hausdorff Felix Hausdorff ( , ; November 8, 1868 – January 26, 1942) was a German mathematician who is considered to be one of the founders of modern topology and who contributed significantly to set theory, descriptive set theory, measure theory, an ...

, mathematician * Saint Hedwig of Andechs; (św. Jadwiga Śląska), Duchess of Silesia (1174–1243) *

Johann Heermann Johann Heermann (11 October 158517 February 1647) was a German poet and hymnodist. He is commemorated in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church on 26 October with Philipp Nicolai and Paul Gerhardt. Life Heermann was born in Raudten ( ...

, poet and hymnwriter *

Sigfried Held Sigfried "Siggi" Held (born 7 August 1942) is a German former football player and coach. He played as an attacking midfielder or forward. Born in Freudenthal, Sudetenland (now Czech Republic), Held's first football club was Kickers Offenbach. In ...

, soccer player and coach *

Henry the Bearded Henry the Bearded ( pl, Henryk (Jędrzych) Brodaty, german: Heinrich der Bärtige; c. 1165/70 – 19 March 1238) was a Polish duke from the Piast dynasty. He was Dukes of Silesia, Duke of Silesia at Wrocław from 1201, Seniorate Province, Duke ...

, Duke *

Henry II the Pious Henry II the Pious ( pl, Henryk II Pobożny; 1196 – 9 April 1241) was Duke of Silesia and High Duke of Poland as well as Duke of South-Greater Poland from 1238 until his death. Between 1238 and 1239 he also served as regent of Sandomierz and ...

, Duke *

Henry III the White Henry III the White ( pl, Henryk III Biały) ( – 3 December 1266), a member of the Silesian Piasts, was Duke of Silesia at Wrocław from 1248 until his death, as co-ruler with his brother Władysław. Life He was the third son of the Polish hi ...

, Duke *

Henry IV Probus Henryk IV Probus (Latin for ''the Righteous'') ( pl, Henryk IV Probus or ''Prawy''; german: Heinrich IV. der Gerechte) ( – 23 June 1290) was a member of the Silesian branch of the royal Polish Piast dynasty. He was Duke of Silesia at Wro ...

, Duke * Lothar Herbst; pl, poet * Max Herrmann-Neisse; pl, de, writer * Richard Herrmann, soccer player * Arno Herzig; de, historian *

Dieter Hildebrandt Dieter Hildebrandt (23 May 1927 – 20 November 2013) was a German Kabarett artist. Biography Hildebrandt was born in Bunzlau, Lower Silesia, Weimar Germany (now Boleslawiec, Poland) where he attended school. In World War II he became a Fla ...

, kabarettist * Moses Hirschel, writer and chess master *

Ludwik Hirszfeld Ludwik Hirszfeld (5 August 1884 – 7 March 1954) was a Polish microbiologist and serologist. He is considered a co-discoverer of the inheritance of ABO blood types. Life He was a cousin of Aleksander Rajchman, a Polish mathematician, and of ...

, microbiologist *cardinal

August Hlond August Hlond (July 5, 1881 – October 22, 1948) was a Polish cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, who was Archbishop of Poznań and Gniezno in 1926 and Primate of Poland. He was then appointed as the Archbishop of Gniezno and Warsaw in 194 ...

;

Primate of Poland This is a list of archbishops of the Archdiocese of Gniezno, who are simultaneously primates of Poland since 1418.Hans Heinrich XV von Hochberg Hans Heinrich XV von Hochberg ( pl, Jan Henryk XV; 23 April 1861 – 31 January 1938) was Prince of Pless (Pszczyna), Count von Hochberg and Baron of Fürstenstein ( Książ). He was the husband (1891–1923) of Mary Theresa Olivia Hochberg von P ...

, Prince *

Karl Höfer Karl Höfer also Hoefer; (29 December 1862 in Pleß – 12 May 1939 in Würzburg) was a German general. During World War I he became known as the ''Held vom Kemmelberge'' (hero of Kemmel hill) after his division had captured the Kemmelber ...

, general *

Otto Höhne Leutnant Otto Paul Wilhelm Höhne (30 April 1895 – 22 November 1969) was a German World War I flying ace credited with six confirmed aerial victories.The Aerodrome website page on HöhnRetrieved on 11 August 2010. Höhne was a pioneer ace; he wa ...

, general *

Christian Hoffmann von Hoffmannswaldau Christian Hoffmann von Hoffmannswaldau (baptised 25 December 1616 – 4 April 1679) was a German poet of the Baroque era. He was born and died in Breslau (Wrocław) in Silesia. During his education in Danzig (Gdańsk) and Leiden, he befrie ...

, poet and municipal politician *

Prince Adolf of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen Adolf Karl Friedrich Ludwig Prinz zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen (29 January 1797 – 24 April 1873) was a Prussian nobleman, soldier, and politician. He briefly served as Minister-President of Prussia The office of Minister-President (german: M ...

, nobleman, soldier, and politician *

Prince Kraft of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen Kraft Prinz zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen (2 January 1827 – 16 January 1892) was a Prussian general and military writer during the time of the German Empire. Early life Kraft Karl August zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen was born at Koschentin in Up ...

, nobleman and general *

August, Prince of Hohenlohe-Öhringen Frederick ''August'' Charles, Prince of Hohenlohe-Öhringen (27 November 1784 – 15 February 1853) was a German general of the Napoleonic Wars and nobleman of the house of Hohenlohe. Early life August was born on 27 November 1784 in Breslau. ...

, general, industrialist, landowner and mining business people * Karl Eduard von Holtei; poet and actor * Richard Holtze; szl, politician, co-founder of Katowice * Walther von Holzhausen, chess master * Bernhard von Hülsen, general * Herbert Hupka, politician * Saint Hyacinth; (św. Jacek Odrowąż), Dominican friar, called the Apostle of the North

I

* Salomon Isaac; pl, merchant

J

* Anton Jadasch; de, politician *

Lech Janerka Lech Andrzej Janerka (born 2 May 1953 in Wrocław, Poland) is a Polish songwriter, vocalist, and bassist. In the 1980s he was leader of a notable Polish post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that e ...

, composer *

Janosch Janosch (, born as Horst Eckert on 11 March 1931) is a German children's author and illustrator. Biography Janosch was born as Horst Eckert in what was then Hindenburg (now Zabrze, Poland) in Upper Silesia to a family of mixed German and Pol ...

, children's writer * Michael Jary, composer * Grzegorz Jarzyna; pl, theatre director *

Otylia Jędrzejczak Otylia Jędrzejczak (; born 13 December 1983) is a Polish swimmer. She was the Olympic champion from 2004 Athens in the 200 metre butterfly. She finished 4th in this event in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and also swam at the 2000 Summ ...

, swimmer *

Jens Jeremies Jens Jeremies (born 5 March 1974) is a German former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Best known for his tackling abilities, he played for three clubs during his professional career, most notably Bayern Munich which ...

, soccer player * Moritz Jursitzky, writer

K

* Ryszard Kaczmarek; pl, historian * Zbigniew Kadłubek; pl, classical philologist * Helmut Kajzar; pl, playwright, theatre director * Theodor Kalide, sculptor * David Kalisch, writer and humorist *bishop Maximilian Kaller *

Theodor Kaluza Theodor Franz Eduard Kaluza (; 9 November 1885 – 19 January 1954) was a German mathematician and physicist known for the Kaluza–Klein theory, involving field equations in five-dimensional space-time. His idea that fundamental forces can be ...

, mathematician and physicist *

Tomasz Kamusella Tomasz Kamusella FRHistS (born 24 December 1967) is a Polish scholar pursuing interdisciplinary research in language politics, nationalism and ethnicity. Education Kamusella was educated at the University of Silesia in Katowice, Faculty of P ...

, linguist *

Manfred Kanther Manfred Kanther (born 26 May 1939 in Schweidnitz, Silesia) is a German conservative politician and was Minister of the Interior of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1993 to 1998. He has been a member of the CDU (since 1958). Life and edu ...

, politician * Anna Louisa Karsch, poet * Adolf Kaschny; pl, Silesian politician *

Georg Katzer Georg Katzer (; 10 January 1935 – 7 May 2019) was a German composer and teacher. The last master student of Hanns Eisler, he composed music in many genres, including works for the stage. Katzer was one of the pioneers of electronic new music ...

, composer * Lars Kaufmann, handball player *

Bernhard Kempa Bernhard Kempa (19 November 1920 – 20 July 2017) was a German handball player and coach. He was born in Oppeln, Upper Silesia (Opole, Poland). As a national team player he became world champion in field handball in 1952 and 1955. Career In ...

; de, handball player *

Alfred Kerr Alfred Kerr (''né'' Kempner; 25 December 1867 – 12 October 1948, surname: ) was an influential German theatre critic and essayist of Jewish descent, nicknamed the ''Kulturpapst'' ("Culture Pope"). Biography Youth Kerr was born in Breslau, ...

, art critic *

Jan Kidawa-Błoński Jan Kidawa-Błoński (born 12 February 1953, Chorzów) is a Polish film director, producer and screenwriter. Life He initially studied architecture at the Silesian University of Technology. In 1980, he graduated from the National Film School in ...

; pl, film director * Leon Kieres, historian *

Wojciech Kilar Wojciech Kilar (; 17 July 1932 – 29 December 2013) was a Polish classical and film music composer. One of his greatest successes came with his score to Francis Ford Coppola's '' Bram Stoker's Dracula'' in 1992, which received the ASCAP Award a ...

, composer *

Gustav Kirchhoff Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (; 12 March 1824 – 17 October 1887) was a German physicist who contributed to the fundamental understanding of electrical circuits, spectroscopy, and the emission of black-body radiation by heated objects. He ...

, physicist *

Martin Kirschner Martin Kirschner (28 October 1879 – 30 August 1942) was a German surgeon. Kirschner was born in Breslau, the son of Margarethe Kalbeck (sister of Max Kalbeck) and Judge Martin Kirschner (1842–1912), who later served as city councillor ...

, surgeon *

August Kiss August Karl Eduard Kiss, or Kiß (October 11, 1802 – March 24, 1865) was a German sculptor, known for his monumental bronzes. Life and works Kiss was born in Paprotzan (now Paprocany, part of Tychy in Poland) in Prussian Silesia. He studi ...

, sculptor * Eckart Klein; de, social scientist *

Norbert Klein Norbert Klein (25 October 1866 in Brunzeif, Austrian Silesia – 10 March 1933 in Bruntál, Czechoslovakia) was Bishop of Brno from 1916 to 1926 and 59th Grand Master of the Teutonic Order from 1923 to 1933. Life Klein began his theologica ...

, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (1923–1933) *

Otto Klemperer Otto Nossan Klemperer (14 May 18856 July 1973) was a 20th-century conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the US, Hungary and finally Britain. His early career was in opera houses, but he was later better known as a concer ...

, conductor and composer * Karl Ludwig Klose; de, historian *

Miroslav Klose Miroslav Josef Klose (, pl, Mirosław Józef Klose; born 9 June 1978 as Mirosław Marian Klose) is a German professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Austrian Bundesliga club Rheindorf Altach. A striker, Klose ...

, soccer player * Samuel Benjamin Klose; de, historian *

Baladine Klossowska Baladine Klossowska or Kłossowska (21 October 1886 — 11 September 1969) was a German painter. Originating from an artistic Jewish family with roots in Lithuania, she moved from Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland) to Paris, France, at the t ...

, painter *

Bernhard Adalbert Emil Koehne Bernhard Adalbert Emil Koehne (12 February 1848 – 12 October 1918) was a German botanist and dendrologist born near Striegau, a town known today as Strzegom, Poland. Koehne was a professor of botany in Berlin and was a leading authority ...

, botanist *

Alexander Kohut Alexander (Chanoch Yehuda) Kohut (April 22, 1842 – May 25, 1894) was a rabbi and orientalist. He belonged to a family of rabbis, the most noted among them being Rabbi Israel Palota, his great-grandfather, Rabbi Amram (called "The Gaon," who die ...

, orientalist * Józef Kokot; pl, soccer player * Heinz Kokott, general *

Jan Jakub Kolski Jan Jakub Kolski (born 29 January 1956) is a Polish film director, cinematographer, and writer. Early life and career Kolski was born in Wrocław, and comes from a family closely connected to cinema. His father, Roman Kolski, and his sister, Ewa ...

, film director and writer *cardinal

Bolesław Kominek Bolesław Kominek (23 December 1903 – 10 March 1974) was a Polish cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Wrocław from 1972 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1973. Biography Bolesław Komin ...

Jerzy Konikowski Jerzy Konikowski (born 24 January 1947, in Bytom, Poland) is a Polish–German chess master, problemist and author. He was a Polish national team trainer in 1978–1981 (the Polish Women's national team won bronze medal in the 9th Women's Ch ...

, chess master * Richard Konwiarz; architect * Kopaynski or Kopanski family *cardinal

Georg von Kopp Georg von Kopp (25 July 1837 – 4 March 1914) was a German Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Bishop of Fulda (1881–87) and Prince-Bishop of Breslau (1887–1914). He was known for his anti-Polish views and pursued the German ...

* Rudolf Koppitz, photographer * Wojciech Korfanty, politician * Julian Kornhauser, poet and literary critic *

Hubert Kostka Hubert Jerzy Kostka (born 27 May 1940 in Ratibor) is a retired Polish football goalkeeper. Kostka participated in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, where Poland won the men's football tournament. Kostka is not only a successful player, he al ...

, soccer player * Jan Kotrč, chess master *

Viktor de Kowa Viktor de Kowa (also spelled Victor de Kowa, born Victor Paul Karl Kowalczyk; 8 March 1904 – 8 April 1973) was a German stage and film actor, chanson singer, director, narrator, and comic poet. Life He was born the son of a farmer and engineer ...

, actor and singer * Józef Kożdoń, Silesian autonomist * Marek Krajewski, classical philologist and crime-story writer * Adolf Kramer, chess master *

Paul Krause Paul James Krause (born February 19, 1942) is a former American football safety who played in the National Football League (NFL). Gifted with a great frame, speed and range, Krause established himself as a defensive force against opposing wide ...

; de (December 27, 1905, † October 19, 1950), politician *

Emil Krebs Emil Krebs (15 November 1867 in Freiburg in Schlesien – 31 March 1930 in Berlin) was a German polyglot and sinologist. He mastered 69 languages in speech and writing and studied 120 other languages.Cecile und Oskar Vogt Archiv, Düsseldorf ...

