Unsere Besten
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Unsere Besten ("Our Best") was a television series shown in German public television (ZDF) in 2003. The series was the German version of the BBC series 100 Greatest Britons.
The German public was allowed to vote for the most important Germans—historical or contemporary—from a list of more than 300 people.
This list was created for two reasons:
- to exclude controversial figures from certain eras of German history, like Austrian-born Adolf Hitler and the former leader of Communist East Germany (GDR), Erich Honecker, and
- to decide beforehand who was to be considered as "German" in the first place, due to the complications of German history, which could have excluded such people as Mozart.
However, the inclusion of Nicolaus Copernicus, revered as a national hero in Poland, caused controversy, and was denounced there as reminiscent of the Nazi campaign to recast him as a German during the occupation of Poland in the Second World War.
The final list appeared as shown below (in descending order). Several rather unknown figures ranked relatively high, no doubt because of votes from fan groups and the like, for example, Silke Fritzen in the number 125 spot.
Final list
- Konrad Adenauer, the first chancellor of West Germany (1876-1967)
- Martin Luther, leader of the reformation, father of Protestantism (1483-1546)
- Karl Marx, social thinker, philosopher (1818-1883)
- Sophie and Hans Scholl, White Rose young anti-Nazi students (1921/1918-1943)
- Willy Brandt, West German chancellor in the 1970s (1913-1992)
- Johann Sebastian Bach, composer (1685-1750)
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, writer (1749-1832)
- Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the modern printing press (1400-1468)
- Otto von Bismarck, politician (1815-1898)
- Albert Einstein, scientist (1879-1955)
- Adolph Kolping, cleric (1813-1865)
- Ludwig van Beethoven, composer (1770-1827)
- Helmut Kohl, politician (born 1930)
- Robert Bosch, industrialist (1861-1942)
- Konrad Zuse, inventor (1910-95)
- Daniel Küblböck, singer (born 1985)
- Josef Kentenich, cleric (1885-1968)
- Albert Schweitzer, physician (1875-1965)
- Karlheinz Böhm, actor (born 1928)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer (1756-91)
- Helmut Schmidt, politician (born 1918)
- Regine Hildebrandt, politician (1941-2001)
- Alice Schwarzer, feminist journalist (born 1942)
- Thomas Gottschalk, TV showmaster (born 1950)
- Herbert Grönemeyer, musician (born 1956)
- Michael Schumacher, sportsman (auto racing) (born 1969)
- Ludwig Erhard, politician (1897-1977)
- Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, physicist (1845-1923)
- Günther Jauch, TV journalist (born 1956)
- Dieter Bohlen, music producer (born 1954)
- Jan Ullrich, sportsman (cycling) (born 1973)
- Steffi Graf, sportswoman (tennis) (born 1969)
- Samuel Hahnemann, medic (1755-1843)
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, theologian (1906-1945)
- Boris Becker, sportsman (tennis) (born 1967)
- Franz Beckenbauer, sportsman (football) (born 1945)
- Oskar Schindler, anti Nazi industrialist (1908-1974)
- Nena, singer (born 1960)
- Hans-Dietrich Genscher, politician (born 1927)
- Heinz Rühmann, actor (1902-1994)
- Harald Schmidt, cabaret artist (born 1957)
- Frederick II of Prussia ("Frederick the Great") (1712-1786)
