Wolfgang is a German male given name traditionally popular in Germany and Austria. Its earliest known bearer was a tenth century saint. The name is a combination of the Old High German word wulf, meaning "wolf" and gang, meaning "path, journey". Grimm (Teutonic Mythology p. 1093) interpreted the name as that of a hero in front of whom walks the "wolf of victory". A Latin gloss by Arnoldus Emmeramensis interprets the name as Lupambulus.
Notable people called "Wolfgang" include:
- Wolfgang of Regensburg, Bavarian bishop and Catholic saint (d. 994)
- Wolfgang, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen (1492–1566)
- Wolfgang Bauer, name of at least three notable people
- Wolfgang Bolyai (1775–1856), Hungarian mathematician
- Wolfgang Borchert, German author and playwright
- Wolfgang Flür, German musician, member of Kraftwerk
- Wolfgang Gartner, an Electro House DJ
- Wolfgang Herold, producer
- Wolfgang Ketterle, German physicist
- Wolfgang Klietmann, German pathologist, microbiologist, and businessman
- Wolfgang Kosack, German Egyptologist
- Wolfgang Kuck, German volleyball player
- Wolfgang Langewiesche, German aviation expert and author
- Wolfgang Leonhard, German professor and expert on communism
- Wolfgang Loitzl, Austrian ski jumper
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austro-German composer
- Wolfgang Pauli, Austrian physicist
- Wolfgang Petersen, German film director
- Wolfgang Preiss, German actor
- Wolfgang Puck, American chef
- Wolfgang Priklopil, Austrian criminal
- Wolfgang Reitherman, German-American animator of classic Disney films
- Wolfgang Schmidt, German discus thrower
- Wolfgang Schneiderhan (violinist) (1915–2002), Austrian violinist
- Wolfgang Schneiderhan (general) (born 1946), German general
- Wolfgang Tillmans, German fine-art photographer and artist
- Wolfgang Van Halen, American Musician and member of Van Halen
- Wolfgang von Kempelen, Hungarian author and inventor
- Wolfgang von Leyden, German philosopher
- Wolfgang Wagner (1919–2010), German opera director
- Wolfgang Weichselbaumer, hurdy-gurdy craftsman
- Wolfgang Werlé, German murderer
- Wolfgang Weyrauch, German writer and playwright
- Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, 16th-century Duke of Zweibrücken
Famous quotes containing the word wolfgang:
“For thousands the world is a freak show, the images flicker past and disappear, the impressions remain flat and disconnected in the soul. Thus, they are easily led by the opinions of others, are willing to let their impressions be reordered, rearranged, and reevaluated.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)
“For precisely when concepts fail one,
Words are found at the right time.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)
“Error is to truth as sleep is to waking. I have observed that one turns, as if refreshed, from error back to truth.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)