, polyglot and sinologist *

Otto Kretschmer Otto Kretschmer (1 May 1912 – 5 August 1998) was a German naval officer and submariner in World War II and the Cold War. From September 1939 until his capture in March 1941 he sank 44 ships, including one warship, a total of 274,333 tons. For ...

, commodore *

Rodolphe Kreutzer Rodolphe Kreutzer (15 November 1766 – 6 January 1831) was a French violinist, teacher, conductor, and composer of forty French operas, including '' La mort d'Abel'' (1810). He is probably best known as the dedicatee of Beethoven's Violin S ...

(father was born in Silesia), violinist and composer *

Henryk Kroll Henryk Kroll (born January 20, 1949 in Gogolin) is a Polish politician, and the former leader of German minority in Poland. He was initially elected to Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Po ...

, politician *

Jan Kropidło Jan Kropidło (1360 or 1364 – 3 March 1421), was an ecclesiastic leader in Poland during the late Middle Ages. Jan was the eldest son of Duke Bolko III of Strzelce and his wife Anna. Jan was titled Duke of Strzelce (1382–96, with his broth ...

Duke of Opole The following is a list of monarchs who used the title Duke of Opole and controlled the city and the surrounding area either directly or indirectly (see also Duchy of Opole). Piast dynasty * 1163-1173 Bolesław I the Tall (Bolesław Wysoki), Du ...

, bishop of

Chełmno Chełmno (; older en, Culm; formerly ) is a town in northern Poland near the Vistula river with 18,915 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the seat of the Chełmno County in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. Due to its regional impor ...

Kamień Pomorski Kamień Pomorski (; csb, Kamiéń; german: Cammin or ''Kammin'') is a town in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship of north-western Poland, on the Baltic coast. It is the seat of an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Kamień County whic ...

Kuyavia Kuyavia ( pl, Kujawy; german: Kujawien; la, Cuiavia), also referred to as Cuyavia, is a historical region in north-central Poland, situated on the left bank of Vistula, as well as east from Noteć River and Lake Gopło. It is divided into three ...

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

, archbishop of

Gniezno Gniezno (; german: Gnesen; la, Gnesna) is a city in central-western Poland, about east of Poznań. Its population in 2021 was 66,769, making it the sixth-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. One of the Piast dynasty's chief cities, ...

Primate of Poland This is a list of archbishops of the Archdiocese of Gniezno, who are simultaneously primates of Poland since 1418.Rafał Kubacki Rafał Andrzej Kubacki (born 23 March 1967 in Wrocław) is a Polish judoka. He is known from his role as Ursus (Lygia's huge bodyguard) in '' Quo Vadis'' (2001 film) directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz. He has also entered politics; ...

, judo fighter and politician *bishop Teodor Kubina; pl *

Richard Kubus Richard Kubus (30 March 1914 – 1987) was a German international footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American ...

, soccer player * Michael Küchmeister von Sternberg, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (1414–1422) * Wojciech Kuczok, writer *

Hans Kudlich Johann "Hans" Kudlich (October 23, 1823 – November 10, 1917 ) (Americanized as John) was an Austrian political activist, Austrian legislator, American immigrant, writer, and physician. Early life Kudlich was born in Upper Silesian Úvalno ...

, politician and physician *

Quirinus Kuhlmann Quirinus Kuhlmann (also: Culmannus, Kühlmann, Kuhlman; February 26, 1651 – October 4, 1689) was a German Baroque poet and mystic. Kuhlmann insisted upon the importance of the events of his life as confirmation of his divine mission. Known fo ...

, poet and mystic *

Walter Kuhn Walter Kuhn (27 September 1903 – 5 August 1983), was an Austrian-born German folklorist (german: Volkskundler, italics=yes), historian and Ostforscher. Prior to World War II, Kuhn belonged to the German minority in Poland. His academic work spe ...

, historian * Friedrich Wilhelm Kuhnert, painter * Jerzy Kukuczka; alpine and high-altitude climber * Ernst Kunik; sv, historian and archeologist * Theofil Kupka, Silesian politician * Jan Kustos, Silesian politician *

Martin Kutta Martin Wilhelm Kutta (; 3 November 1867 – 25 December 1944) was a German mathematician. Kutta was born in Pitschen, Upper Silesia (today Byczyna, Poland). He attended the University of Breslau from 1885 to 1890, and continued his studies in Mu ...

, mathematician *

Kazimierz Kutz Kazimierz Julian Kutz (16 February 1929 – 18 December 2018) was a Polish film director, author, journalist and politician, one of the representatives of the Polish Film School and a deputy speaker of the Senate of Poland. Biography Kazimierz ...

, film director and politician

L

* Fritz Laband, soccer player * Ferdinand Lassalle, politician * Maciej Łagiewski; pl, historian *

Hans Lammers Hans Heinrich Lammers (27 May 1879 – 4 January 1962) was a German jurist and prominent Nazi politician. From 1933 until 1945 he served as Chief of the Reich Chancellery under Adolf Hitler. During the 1948–1949 Ministries Trial, Lammers was ...

, politician *

Georg Landsberg Georg Landsberg (January 30, 1865 – September 14, 1912) was a German mathematician, known for his work in the theory of algebraic functions and on the Riemann–Roch theorem.. The Takagi–Landsberg curve, a fractal that is the graph of a nowh ...

, mathematician *

Otto Landsberg Otto Landsberg (4 December 1869 – 9 December 1957) was a German jurist, politician and diplomat. He was a member of the revolutionary Council of the People's Deputies that took power during the German Revolution of 1918–19 and then served as ...

de, politician *

Benno Landsberger Benno Landsberger (21 April 1890 – 26 April 1968) was a German Assyriologist. Early life and education He was born on 21 April 1890 in Friedek, then part of Austrian Silesia, and from 1908 studied Oriental Studies at Leipzig. Amongst his te ...

(1890–1968), linguist * Franz Landsberger de, art historian * Julius Landsberger de, orientalist and rabbi * Horst Lange; de, writer *

Walter Laqueur Walter Ze'ev Laqueur (26 May 1921 – 30 September 2018) was a German-born American historian, journalist and political commentator. He was an influential scholar on the subjects of terrorism and political violence. Biography Walter Laqueur was ...

, historian * Ewald Latacz, Silesian politician *

Waldemar Legień Waldemar Legień (born 28 August 1963) is a retired Polish judoka. He won two Olympic gold medals in different weight classes, in 1988 and 1992. He is also the first person to win back-to-back two Olympic gold medals in Judo.Philipp Lenard Philipp Eduard Anton von Lenard (; hu, Lénárd Fülöp Eduárd Antal; 7 June 1862 – 20 May 1947) was a Hungarian-born German physicist and the winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1905 for his work on cathode rays and the discovery of ...

, physicist * Roman Lentner, soccer player *

Jan Liberda Jan Konrad Liberda (26 November 1936 – 6 February 2020) was a Polish football forward. Liberda played mostly for one team, Polonia Bytom, where he remained since 1950, until 1969. He ended his career in 1971 at AZ. He twice was the topscorer o ...

, soccer player *the House of

Lichnowsky The House of Lichnowsky or House of Lichnovský is the name of an influential Czech aristocratic family of Silesian and Moravian origin, documented since the 14th century. History The noble family first appeared in the Duchy of Pless (Pszczyna) ...

* Felix Graf von Lichnowsky, politician *the House of

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarch ...