- Immanuel Kant, philosopher (1724-1804)
- Patrick Lindner, singer (born 1960)
- Hartmut Engler, singer (Pur) (born 1961)
- Hildegard von Bingen, writer and musician (1098-1179)
- Heino, singer (born 1938)
- Richard von Weizsäcker, politician (born 1920)
- Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg, military officer (1907-1944)
- Marlene Dietrich, actress and singer (1901-1992)
- Robert Koch, medic (1843-1910)
- Joschka Fischer, politician (born 1948)
- Karl May, writer (1842-1921)
- Loriot (Vicco von Bülow), satirist (born 1923)
- Albertus Magnus, scholar (1200-1280)
- Rudi Völler, sportsman (football) (born 1960)
- Heinz Erhardt, comedian (1909-1979)
- Roy Black, singer (1943-1991)
- Heinz-Harald Frentzen, sportsman (auto racing) (born 1967)
- Wolfgang Apel, animal welfare activist (-)
- Alexander von Humboldt, scientist (1769-1859)
- Peter Kraus, singer (born 1939)
- Wernher von Braun, rocket scientist (1912-1977)
- Dirk Nowitzki, sportsman (basketball) (born 1978)
- Campino, singer (Die Toten Hosen) (born 1962)
- Franz Josef Strauß, politician (1915-1988)
- Sebastian Kneipp, medic (1821-1897)
- Friedrich Schiller, writer (1759-1805)
- Richard Wagner, composer (1813-1883)
- Katarina Witt, sportswoman (figure skating) (born 1965)
- Fritz Walter, sportsman (football) (1920-2002)
- Nicole, singer (born 1964)
- Friedrich von Bodelschwingh, cleric (1831-1910)
- Otto Lilienthal, flying pioneer (1848-1896)
- Marion Gräfin Dönhoff, editor (1909-2002)
- Thomas Mann, writer (1875-1955)
- Hermann Hesse, writer (1877-1962)
- Romy Schneider, actress (1938-1982)
- Sven Hannawald, sportsman (ski jumping) (born 1974)
- Elisabeth of Bavaria ("Sissi"), royal consort (1837-1898)
- Willy Millowitsch, actor (1909-1999)
- Gerhard Schröder, politician (born 1944)
- Joseph Beuys, artist (1921-1986)
- Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher (1844-1900)
- Rudi Dutschke, student leader (1940-1979)
- Karl Lehmann, cleric (born 1936)
- Beate Uhse, erotica entrepreneur (1919-2001)
- Die Trümmerfrauen ("rubble women")
- Carl Friedrich Gauss, mathematician and physicist (1777-1855)
- Helmut Rahn, sportsman (football) (1929-2003)
- Albrecht Dürer, artist (1471-1528)
- Max Schmeling, sportsman (boxing) (1905-2005)
- Carl Benz, automobile pioneer (1844-1929)
- Frederick II, emperor (1194-1250)
- Reinhard Mey, singer-songwriter (born 1942)
- Heinrich Heine, writer (1797-1856)
- Georg Elser, Hitler assassin (1903-1945)
- Konrad Duden, linguist (1829-1911)
- James Last, composer (born 1929)
- Uwe Seeler, sportsman (football) (born 1936)
- Jenny de la Torre Castro, "Angel of the Homeless" (-)
- Erich Gutenberg, economist (1897-1984)
- Emanuel Lasker, chess player (1868-1941)
- Rudolf Steiner, philosopher (1861-1925)
- Edith Stein, theologian (1891-1942)
- Farin Urlaub, musician (Die Ärzte) (born 1963)
- Xavier Naidoo, singer (born 1971)
- Nicolaus Copernicus, astronomer (1473-1543) ** see note above **
- Adam Riese, mathematician (1492-1559)
- Gottlieb Daimler, automobile pioneer (1834-1900)
- Erich Kästner, writer (1899-1974)
- Rosa Luxemburg, politician (1871-1919)
- Bertolt Brecht, writer (1898-1956)
- Theodor Heuss, politician (1884-1963)
- Otto I the Great, monarch (912-973)
- Sigmund Freud, psychoanalyst (1856-1939)
- Christine Licci, Citibank chief (-)
- Wilhelm Busch, writer (1832-1908)
- Hildegard Hamm-Brücher, politician (born 1921)
