
FAMOUS GERMANS BORN IN THE SUDETENLAND
1. Gregor Mendel, born in 1822 in Heinzendorf (Moravia)
As a naturalist and monk who lived most of his life in
Bruenn
(Brno), he discovered and established the famous laws
of genetics.
2. Ferdinand Porsche, born in 1885 in Maffersdorf near
Reichenberg.He built the first Volkswagen and the Porsche
sports car.
Porsche settled in Stuttgart where he died in 1951.
3. Kurt Godel, born in 1906 in Bruenn (Brno)
Mathematician who "turned the lens of mathematics on
itself
and hit upon his famous 'incompleteness theorem'.
4. Johann von Tepl, born around 1400 in Saaz, Bohemia.
His work "Der Ackermann aus Boehmen"
("The Farmer from Bohemia"), represents the first
major prose introducing humanism in Germany.
5. Rainer Maria Rilke, born 1875 in Prague.
Most important lyric author after the turn of the century.
He wrote numerous poems and works of prosa.
6. Bertha von Suttner, born in 1843 in Prague.
Famous writer and peace activist; received Nobel Prize
in 1905.
7. Adalbert Stifter, born in Oberplan (Boehmerwald) in
1805.
One of the most famous German writers of the 20th century.
Stifter wrote about a dozen novels, always combining
wisdom, humanism, Christian tradition, and love of nature.
Many Jews who were born in the Sudetenland (and whose
works were written in German) include:
8. Sigmund Freud, born 1856 in Freiburg (Moravia).
He was the famous founder of psychoanalysis.
9. Franz Kafka, born in 1883 in Prague
whose literary works depict modern man's predicament
of
being without recourse ("Kafkaesque").
10. Gustav Mahler, born 1860 in Kalischt, Bohemia
Famous Romantic composer who lived and worked
most of his life in Vienna.