Felix Liebrecht Felix Liebrecht (13 March 1812 – 3 August 1890) was a German folklorist. Biography Liebrecht was born in Namslau, Prussian Silesia. He studied philology at the universities of Breslau, Munich, and Berlin, and in 1851 became professor of ...

, folklorist *

Paul Löbe Paul Gustav Emil Löbe (14 December 1875 – 3 August 1967) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), a member and president of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic, and member of the Bundestag of West Germany. He ...

, politician *

Friedrich von Logau Friedrich von Logau (January 1605 – 24 July 1655) was a German poet and epigrammatist of the Baroque era. Life He was born the son of Georg von Logau, estate owner in Brockut near Nimptsch in Silesia (present-day Niemcza, Poland). His fathe ...

, epigrammatist *

Daniel Casper von Lohenstein Daniel Casper (25 January 1635 in Nimptsch, Niederschlesien – 28 April 1683 in Breslau, Niederschlesien), also spelled Daniel Caspar, and referred to from 1670 as Daniel Casper von Lohenstein, was a Baroque Silesian playwright, lawyer, diplo ...

, diplomat and writer * Stanisław Ligoń; pl, writer and painter * Józef Lompa; pl, poet *rev. Józef Londzin; pl, politician *

Fritz London Fritz Wolfgang London (March 7, 1900 – March 30, 1954) was a German physicist and professor at Duke University. His fundamental contributions to the theories of chemical bonding and of intermolecular forces ( London dispersion forces) are today ...

, physicist * Ortwin Lowack; de, lawyer and politician * Fred Lowen, designer * Erich Löwenhardt, fighter pilot, Oberleutnant * Arthur Löwenstamm, rabbi * Heinz A. Lowenstam, paleoecologist *

Włodzimierz Lubański Włodzimierz 'Włodek' Leonard Lubański (Polish pronunciation: ; born 28 February 1947 in Gliwice-Sośnica) is a former Polish football striker, the second all-time highest goal scorer for the Polish national team. For his national team, ...

, soccer player *

Emil Ludwig Emil Ludwig (25 January 1881 – 17 September 1948) was a German-Swiss author, known for his biographies and study of historical "greats." Biography Emil Ludwig (originally named Emil Cohn) was born in Breslau, now part of Poland, on 25 Ja ...

, writer *

Hans Lukaschek Hans Lukaschek (22 May 1885 – 26 January 1960) was a German lawyer and politician. Lukaschek, born 1885 in Breslau (now known to English speakers by its Polish name, Wrocław), had started his political career in the Catholic Centre Party (Ger ...

; de, Silesian politician * Bobby E. Lüthge; de, screenwriter *

Alojzy Lysko Alojzy Wiktor Lysko (born 15 February 1942) is a Silesian writer and politician. He was elected to the Sejm on 25 September 2005, getting 6581 votes in 31 Katowice district as a candidate from the Law and Justice list. During the World War II Al ...

, writer and politician * Mariusz Łukasiewicz; pl, businessman *

Olgierd Łukaszewicz Olgierd Łukaszewicz (born 7 September 1946) is a Polish film actor. He has appeared in more than 60 films since his 1969 graduation from the Ludwik Solski Academy for the Dramatic Arts in Kraków. Between 2002 and 2005, he was the President of ...

, actor * Ondra Łysohorsky, poet

M

* Gottlieb Machate, chess master *

Wacław Maciejowski Wacław Aleksander Maciejowski (10 September 1792 – 10 February 1883) was a Polish historian. Maciejowski was born in Cierlicko near Cieszyn. He studied in Warsaw, Berlin, and Göttingen, and became professor of law at the University of Warsa ...

, historian *

Lech Majewski Lech Majewski (pronounced , ‘Ma-yev-ski’) (born 30 August 1953) is a Polish film and theatre director, writer, poet, and painter. Life and career Born in Katowice, Poland, Majewski studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. In the 1970 ...

, film and theatre director * Anton Franz Graf von Magnis; de, colonel * Franz Magnis-Suseno; priest, missionary man and Indonesian public figure. *

Leonard Malik Leonard Malik (25 October 1908 – 10 October 1945) was a Polish association football, footballer. He played in one match for the Poland national football team in 1930. Personal life Malik's cousin Richard Malik, Richard was also a footbal ...

; pl, soccer player * Richard Malik, soccer player * Adam Małysz, ski jumper *

Andrzej Markowski Andrzej Markowski (22 August 1924 – 30 October 1986) was a Polish composer and conductor. He was born in Lublin and died in Warsaw. He was the director of the Wrocław Philharmonic from 1965 to 1968 and founded the Wratislavia Cantans fest ...

; pl, linguist *

Martin of Opava Martin of Opava, O.P. (died 1278) also known as Martin of Poland, was a 13th-century Dominican friar, bishop and chronicler. Life Known in Latin as ''Frater Martinus Ordinis Praedicatorum'' (Brother Martin of the Order of Preachers), he is bel ...

, historian, archbishop of

Primate of Poland This is a list of archbishops of the Archdiocese of Gniezno, who are simultaneously primates of Poland since 1418.Vojtěch Martínek Vojtěch ( Czech pronunciation: ) or Vojtech is a, respectively, Czech and Slovak given name of Slavic origin. It is composed of two parts: ''voj'' – "troops"/"war(rior)" and ''těch'' – "consolator"/"rejoicing man". So, the name could be inter ...

; cs, writer *

Kurt Masur Kurt Masur (18 July 1927 – 19 December 2015) was a German conductor. Called "one of the last old-style maestros", he directed many of the principal orchestras of his era. He had a long career as the Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus O ...

, conductor *

Michael Graf von Matuschka Michael Graf von Matuschka (29 September 1888 – 14 September 1944) was a German politician who took part in the 20 July plot. Biography Matuschka was born in Schweidnitz, Silesia (today Świdnica, Poland) and studied law at the Univers ...

, politician *

Joachim Marx Joachim Jerzy Marx (born 31 August 1944) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Besides Poland, he has played in France. On the national level, he played for Poland national team (23 matches/10 goals) and was ...

, soccer player *

Zygmunt Maszczyk Zygmunt Paweł Maszczyk (born 3 May 1945, in Siemianowice Śląskie) is a retired Polish football player. He played mostly for Ruch Chorzów. He played for the Poland national team (36 matches/0 goals) and was a participant at the 1974 FIFA ...

, soccer player *, admiral *

Martin Max Martin Max (born 7 August 1968) is a German former professional footballer who played as a striker. One of the oldest winners of the Bundesliga's top scorer crown, at the age of 32 and 34, he represented four teams in his country of adoption. ...

, soccer player *

Ludwig Meidner Ludwig Meidner (18 April 1884 – 14 May 1966) was a German expressionist painter and printmaker born in Bernstadt, Silesia. Meidner is best known for his painted, drawn, and printed portraits and landscapes, but is especially noted for h ...

, painter *cardinal

Joachim Meisner Joachim Meisner (25 December 1933 – 5 July 2017) was a German cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was the immediate past Archbishop of Cologne, serving from 1989 until his resignation was accepted by Pope Francis in 2014. He previously serve ...

* Friedrich von Mellenthin, general *

Erich Mende Erich Mende (28 October 1916 – 6 May 1998) was a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He was the leader of FDP from 1960 to 1968 and the vice-chancellor of West Germany from 1963 to 1966 ...

