List of Famous people born in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Sarah Ryglewski is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Bremen since 2015. In 2019, she was appointed Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Finance in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Lothar Claesges was a German cyclist. He won the gold medal in the Men's team pursuit at the 1964 Summer Olympics. He died on 12 November 2021, at the age of 79.

Rudolf "Rudi" Cerne is a German TV presenter and former figure skater. He is the 1984 European silver medalist and a two-time West German national champion. He competed at two Winter Olympics, finishing fourth in 1984.

Ralf Richter is a German actor. He debuted as the crude sailor "Frenssen" in the Academy Award-nominated 1981 film Das Boot and frequently appeared in German TV series. He played main roles in German films such as Bang Boom Bang (1999), Fußball ist unser Leben (1999) or If It Don't Fit, Use a Bigger Hammer (2002).

Florian Schneider-Esleben was a German musician. He is best known as one of the founding members and leaders of the electronic band Kraftwerk, performing his role with the band until his departure in 2008.

Renate Elly Künast is a German politician of Alliance '90/The Greens. She was the Minister of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture from 2001 to 2005 and subsequently served as chairwoman of her party's parliamentary group in the Bundestag.

Tanja Wedhorn is a German actress. She studied acting at the Berlin University of the Arts and lives in Berlin. She has two sons.

Guido Maria Kretschmer is a German fashion designer and television personality. He has worked as presenter and juror on programmes such as Shopping Queen.

Karl Ernst Thomas de Maizière is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 2009 to 2011 and 2013 to 2018, as well as Federal Minister of Defence from 2011 to 2013. He previously served as Head of the Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Affairs in the First Merkel cabinet from 2005 to 2009. Since 2009, he has been a member of the Bundestag for Meißen.

Peter Orloff is a German schlager singer, composer, producer, and songwriter. He had more than a dozen hit singles in West Germany in the 1960s and 1970s.