Paul von Hindenburg

About Paul von Hindenburg

Paul von Hindenburg (1847–1934) was a highly influential German field marshal and statesman whose career peaked late in life. He is primarily remembered for his central role in World War I, where he served as Chief of the General Staff, and later as the second President of the Weimar Republic, ultimately appointing Adolf Hitler as Chancellor in 1933. MIT's Pantheon project recognizes this profound geopolitical impact, ranking him at #912 in historical importance worldwide, underscoring his pivotal influence on 20th-century European history.

Despite this high historical ranking, Hindenburg's contemporary digital presence shows a relative lack of public interest, presenting an "Attention Gap." He accrued 1.1 million annualized Wikipedia views in 2025. To contextualize this, this represents an overattention factor of +4x compared to his importance rank, suggesting he receives significantly more modern attention than his historical weight might predict, a common trend for figures tied to major 20th-century political shifts.

However, this attention may not be entirely stable; his 2025 Momentum, comparing Q1 to Q3 views, shows a notable decline of -16%, even as his year-over-year growth remains slightly positive at +2.8%.