, German politician of the FDP and CDU *

Gregor Mendel Gregor Johann Mendel, OSA (; cs, Řehoř Jan Mendel; 20 July 1822 – 6 January 1884) was a biologist, meteorologist, mathematician, Augustinian friar and abbot of St. Thomas' Abbey in Brünn (''Brno''), Margraviate of Moravia. Mendel was ...

, biologist *

Adolph Menzel Adolph Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel (8 December 18159 February 1905) was a German Realist artist noted for drawings, etchings, and paintings. Along with Caspar David Friedrich, he is considered one of the two most prominent German painters of t ...

, painter * Wolfgang Menzel, poet *Blessed Maria Merkert *

Zbigniew Messner Zbigniew Stefan Messner (; 13 March 1929 – 10 January 2014) was a Communist economist and politician in Poland. His ancestors were of German Polish descent who had assimilated into Polish society. In 1972, he became Professor of Karol Adamiecki ...

, economist, politician, prime minister of the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million ne ...

Mieszko I Tanglefoot Mieszko IV Tanglefoot ( pl, Mieszko IV Plątonogi) (c. 1130 – 16 May 1211) was Duke of Kraków and High Duke of Poland from 9 June 1210 until his death one year later. He was also Duke of Silesia from 1163 to 1173 (with his brother as co-ruler) ...

, Duke of Upper Silesia * Jan Miodek, linguist *Fr.

Leopold Moczygemba Leopold Moczygemba, OFM Conv (October 18, 1824 – February 23, 1891) was the founder of the first Polish-American parish in Panna Maria and Bandera, Texas. He was born October 18, 1824, in Groß Pluschnitz, Upper Silesia, Prussia (now Płuż ...

, founder of the first Silesian-American parish in Panna Maria, Texas. *

Helga Molander Helga Molander (born Ruth Werner; 19 March 1896 – 1986), was a German actress and mother of Hans Eysenck. Life Helga Molander was born in Königshütte, Upper Silesia, then Germany, to Jewish parents. She began her artistic career in 1918 at ...

, actress *

Helmuth James Graf von Moltke Helmuth James Graf von Moltke (11 March 1907 – 23 January 1945) was a German jurist who, as a draftee in the German Abwehr, acted to subvert German human-rights abuses of people in territories occupied by Germany during World War II. He w ...

, jurist and politician *

, historian and writer * Gustaw Morcinek, writer *

Oskar Morgenstern Oskar Morgenstern (January 24, 1902 – July 26, 1977) was an Austrian-American economist. In collaboration with mathematician John von Neumann, he founded the mathematical field of game theory as applied to the social sciences and strategic decis ...

, economist *, architect *

Moritz Moszkowski Moritz Moszkowski (23 August 18544 March 1925) was a German composer, pianist, and teacher of Polish-Jewish descent.

, composer, pianist * Czesław Mozil, singer * Paul Mross, chess master *

Bogdan Musioł Bogdan Musiol (born 25 July 1957 in Świętochłowice, Silesia, Poland) is an East German-German bobsledder who competed from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. The former shot putter started pushing bob sleighs in 1977 for pilot Horst Bernh ...

, bobsledder * Joseph Musiol, politician *bishop

Jan Muskata Jan Muskata (1250 – 7 February 1320) was bishop of Kraków from 1294 to 1309. Muskata was born in Wrocław, Silesia. He was the son of a German spice trader. The name Muskata is derived from Latin, for nutmeg. He had brother named Stefan (fl ...

N

*bishop

Nanker Nanker (born Jan Kołda; also known as Nankier; ca. 1270–1341) was a Polish nobleman of Oksza coat of arms as well as bishop of Kraków (1320–1326) and bishop of Wrocław (1326–1341). Supporter of King Ladislaus I the Short and archbisho ...

*, poet * Albert Neisser, physician * Gustav Neumann, chess master *

Ernst Niekisch Ernst Niekisch (23 May 1889 – 23 May 1967) was a German writer and politician. Initially a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), he later became a prominent exponent of National Bolshevism. Early life Born in Trebnitz (Silesia), and b ...

, politician *

Jaromír Nohavica Jaromír Nohavica or Jarek Nohavica (born 7 June 1953, in Ostrava) is a Czech recording artist, songwriter, lyricist and poet. Early life He was born in Ostrava and has played guitar since he was 13. He began studies at the Technical Univers ...

, poet and songwriter *archbishop Alfons Nossol; pl * Erwin Nyc, soccer player

O

* Teofil Ociepka; pl, naïve painter * Jan Olbrycht, politician * Reinhold Olesch, linguist * Paul Ondrusch, sculptor *

Martin Opitz Martin Opitz von Boberfeld (23 December 1597 – 20 August 1639) was a German poet, regarded as the greatest of that nation during his lifetime. Biography Opitz was born in Bunzlau (Bolesławiec) in Lower Silesia, in the Principality of ...

, poet *

Władysław Opolczyk Vladislaus II of Opole ( pl, Władysław Opolczyk, german: Wladislaus von Oppeln, hu, Oppelni László, uk, Владислав Опольчик; ca. 1332 – 18 May 1401), nicknamed Naderspan, was Duke of Opole from 1356, Count palatine of Hu ...

, Duke of Opole * Edmund Osmańczyk, writer *

, publicist *

Stanisław Oślizło Stanisław Oślizło (born 13 November 1937 in Wodzisław Śląski) is a retired Polish footballer ( defender). Oślizło began playing football in 1953 with the locals clubs Odra Wodzisław and later Górnik Radlin. He was most of the time conn ...

, soccer player

P

Franz Pacher Franz Pacher (28 April 1919 in Prostřední Suchá, present-day Czech Republic – 3 March 2018 in Salzburg, Austria) was an Austrian civil engineer and a pioneer of modern tunneling. He is one of three men who are considered to be the chief devel ...

, engineer * Idzi Panic, historian * Helmuth von Pannwitz, general and ataman * Rudolf Pannwitz, writer and philosopher * Eduard Pant, politician *

Joseph Partsch Joseph Partsch (4 July 1851 – 22 June 1925) was a German geographer, born at Schreiberhau, Silesia. Biography He studied at the University of Breslau, receiving his doctorate in 1874, and began teaching at the university (privat-docent, ...

, geographer * Ildefons Pauler, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (1970–1988) *rev. Paul Peikert; pl *

Teodor Peterek Teodor Peterek (nicknames: ''Mietlorz'' and ''Teo''; 7 November 1910, in Świętochłowice – 12 January 1969, in Słupiec), was a Polish soccer player from the interwar period, forward, represented Ruch Chorzów and the Polish national team. ...

, soccer player *the House of

Piast The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great. Branche ...

Ryszard Piec Ryszard Leon Piec (born Richard Leon Pietz; 17 August 1913 – 24 January 1979) was a Polish footballer. Piec spent whole life in his native town of Lipiny, which now today is a district of Świętochłowice, in Upper Silesia. He played for Napr ...

, soccer player *

Wilhelm Piec Wilhelm Piec (born Wilhelm Pietz; 2 November 1915 – 4 April 1954) was a Polish soccer forward player. Wilhelm was one of the best players of interwar Poland. Together with his older (and more famous) brother Ryszard Piec, they represented Napr ...

