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

Norbert Walter-Borjans is a German economist and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as co-leader of the SPD since 2019. He served as minister of finance of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2010 until 2017.

Rebecca Immanuel, born Sonja Zimmer is a German actress.

Frank Thelen is a German businessman, investor and author based in Bonn, Germany.

Michael Wendler is a German pop singer and songwriter and conspiracy theorist of Polish origin. Since his breakthrough year in 1998, he has won several awards such as the prestigious Crown of the Folk Music 2012 and Media Star of Year Award in 2014. He has been under contract with Sony Entertainment Record Label for many years and has a total of six gold Records and one platinum. Wendler also writes songs and lyrics for other Schlager singers under the pseudonym Mic Skowy.

Sascha Mölders is a German professional footballer who plays as a forward for 1860 Munich in the 3. Liga.

Jan Philipp Fürchtegott Reemtsma is a German literary scholar and political activist.

Ralf Schmitz is a German comedian and actor.

Till Brönner is a jazz musician, trumpeter, singer, composer, producer and photographer.

Gabriele Susanne Kerner, better known as Nena, is a German singer and songwriter who rose to international fame in 1983 as the lead vocalist of the band Nena with the Neue Deutsche Welle song "99 Luftballons". In the same year the band re-recorded this song in English as "99 Red Balloons". Nena's re-recording of some of the band's old hit songs as a solo artist, produced by the co-composer of most of them, her former Nena band colleague and keyboard player Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, rekindled her solo career in 2002. Combined with the success of the Nena band years, she has sold over 25 million records, making her one of Germany's most successful music artists.

Janine Kunze is a German actress and television presenter. She is best known for her roles in the comedy series Hausmeister Krause – Ordnung muss sein and sketch comedy show Die Dreisten Drei, in which she participated from 2007 to 2008, replacing Mirja Boes.