German Contributors to Our World

Molly Pitcher (1754 – 1832) – During the Revolutionary War Battle of Monmouth, Molly (whose real name was Mary Hayes) helped her husband’s crew fire a canon after he succumbed to heatstroke.

Levi Strauss (c1829-1902) – This clothing manufacturer introduced denim as a fabric for durable work clothes.

Wernher von Braun (1912-1977) - German rocket scientist who came to the United States after World War II. His work led to developments which made it possible to fly to the moon.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) – This Nobel Prize-winning physicist fled Nazi Germany in 1933 and developed an entirely new way of thinking about the physical world.

Maria Goeppert-Mayer (1906 - 1972) – This German immigrant became a professor in nuclear physics at the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory; member of the National Society of Sciences.

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) - President of the United States from 1929-1933.

Hedy Lamarr (1914 - 2000) – This famous actress is not widely known for having received the patent (along with George Antheil) on their "Secret Communications System," designed to protect U.S. radio-guided torpedoes from being intercepted by the Nazis. Their spread spectrum technology allowed the development of cell phones, pagers, and wireless internet.

Frederich Von Stuben (1730 - 1794) - Key figure in the disciplinary training and camp sanitation procedures for George Washington during the Revolutionary War.

Karl Schurz (1829 – 1906) – German revolutionary who escaped to the U.S. He was a reporter for the New York Tribune; earned his law degree; was appointed U.S. envoy to Spain under Lincoln, U.S. Senator from Missouri, Secretary of the Interior under President Hayes.

Anna Ottendorfer (1815 -1884) – Newspaper publisher and philanthropist

Clement Studebaker (1831 – 1901) – Founder (with his brothers) of a wagon-making company which became one of the largest manufacturers of horse drawn carriages in the United States.

Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969) – World War II general who served as President of the United States from 1953-1960.

Henry (Heinz) Kissinger (1923- ) - German-born statesman who left Nazi Germany in 1933 with his parents and went on to become the Secretary of State in the Nixon and Ford administrations.