, soccer player *

Antoni Piechniczek Antoni Krzysztof Piechniczek (born 3 May 1942) is a Polish former football player and manager. From 2007 to 2011 he was a Polish senator. Playing career Piechniczek was born in Chorzów. He played for clubs such as Naprzód Lipiny, Legia W ...

, soccer player and coach *

Franciszek Pieczka Franciszek Maksymilian Pieczka (18 January 1928 – 23 September 2022) was a Polish actor. A graduate of the National Higher School of Theatre in Warsaw (1954), he first made his debut in the theatre in Jelenia Góra. He won the award for Best ...

, actor *bishop Tadeusz Pieronek *

Jerzy Pilch Jerzy Pilch (; 10 August 1952 – 29 May 2020) was a Polish writer, columnist, and journalist. Critics have compared Pilch's style to Witold Gombrowicz, Milan Kundera, or Bohumil Hrabal. Early life and education Born and raised in the smal ...

, writer * David Pindur; cs, pl, historian *

Józef Pinior Józef Pinior (; born on 9 March 1955 in Rybnik) is a Polish politician and Member of the European Parliament for the Lower Silesian Voivodship & Opole Voivodship with the Social Democracy of Poland, part of the Socialist Group and sits on the E ...

, politician *, vicar *, Silesian politician * Heinz Piontek, poet and writer *, actor * Leonard Piontek, soccer player *

Sepp Piontek Josef Emanuel Hubertus "Sepp" Piontek (born 5 March 1940) is a German former Association football, footballer and manager. Playing career Born in Breslau, now Wrocław. Piontek started his playing career with VfL Germania Leer. Between 1963 and ...

, soccer player and coach * Richard Pipes, historian *

Łukasz Piszczek Łukasz Piotr Piszczek (; born 3 June 1985) is a Polish professional footballer who plays for III liga club Goczałkowice-Zdrój. He is primarily positioned as a right-back, but is capable of playing as a centre-back. He began his senior career ...

, soccer player *

Bartholomaeus Pitiscus Bartholomaeus Pitiscus (also ''Barthélemy'' or ''Bartholomeo''; August 24, 1561 – July 2, 1613) was a 16th-century German trigonometrist, astronomer and theologian who first coined the word ''trigonometry''. Biography Pitiscus was born to ...

, mathematician and astronomer * Marek Plawgo, athlete *the House of Pless *

Lukas Podolski Lukas Josef Podolski (; born Łukasz Józef Podolski, , on 4 June 1985) is a German professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ekstraklasa club Górnik Zabrze. Known for his powerful and accurate left foot, he is known for his explosive ...

, soccer player *

Ernest Pohl Ernest Pohl (3 November 1932 – 12 September 1995), a.k.a. Ernst Pol, was a Polish football player. He was born in Ruda (now Ruda Śląska), Poland and died in Hausach, Germany. Career Pohl scored 39 goals in 46 international matches for Pola ...

, soccer player *

Hugo von Pohl Hugo von Pohl (25 August 1855 – 23 February 1916) was a German admiral who served during the First World War. He joined the Navy in 1872 and served in various capacities, including with the new torpedo boats in the 1880s, and in the ''Reic ...

, admiral * Ewald Stefan Pollok, historian * Yosef Porat, chess master *

Hans Poelzig Hans Poelzig (30 April 1869 – 14 June 1936) was a German architect, painter and set designer. Life Poelzig was born in Berlin in 1869 to Countess Clara Henrietta Maria Poelzig while she was married to George Acland Ames, an Englishman. Uncerta ...

, architect *

Vincenz Priessnitz Vincenz Priessnitz, also written Prießnitz (sometimes in German ''Vinzenz'', in English ''Vincent'', in Czech ''Vincenc''; 4 October 1799 – 26 November 1851) was a peasant farmer in Gräfenberg, Austrian Silesia, who is generally considered ...

, hydrotherapist *

Alfred Pringsheim Alfred Pringsheim (2 September 1850 – 25 June 1941) was a German mathematician and patron of the arts. He was born in Ohlau, Prussian Silesia (now Oława, Poland) and died in Zürich, Switzerland. Family and academic career Pringsheim came ...

, mathematician * Ernst Pringsheim Sr., physicist * Ernst Pringsheim Jr., biochemist and botanist *

Nathanael Pringsheim Nathanael Pringsheim (30 November 1823 – 6 October 1894) was a German botanist. Biography Nathanael Pringsheim was born at Landsberg, Prussian Silesia, and studied at the universities of Breslau, Leipzig, and Berlin successively. He graduat ...

, botanist *, railway magnate *

Maximilian von Prittwitz Maximilian “Max” Wilhelm Gustav Moritz von Prittwitz und Gaffron (27 November 1848 – 29 March 1917) was an Imperial German general. He fought in the Austro-Prussian War, the Franco-Prussian War, and briefly in the First World War. Fami ...

, general *the *, Silesian politician *, actor

R

* Friedrich Wilhelm von Reden, engineer * Jan Reginek; pl, politician *rev. Tomasz Reginek; pl, politician *

Eva Gabriele Reichmann Eva Gabriele Reichmann (16 January 1897 – 15 September 1998) was an eminent German historian and sociologist. From 1945 on she conducted research on anti-Semitism. Reichmann was Jewish. Life Eva Gabriele Reichmann (née ''Jungmann'') was bo ...

, historian and sociologist *, known as ''Philo vom Walde'', poet *

Hanna Reitsch Hanna Reitsch (29 March 1912 – 24 August 1979) was a German aviator and test pilot. Along with Melitta von Stauffenberg, she flight tested many of Germany's new aircraft during World War II and received many honors. Reitsch was amon ...

, aviator *, politician *

Bolko von Richthofen Bolko von Richthofen (September 13, 1899 – March 18, 1983) was a German archaeologist and a distant relative of the family of Manfred von Richthofen, the "Red Baron". He is sometimes confused with his distant cousin and namesake, Karl Bolko von ...

, archeologist * Ferdinand von Richthofen, traveller, geographer *

Hermann von Richthofen Hermann Manfred Georg Freiherr von Richthofen, GCVO (20 November 1933 in Breslau – 17 July 2021 in Berlin) was a German diplomat. He was a great nephew of Manfred von Richthofen, the "Red Baron".Lothar von Richthofen Lothar Siegfried Freiherr von Richthofen (27 September 1894 – 4 July 1922) was a German First World War fighter ace credited with 40 victories. He was a younger brother of top-scoring ace Manfred von Richthofen (the ''Red Baron'') and a di ...

, fighter pilot *

Manfred von Richthofen Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of ...

, fighter pilot *

Wolfram von Richthofen Wolfram Karl Ludwig Moritz Hermann Freiherr von Richthofen (10 October 1895 – 12 July 1945) was a German World War I flying ace who rose to the rank of ''Generalfeldmarschall'' in the Luftwaffe during World War II. Born in 1895 into a fa ...

, fighter pilot, General Field Marshal * Ryszard Riedel, blues/rock vocalist *

Fritz Riemann Fritz Riemann (2 January 1859, Weistritz, near Schweidnitz – 25 November 1932, Erfurt) was a German chess master. Born in Silesia (then Prussia), he was a chess pupil of Adolf Anderssen in Breslau. In 1876, he won a match against Arnold Schot ...

, chess master *

Günther Rittau Günther Rittau (born 7 August 1893 in Königshütte (Silesia); died 6 August 1971 in Munich) was a German cinematographer and film director. After study of science in Berlin, Rittau started his career in 1919 at the documentary-film department ...

, camera operator and film director * Horst Rittner, chess master *

Abraham Robinson Abraham Robinson (born Robinsohn; October 6, 1918 – April 11, 1974) was a mathematician who is most widely known for development of nonstandard analysis, a mathematically rigorous system whereby infinitesimal and infinite numbers were reincorp ...

, mathematician *

Julius Roger Julius Roger (23 February 1819 – 7 January 1865) was a German medical doctor, entomologist, and folklorist who worked in Ratibor, in Upper Silesia, most notable for having arranged (and raised the necessary monies) to build hospitals in Groß ...

, entomologist and folklorist * Ottomar Rosenbach, physician * Philipp Roth, cellist * Walenty Roździeński; pl, industrialist and poet *

Tadeusz Różewicz Tadeusz Różewicz (9 October 1921 – 24 April 2014) was a Polish poet, playwright, writer, and translator. Różewicz was in the first generation of Polish writers born after Poland regained its independence in 1918, following the century of f ...

, poet * Johann Christian Ruberg, pioneer in the metallurgy of

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

Hans-Ulrich Rudel Hans-Ulrich Rudel (2 July 1916 – 18 December 1982) was a German ground-attack pilot during World War II and a post-war neo-Nazi activist. The most decorated German pilot of the war and the only recipient of the Knight's Cross with G ...

, fighter pilot, colonel *

Andrzej Rudy Andrzej Rudy (born 15 October 1965) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Playing career Born in Ścinawa, Rudy started his career in football with Odra Ścinawa (1981–83). He debuted professionally with Ślą ...

, soccer player * Otto Rüster, chess master *

Wanda Rutkiewicz Wanda Rutkiewicz (née Błaszkiewicz) ( 4 February 1943 – 12–13 May 1992) was a Polish mountain climber and computer engineer. She was the first woman to reach the summit of K2 and the third woman (first European woman) to summit Mount Ev ...

, mountain climber *

Józef Rymer Józef Rymer (1882–1922) was a Polish and Silesian activist and politician. Rymer was born in Zabełków on February 2, 1882. Before the First World War he was an activist in the Zjednoczenie Zawodowe Polskie (Polish Union of Unions), a Polish l ...

, politician

S

Julius von Sachs Julius von Sachs (; 2 October 1832 – 29 May 1897) was a German botanist from Breslau, Prussian Silesia. He is considered the founder of experimental plant physiology and co-founder of modern water culture. Julius von Sachs and Wilhelm Kno ...

, botanist * Otto Sackur, chemist *

Valery Salov Valery Salov (born 26 May 1964) is a Russian chess grandmaster who was once ranked the third best player in the world. Competitive chess career Salov was awarded the International Master title in 1984 and the Grandmaster title in 1986. He was ...

, chess grandmaster * Saint John Sarkander, priest *the House of

Schaffgotsch The House of Schaffgotsch is the name of an old and influential Silesian noble family which dates back to the thirteenth century. History Around 1240, the first Schaffgotsch appears in a Silesian document as "Sibotho de nobili Familia Ovium" (" ...

Hans Ulrich von Schaffgotsch Hans Ulrich von Schaffgotsch (28 August 1595 – 24 July 1635) was a Silesian nobleman and Generalfeldwachtmeister who fought in the Silesian front of the Thirty Years' War. He was falsely convicted of treason and executed following a purge wit ...

, general *

: de, industrialist * Raphael Schäfer, soccer player * Reinhard Schaletzki, soccer player * Robert Schälzky, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (1936–1948) *cardinal

Leo Scheffczyk Leo Scheffczyk (; 21 February 1920 – 8 December 2005) was a German cardinal and theologian. He was a long-time theologian at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and one of the strongest advocates for orthodoxy during the long pon ...

, theologian *

Theodor von Scheve Theodor von Scheve (11 June 1851 – 19 April 1922) was a German chess master and writer. Scheve was born in Cosel in the Prussian Province of Silesia. An army officer by profession, Scheve lived in Breslau, where he co-founded the ''Schachver ...

, chess master *bishop Emanuel von Schimonsky; de * Friedrich Schleiermacher * Ludwig Schmitt, chess master *

August Schneider Gerhard August Schneider (6 January 1842 – 14 January 1873) was a Norwegian artist and illustrator of folk tales. Biography (Gerhard) August Schneider was born in Flekkefjord in the county of Vest-Agder, Norway. He was educated from Stava ...

; de, politician * August Scholtis; de, pl, writer *

Arnold Schottländer Arnold Schottländer (2 April 1854 – 9 September 1909) was a German chess master. Born in Münsterberg (now Ziębice), Silesia, he was one of the chess pupils of Adolf Anderssen. He tied for 8-9th at Leipzig 1879 (the 1st DSB Congress, Bert ...

, chess master * Heinrich Schulz-Beuthen, composer *

Peter Schumann Peter Schumann (born 11 June 1934) is the co-founder and director of the Bread and Puppet Theater, Bread & Puppet Theater. Born in Silesia, he was a sculpture, sculptor and dancer in Germany before moving to the United States in 1961. In 1963 he f ...

, artist, puppeteer, theatre director * Johann Gottlieb Schummel; de, writer * Theodor Emil Schummel, entomologist * Caspar Schwenckfeld, theologian and writer *

Hanna Schygulla Hanna Schygulla (; born 25 December 1943) is a German actress and chanson singer associated with the theater and film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. She first worked for Fassbinder in 1965 and became an active participant in the New German ...

, actress * Karl Sczodrok; pl, writer *bishop Leopold von Sedlnitzky * Josef von Sedlnitzky; de * Paul Segieth; de, painter * Oskar Seidlin, writer *

, economist * Gustavus Sidenberg, financier * Janusz Sidło, athlete *

Tomasz Sikora Tomasz Sikora (born 21 December 1973) is a former Polish biathlete. Life and career Sikora was born in Wodzisław Śląski. In 1993, he finished second in 10 km sprint at the Junior World Championships in Ruhpolding. He was world champio ...

, biathlete *

Angelus Silesius Angelus Silesius (9 July 1677), born Johann Scheffler and also known as Johann Angelus Silesius, was a German Catholic priest and physician, known as a mystic and religious poet. Born and raised a Lutheran, he adopted the name ''Angelus'' (Lati ...

, poet * Edward Simoni; de, pan flute musician * Gerhard Skrobek, sculptor *archbishop Wiktor Skworc; pl *

Aleksandra Śląska Aleksandra Śląska (4 November 1925 – 18 September 1989) was a Polish film actress. She appeared in 18 films between 1948 and 1983. Born in Katowice, Upper Silesia, she left for Warsaw after World War II. She was buried in the Powązki ...

, actress *

Henryk Sławik Henryk Sławik (16 July 1894 – 23 August 1944) was a Polish politician in the interwar period, social worker, activist, and diplomat, who during World War II helped save over 30,000 Polish refugees, including 5,000 Polish Jews in Budapest, ...

, diplomat * Bohdan Smoleń, comedian * Michał Smolorz; pl, publicist *

Franciszek Smuda Franciszek Smuda (; born 22 June 1948) is a Polish Association football, football Coach (sport), coach and former footballer who also holds a German passport. As a player, he spent his career playing for clubs in Poland, the United States and Ge ...

