Famous People Born In Bern

Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza is the head of the Most Serene House of Braganza and in this capacity a claimant to the now-defunct Portuguese throne. As one of the most important figures within the European network of royal houses, Duarte Pio often attends royal events all over the world.

Swiss pop sensation Luca Hanni created history by becoming the youngest and the first non-German winner of the German talent show Deutschland sucht den Superstar. Though he had mastered the guitar and the piano at an early age, his first job was that of a bricklayer.

A pioneering figure of outside art, or Art Brut, Swiss artist Adolf Wölfli had a traumatic childhood after being abandoned by his father. Following his mother’s death, he grew up in foster homes. Arrested for an attempted assault and riddled with schizophrenia, he penned a memoir that contained his art, music, and poetry.

Max Hubacher is a Swiss actor best known for his portrayal of Willi Herold in the 2017 historical drama film, The Captain. Active since 2010, Max Hubacher was honored with the Shooting Stars Award in 2012.

While he initially studied law, Swiss singer Thomas Winkler later found his calling in heavy metal and gained fame as part of the British power metal band Gloryhammer. In late 2021, a Facebook post on the band’s page announced that Winkler had left the band.

While he once headed the Swiss National Bank, Swiss banker Philipp Hildebrand had to resign later due to the controversy surrounding the currency trading practices of his former wife. He is now dating Russian-Swiss billionaire Margarita Louis-Dreyfus and heads BlackRock as its vice chairman. He is also part of G30.

Swiss folk-pop-blues singer Sophie Hunger learned playing the piano as a child and was later introduced to jazz by her music-loving diplomat father. Known for albums such as Halluzinationen and Molecules, she has also won a Swiss Film Award for the soundtrack of the Oscar-nominated film My Life as a Courgette.

Emil Theodor Kocher was a Swiss medical researcher and physician. In 1909, Kocher became the first surgeon and first Swiss citizen to receive a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He earned the prize for his work in the pathology, physiology, and surgery of the thyroid. He was widely regarded as a leader and pioneer in the field of surgery.

Orphaned at 12, Ferdinand Hodler moved to Thurn to assist a well-known local painter, and at 18, he began his artistic career in Geneva. Remembered for his iconic pieces such as Die Nacht, he specialized in portraits and landscapes. His signature style included linear symmetry.

Swiss biologist Albrecht von Haller, who is hailed as the father of experimental physiology, grew up as a sickly child and thus often avoided sports and mastered Greek, Hebrew, and the Bible instead. Associated with the University of Göttingen, he later penned Physiological Elements of the Human Body, which revolutionized medical science.

Best known for his classic The Swiss Family Robinson, originally written in German, Swiss author and pastor Johann David Wyss was apparently inspired by Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and decided to write a tale for his sons. The book was later edited and illustrated by 2 of his sons.

Swiss folklorist and writer Johann Rudolf Wyss is best remembered for editing his father’s 1812 novel The Swiss Family Robinson. While he initially taught philosophy and then worked as a librarian, he later devoted himself to collecting folk tales. He also penned Rufst du, mein Vaterland, the previous Swiss national anthem.

Born to an Austrian diplomat, Gottfried von Einem was once imprisoned by the Nazis for helping several Jewish people escape Hitler’s torturous regime, an act that won him the Righteous Among the Nations honor posthumously. He was associated with the Berlin State Opera and several orchestras, such as the Philadelphia Symphony.

Niklaus Manuel Deutsch was not just a soldier and a statesman from Switzerland, but also a talented painter. A major figure of Swiss Renaissance art, he was initially inspired by Italian painters and later included mythological and spiritual themes in his works such as Pyramus and Thisbe.