ENGINEER

Wernher von Braun

1912 - 1977

Photo of Wernher von Braun

Icon of person Wernher von Braun

Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun (US: VUR-nər von BROWN; German: [ˈvɛʁnheːɐ̯ fɔn ˈbʁaʊn]; 23 March 1912 – 16 June 1977) was a German–American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and Allgemeine SS, the leading figure in the development of rocket technology in Nazi Germany, and later a pioneer of rocket and space technology in the United States. As a young man, von Braun worked in Nazi Germany's rocket development program. He helped design and co-developed the V-2 rocket at Peenemünde during World War II. The V-2 became the first artificial object to travel into space on 20 June 1944. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Wernher von Braun is the 6th most popular engineer (down from 5th in 2019), the 23rd most popular biography from Poland (down from 20th in 2019) and the most popular Polish Engineer.

Wernher von Braun is most famous for his work on the V-2 rocket in Nazi Germany and his work on the Saturn V rocket in the United States.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of Wernher von Braun by language

Loading...

Among ENGINEERS

Among engineers, Wernher von Braun ranks 6 out of 389Before him are Gustave Eiffel, Gottlieb Daimler, Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, Mikhail Kalashnikov, and Zhuge Liang. After him are Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, William John Macquorn Rankine, Frederick Winslow Taylor, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Alexei Kosygin, and Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban.

Most Popular Engineers in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1912, Wernher von Braun ranks 8Before him are Kim Il-sung, Alan Turing, Eva Braun, Erich Honecker, Otto von Habsburg, and Jackson Pollock. After him are Milton Friedman, Michelangelo Antonioni, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, John Cage, Raoul Wallenberg, and Clara Petacci. Among people deceased in 1977, Wernher von Braun ranks 7Before him are Charlie Chaplin, Elvis Presley, Maria Callas, Edgar Adrian, Vladimir Nabokov, and Stefania Turkewich. After him are A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Clementine Churchill, Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk, Ludwig Erhard, René Goscinny, and Lee Miller.

Others Born in 1912

Go to all Rankings

Others Deceased in 1977

Go to all Rankings

In Poland

Among people born in Poland, Wernher von Braun ranks 23 out of 1,694Before him are Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686), Wisława Szymborska (1923), Fritz Haber (1868), Adam Mickiewicz (1798), Eric of Pomerania (1381), and Otto Stern (1888). After him are Janusz Korczak (1878), Isaac Bashevis Singer (1902), Erich Ludendorff (1865), Marie Leszczyńska (1703), Fedor von Bock (1880), and Władysław Szpilman (1911).

Among ENGINEERS In Poland

Among engineers born in Poland, Wernher von Braun ranks 1After him are Hans Kammler (1901), Adam Czerniaków (1880), Józef Bem (1794), Kurt Tank (1898), Henryk Dembiński (1791), Johannes Winkler (1897), Walter Thiel (1910), Konstantin Kalinin (1887), and Boris Chertok (1912).