, soccer player and coach *

Monika Soćko Monika Soćko (née Bobrowska; born 24 March 1978) is a Polish chess player who holds the FIDE titles of Grandmaster (GM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She won the Polish women's chess championship eight times (in 1995, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2013 ...

, chess grandmaster *Emanuel Sperner, mathematician *Edith Stein, philosopher, Roman Catholic saint *Hugo Steinhaus, mathematician *Fritz Stern, historian *

, physicist *Ernst Steinitz, mathematician *Feliks Steuer, Silesian educationist *Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz, general *Moritz von Strachwitz, writer *Pavle Jurišić Šturm, Serbian general *Czesław Suszczyk, soccer player *Carl Gottlieb Svarez, jurist *Dariusz Świercz, chess grandmaster *Waldemar Świerzy, poster artist *rev. Józef Szafranek; :pl:Józef Szafranek, pl, politician *Karina Szczepkowska-Horowska, chess grandmaster *Thomas Szczeponik, Silesian politician *rev. Leopold Szersznik (Leopold Jan Šeršník); :pl:Leopold Szersznik, pl, bibliophile *Sławomir Szmal, handball player *Józef Szmidt, athlete *Zygfryd Szołtysik, soccer player *rev. Emil Szramek; :pl:Emil Szramek, pl (born Emil Michael Schramek) *Edward Szymkowiak, soccer player

T

*Siegbert Tarrasch, chess grandmaster *Max Tau, writer *Adam Taubitz, musician *Johannes Thiele (chemist), Johannes Thiele, chemist *Wolfgang Thierse, politician *Georg Thomalla, actor *Harry Thürk, writer *prince-bishop Johannes V. Thurzo; :de:Johannes V. Thurzo, de *

, writer *Henryk Tomaszewski (mime), Henryk Tomaszewski, mime *Klaus Töpfer, politician *Alfons Tracki, priest *Ludwig Traube (physician), Ludwig Traube, physician *Moritz Traube, biochemist *Wilhelm Traube, chemist *Oscar Troplowitz, pharmacist, inventor of Nivea *rev. Jiří Třanovský, pastor and hymnwriter, the "Luther of the Slavs" *Paul Tschackert, theologian and historian *Szczepan Twardoch; :pl:Szczepan Twardoch, pl, writer *Sebastian Tyrała, soccer player

U

*Tomáš Ujfaluši, soccer player *Alexander Ulfig; :de:Alexander Ulfig, de, philosopher and sociologist *Arnold Ulitz; :de:Arnold Ulitz, de, writer *rev. Carl Ulitzka; :de:Carl Ulitzka, de, Silesian politician *Kurt Urbanek; :de:Kurt Urbanek, de, politician *Zacharias Ursinus, theologian and author of the Heidelberg Catechism

V

*Julius von Verdy du Vernois, general and military writer *Hieronymus Vietor, printer and publisher *Ingmar Villqist; :sv:Ingmar Villqist, sv, writer

W

*Andrzej Waligórski; :pl::Andrzej Waligórski, pl, actor and poet *Henryk Waniek; :pl:Henryk Waniek, pl, painter and writer *Walter Warzecha, admiral *Krzysztof Warzycha, soccer player *Franz Waxman, composer *Martin Websky; :de::Martin Websky, de, mineralogist *Karl Weigert, pathologist *Erich Weinitschke, chess master *Edmund Weiss, astronomer *Friedrich Weißler, lawyer *rev. Augustin Weltzel; :pl:Augustin Weltzel, pl, historian *Henry Wenceslaus, Duke of Oels-Bernstadt, Governor of Silesia (1629–1639) *Carl Wernicke, neurologist *archbishop Stefan Wesoły; :pl:Stefan Wesoły, pl *Robert Więckiewicz, actor *Ernest Wilimowski, soccer player *Wincenty of Kielcza, poet *Franz von Winckler; :de::Franz von Winckler, de, industrialist *Johann Heinrich Winckler, physicist and philosopher *Hubert von Tiele-Winckler; :de:Hubert von Tiele-Wincler, de, industrialist *Eva von Tiele-Winckler; :de:Eva von Tiele-Winckler, de, diakonissa *Walter Winkler, soccer player *Witelo ca.1230-ca.1300, physicist *Paul Wittich, mathematician and astronomer *Erwin von Witzleben, field marshal *Piotr Włostowic, Peter Wlast, palatine *Gerard Wodarz, soccer player *Erich Peter Wohlfarth, physicist *Józef Wojaczek, priest, member of the Mariannhillers, Mariannhill Missionaries. *Rafał Wojaczek, poet *Balduin Wolff, drawer and painter *Konstanty Wolny; :pl:Konstanty Wolny, pl, politician *Johann Gottlob Worbs; :de:Johann Gottlob Worbs, de, historian *Jerzy Wostal, soccer player *Dariusz Wosz, soccer player *Remus von Woyrsch, general *Tomasz Wylenzek, canoer *Klaus Wyrtki, geophysicist

Y

*Peter Yorck von Wartenburg, Peter Graf Yorck von Wartenburg, jurist and politician

Z

*Rudolf Žáček; :cs:Rudolf Žáček, cs, historian *Adam Zagajewski, poet *Vilém Závada; :cs:Vilém Závada, cs, poet *Jolanta Zawadzka, chess grandmaster *Karl Abraham Zedlitz, Karl Abraham von Zedlitz, politician *Hans Zenker, admiral *Alfons Zgrzebniok; :pl:Alfons Zgrzebniok, pl, military officer and politician *Jerzy Ziętek, politician *Krystian Zimerman, pianist *archbishop Damian Zimoń *Benedict Zuckermann, scientist *Arnold Zweig, writer *Stefanie Zweig, writer

The major Silesian cities

*Bielsko-Biała *Bohumín *Brzeg *Bruntál *Bytom *Cieszyn *Chorzów *Frýdek-Místek *Gliwice *Głogów *Görlitz *Hoyerswerda *Jelenia Góra *Jeseník *Katowice *Karviná *Kłodzko *Kluczbork *Krnov *Legnica *Lubin *Oleśnica *Opava *Opole *Ostrava *Mysłowice *Nysa, Poland, Nysa *Prudnik *Pszczyna *Racibórz *Ruda Śląska *Rybnik *Tarnowskie Góry *Tychy *Wałbrzych *Wrocław *Zabrze *Zielona Góra *Żagań

Literature

* Norman Davies and Roger Moorhouse: ''Microcosm: Portrait of a Central European City'', London: Jonathan Cape, 2002. * Marek Czapliński, Elżbieta Kaszuba, Gabriela Wąs, Rościsław Żerelik: ''Historia Śląska'', Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego, 2002. * Hugo Weczerka: ''Handbuch der historischen Stätten: Schlesien''. Stuttgart: Alfred Kröner Verlag, 2003. . * ''Historia Górnego Śląska'', ed. Joachim Bahlcke, Dan Gawrecki, Ryszard Kaczmarek, Dom Współpracy Polsko-Niemieckiej, Gliwice 2011. . * Arno Herzig, Krzysztof Ruchniewicz, Małgorzata Ruchniewicz: ''Śląsk i jego dzieje'', Wydawnictwo Via Nova, Wrocław 2012. {{ISBN, 978-83-60544-91-4

Nobel laureates

Alphabetical order

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

Z

The major Silesian cities

Literature

See also