Franz Xaver Winterhalter (20 April 1805 – 8 July 1873) was a German artist best known for his airy, idealized portraits of European royalty that were influenced by the Rococo and Neoclassical painting. Born in a small village in Germany's Black Forest, Franz Xaver Winterhalter left his home to study painting at the academy in Munich. Before … [Read more...]

Caspar David Friedrich, (born on September 5, 1774, Greifswald, Pomerania [now in Germany] - died on May 7, 1840, Dresden, Saxony), was a 19th-century German Romantic landscape painter, generally considered the most important German artist of his generation. His vast, mysterious, atmospheric landscapes and seascapes proclaimed human helplessness … [Read more...]

Otto Hahn (1879-1968) was a German Chemist, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1944 – for his work in discovering nuclear fission. He was a distinguished chemist who worked in the pioneering fields of radio chemistry. After the Second World War, he was a campaigner against the use of nuclear weapons and became an influential … [Read more...]

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog (Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer), also known as Wanderer above the Mist or Mountaineer in a Misty Landscape, is an oil painting c. 1818 by the German Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich. It has been considered one of the masterpieces of Romanticism and one of its most representative works. It currently resides in … [Read more...]

Carl Spitzweg (born on February 5, 1808 – died on September 23, 1885) was a German romanticist painter, especially of genre subjects. He is considered to be one of the most important artists of the Biedermeier era. The Biedermeier period refers to an era in Central Europe between 1815 and 1848, during which the middle class grew in number and arts … [Read more...]

Emmy Noether (March 23, 1882 - April 14, 1935) was a German mathematician known for her landmark contributions to abstract algebra and theoretical physics. She was named Amalie, but always called "Emmy". She was the eldest of four children, but one of only two that survived childhood. Her brother, Fritz also made a career of mathematics. Her father … [Read more...]

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (born on February 3, 1809 – died on November 4, 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early romantic period. Felix Mendelssohn wrote Overture to a Midsummer Night's Dream and founded the Leipzig Conservatory of Music. A grandson of … [Read more...]

Alexander von Humboldt (born Sept. 14, 1769, Berlin—died May 6, 1859, Berlin), a German naturalist and explorer who was a major figure in the classical period of physical geography and biogeography—areas of science now included in the earth sciences and ecology. With his book Kosmos he made a valuable contribution to the popularization of science. … [Read more...]

Few names provoke as much debate as Karl Marx. To some, he's the visionary who exposed the injustices of capitalism and fought for workers’ rights. To others, he's a controversial figure whose ideas inspired revolutions and reshaped global politics. Love him or loathe him, Karl Marx is undeniably one of the most influential thinkers of the 19th … [Read more...]

"I had neither mother nor father. Richard was everything to me. He is the only one who has given me love. " - Cosima Wagner Cosima Wagner (born December 25, 1837, Bellagio, Lombardy, Austrian Empire [now in Italy] - died April 1, 1930, Bayreuth, Germany), wife of the composer Richard Wagner and director of the Bayreuth Festivals from his death … [Read more...]