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

Wolke Alma Hegenbarth is a German actress, best known for starring in the sitcom Mein Leben & Ich. She is related to illustrator Hannes Hegen and the painter Josef Hegenbarth.

Rita Süssmuth is a German politician and a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Sascha Röntgen, better known by his stage name Sasha, is a German singer, songwriter, and occasional actor. He is also known by his alter ego Dick Brave, and part of the group Dick Brave & the Backbeats. Due to a legal dispute with the Welsh DJ also named Sasha, he is known as Sasha Alexander in the United States.

Maike Kohl-Richter was the second wife of former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl from 2008 until his death in 2017. She is controversial in Germany for her right-wing anti-immigrant views and support for Viktor Orbán, and for her public feud with Kohl's children and grandchildren. She has been accused of hijacking Kohl's legacy and "has been criticised by Mr Kohl’s own children for allegedly hero-worshipping the former chancellor and being obsessed" with him. She was criticized by German media, public figures and the Kohl family after Kohl's death.

Martin Schulz is a German politician who served as Leader of the Social Democratic Party 2017 to 2018, and has served as a Member of the Bundestag (MdB) since 2017. Previously he was President of the European Parliament from 2012 to 2017, Leader of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats from 2004 to 2012 and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Germany from 1994 to 2017.

Mathias Döpfner is a German business executive and journalist, who is the CEO of media group Axel Springer SE and president of the Federation of German Newspaper Publishers (BDZV).

Ralf Schumacher is a German former racing driver. He is the younger brother of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher and the pair are the only siblings to win Formula One races.

Jonas Dassler is a German stage and film actor.

Bernadette Heerwagen is a German actress. She began acting at the age of 16, and has since co-starred in the 1999 production Der Schandfleck, for which she was awarded the Bayerischer Fernsehpreis Sonderpreis in 2000. Heerwagen has gone on to star in a variety of leading and supporting roles in German and Austrian television, films, dramas and European cinema. In 2004 her leading performance in Grüße Aus Kaschmir took her to greater prominence within Germany and France.

Diana Kinnert is a German politician, political consultant, and publisher. In 2015 she became the youngest chief of staff in the history of the Bundestag when she ran the parliamentary office of Peter Hintze. She is a frequent media commentator on public policy in Germany, and is affiliated with a number of think tanks and advisory committees of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany.