List of Famous people named Franz

Franz Kafka was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typically features isolated protagonists facing bizarre or surrealistic predicaments and incomprehensible socio-bureaucratic powers. It has been interpreted as exploring themes of alienation, existential anxiety, guilt, and absurdity. His best known works include "Die Verwandlung", Der Process, and Das Schloss. The term Kafkaesque has entered the English language to describe situations like those found in his writing.

Franz Schmidt, also known as Meister Franz or Frantz Schmidt, was an executioner in Hof from 1573 to April 1578, and from 1 May 1578 till the end of 1617. He was the executioner of Nuremberg. He left a diary in which he detailed the 361 executions he performed during his 45 year career.

Franz Müntefering is a German politician. He was Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from 2004 to 2005 and again from 18 October 2008 to 13 November 2009. He served as Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, as well as Vice-Chancellor, from 2005 to 2007.

Franz Josef Strauss was a German politician. He was the long-time chairman of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) from 1961 until 1988, member of the federal cabinet in different positions between 1953 and 1969 and minister-president of the state of Bavaria from 1978 until 1988. Strauss is also credited as a co-founder of European aerospace conglomerate Airbus.

Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia, and monarch of other states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, from 2 December 1848 until his death. From 1 May 1850 to 24 August 1866 he was also President of the German Confederation. He was the longest-reigning ruler of Austria and Hungary, as well as the sixth-longest-reigning monarch of any country in European history.

Franz Anton Beckenbauer is a German former professional footballer and manager. In his playing career he was nicknamed Der Kaiser because of his elegant style, dominance and leadership on the field, and also as his first name "Franz" is reminiscent of the Austrian emperors. He is widely regarded to be one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. A versatile player who started out as a midfielder, Beckenbauer made his name as a central defender. He is often credited as having invented the role of the modern sweeper (libero).

Franz Rogowski is a German actor and dancer. He appeared in films by Michael Haneke, Christian Petzold and Terrence Malick.

Franz Moritz Wilhelm Marc was a German painter and printmaker, one of the key figures of German Expressionism. He was a founding member of Der Blaue Reiter, a journal whose name later became synonymous with the circle of artists collaborating in it.

Franz Liszt was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor, music teacher, arranger, and organist of the Romantic era. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time. He was also a writer, philanthropist, Hungarian nationalist, and Franciscan tertiary.

Franz Klammer is a former champion alpine ski racer from Austria. Klammer overwhelmingly dominated the downhill event for four consecutive World Cup seasons (1975–78). He was the gold medalist at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, winning the downhill at Patscherkofel by a margin of 0.33 seconds with a time of 1:45.73. He won 25 World Cup downhills, including four on the Hahnenkamm at Kitzbühel. He holds the record for the most victories (four) on the full course at Kitzbühel.

Franz Xaver Kroetz is a German author, playwright, actor and film director. His plays have been translated and performed internationally.

Franz Wagner is a German college basketball player for the Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten Conference. Listed at 6 feet 9 inches (2.06 m) and 220 pounds (100 kg), he plays the shooting guard position.

Franz Artur Viehböck is an Austrian electrical engineer, and was Austria's first cosmonaut. He was titulated „Austronaut“ by his country's media. He visited the Mir space station in 1991 aboard Soyuz TM-13, returning aboard Soyuz TM-12 after spending just over a week in space.

Franz Burda was a German publisher. He inherited his father's publishing business, which he developed into what is now the Hubert Burda Media conglomerate.

Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast oeuvre, including more than 600 secular vocal works, seven complete symphonies, sacred music, operas, incidental music and a large body of piano and chamber music. His major works include "Erlkönig", the Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667 , the Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759 , the ”Great” Symphony No. 9 in C major, D. 944, the String Quintet, the three last piano sonatas, the opera Fierrabras, the incidental music to the play Rosamunde, and the song cycles Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise.

Franz Sacher was an Austrian confectioner, best known as the inventor of the world-famous chocolate cake, the Sachertorte.

Franz Lehár was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is The Merry Widow.

Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen, Erbsälzer zu Werl und Neuwerk was a German conservative politician, diplomat, Prussian nobleman and General Staff officer. He served as Chancellor of Germany in 1932 and as Vice-Chancellor under Adolf Hitler from 1933 to 1934.

Franz Schausberger is an Austrian politician (ÖVP) and historian. From 24 April 1996 to 28 April 2004 he was Landeshauptmann (governor) of Salzburg.

Franz Josef Degenhardt was a German poet, satirist, novelist, and – first and foremost – a folksinger/songwriter (Liedermacher) with decidedly left-wing politics. He was also a lawyer, bearing the academic degree of Doctor of Law.