- Udo Lindenberg, musician (born 1946)
- Eugen Drewermann, cleric (-)
- Ferdinand Sauerbruch, physician (-)
- Peter Maffay, musician (-)
- Joseph Kardinal Frings, cleric (archbishop of Cologne) (1887-1978)
- Silke Fritzen, generally unknown student (born 1984)
- Max Planck, natural scientist (-)
- Johannes Rau, politician (-)
- Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Brothers Grimm (-), linguists
- Baron Münchhausen, entertainer (-)
- Wilhelm II, emperor (-)
- Rudolf Augstein, journalist and publisher (-)
- Heinrich Böll, writer (-)
- Ralf Schumacher, sportsman (auto racing) (born 1975)
- Anne Frank, writer and Nazi victim (-)
- Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, monarch (-)
- Sigmund Jähn, cosmonaut (-)
- Franziska van Almsick, sportswoman (swimming) (-)
- Clemens August Graf von Galen, theologian and resistance fighter (-)
- Ludwig II, king of Bavaria (-)
- Carl Friedrich Zeiss, optician (-)
- Hildegard Knef, actress and singer (-)
- Levi Strauss, entrepreneur (jeans) (-)
- Sepp Herberger, football coach (-)
- Klaus Kinski, actor (-)
- Werner von Siemens, entrepreneur and physicist (-)
- Ferdinand Porsche, automobile engineer (-)
- Peter Scholl-Latour, journalist (-)
- August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, writer (-)
- Siegfried and Roy, illusionists and tamers (-)
- Christoph Langen, sportsman (bobsledding) (-)
- Michelle, singer (-)
- Manfred von Ardenne, physicist (1907-1997)
- Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, universal scholar (-)
- Arthur Schopenhauer, philosopher (-)
- Kurt Tucholsky, writer (-)
- Karl (born 1920) and Theo Albrecht (born 1922), entrepreneurs (Aldi)
- Joseph Ratzinger, cardinal (born 1927) (became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005)
- Werner Heisenberg, physicist (-)
- Harald Juhnke, actor (1929-2005)
- Till Eulenspiegel, entertainer (-)
- Götz George, actor (-)
- Rudolf Diesel, inventor (-)
- Stefan Raab, musician and TV showmaster (-)
- Hans Albers, singer and actor (-)
- Nina Hagen, singer (-)
- Johannes Kepler, astronomer (-)
- Hans Rosenthal, TV showmaster (-)
- Rupert Neudeck, Cap Anamur founder (-)
- Dieter Hildebrandt, cabaret artist (-)
- Marie-Theres Kroetz Relin, actress and housewife (-)
- Pater Kilian Saum, cleric (-)
- Hans Söllner, singer (-)
- Gregor Gysi, politician (-)
- Arminius, der Cherusker, Germanic leader (-)
- Günter Grass, writer (born 1927)
- Inge Meysel, actress (1910-2004)
- Hans Hartz, musician (-)
- Karl Lagerfeld, fashion designer (-)
- Oliver Kahn, sportsman (football) (born 1969)
- Gerd Müller, sportsman (football) (-)
- Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin, airship pioneer (-)
- Nikolaus August Otto, inventor (-)
- Grete Schickedanz, Quelle mail-order entrepreneur (1911-1984)
- Clara Zetkin, women's rights activist (-)
- Hannah Arendt, writer (-)
- Roman Herzog, politician (-)
- Hermann Oberth, space physicist (1894-1984)
- Karl Valentin, cabaret artist (-)
- Frank Schöbel, singer (-)
- Jakob Fugger, entrepreneur (1459-1525)
- Henry Maske, sportsman (boxing) (-)
- Helmut Zacharias, violinist (-)
- Michael Ballack, sportsman (football) (born 1976)
- Bernhard Grzimek, animal filmer (1909-1987)
- Richard Strauss, composer (-)
- Edmund Stoiber, politician (-)
- Klaus Störtebeker, pirate (-)
- Peter Frankenfeld, TV showmaster (-)
- Mildred Scheel, physician (-)
- Claudia Schiffer, model (-)