German Nobel Laureates: Portraits
The Nobel Prize is the highest honour that scientists and writers can receive for their work. Since the Swedish Nobel Foundation awarded its first medal to the German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen in 1901, Germans have been among the most frequent recipients of this distinction: the Nobel Prize has been awarded to German scientists some 80 times. Read more about the lives and accomplishments of the 20 contemporary German Nobel laureates.
All Portraits
An unusual approach made Georg Bednorz a pioneer in the field of superconductivity – and Physics Nobel Prize laureate in 1987.
He opened up totally new perspectives: Gerd Binnig was honoured with the Nobel Prize in Physics for his trailblazing development of the scanning tunnelling microscope.
Johann Deisenhofer was honoured with the 1988 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his important contribution to research into photosynthesis.
During a rich and varied research career Manfred Eigen has focused his attention on countless different questions. He received the 1967 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his pioneering work on extremely fast processes at the young age of 40.
Solid surfaces have an immense influence on chemical processes. Gerhard Ertl, Chemistry Nobel Prize winner in 2007, analysed them in a groundbreaking way.
With its award of the 1999 Literature Nobel Prize to Günter Grass the Swedish Academy honoured the author’s literary commitment to ensuring history is not forgotten.
Peter Grünberg, Physics Nobel Prize winner in 2007, discovered the giant magnetoresistance effect, which opened up new developmental paths in electronics.
Theodor Hänsch revolutionised time measurement and significantly advanced the development of precision sceptroscopy. For this work he was awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics.
How light becomes life: Robert Huber helped to decipher the process of photosynthesis – and was honoured with the 1988 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his efforts.
Wolfgang Ketterle was honoured with the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on Bose-Einstein condensate, a new state of matter.
Herbert Kroemer received the Physics Nobel Prize in 2000 for the far-reaching development of semiconductor heterostructures.
Hartmut Michel received the 1988 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his significant contribution towards an understanding of photosynthesis.
Herta Müller confronts oppression and dictatorship with a poetic idiom. The work of the 2009 Literature Nobel Prize winner is also politically significant.
Erwin Neher was honoured with the 1991 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for groundbreaking discoveries on the function of ion channels in body cells.
Searching for the blueprint of life: Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her work on how genes control embryonic development.
Bert Sakmann made a decisive contribution to proving the existence of ion channels and recognising their significance for the human body. For this work he received the 1991 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Reinhard Selten’s trailblazing contributions to the theory of non-cooperative games have enriched economics and earned him the 1994 Economics Nobel Prize.
Horst Störmer won the 1998 Physics Nobel Prize for the discovery of a fascinating quantum fluid.
Klaus von Klitzing received the 1985 Nobel Prize in Physics for a discovery that has had a decisive impact on today’s measuring technology.
Harald zur Hausen was honoured with the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine. He recognised that viruses could cause cancer. His work made possible vaccination against cervical cancer.
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