Klemperer

Klemperer is a German-language occupational surname literally meaning "tinker". It is suggested that in the case of the conductor's immediate family the original name was Klopper - one who knocks on doors to get people to go to Synagogue - and was later changed to the better sounding Klemperer which rhymes with Emperor.

The surname may refer to:

• Members of the prominent German family:
  • Otto Klemperer (1885-1973), Jewish German-born conductor, composer and father of Werner Klemperer
    • Werner Klemperer (1920-2000), German-American actor, son of conductor Otto Klemperer with non-Jewish mother, best known for playing Colonel Klink in Hogan's Heroes, and musician
  • Georg Klemperer (1865-1946), Jewish German medical consultant, brother of Victor and cousin to the conductor Otto Klemperer, advised his cousin in America concerning his brain tumour.
  • Victor Klemperer (1881-1960), Jewish German businessman, journalist, author and literary critic (Professor of Literature)
  • Otto Klemperer (physicist) (1899–1987), German physicist and cousin to the conductor Otto Klemperer
• David Klemperer (born 1980), German beach volleyball player
• Felix Klemperer (1866-1932), German internist
• Gustav Klemperer von Klemenau (1852–1926), German banker
• James von Klemperer (born 1957), American architect
• Klemens von Klemperer (1916-2012), German-American historian
• Paul Klemperer (born 1956), English economist and Edgeworth Professor of Economics at Oxford University
• Ralph von Klemperer, German banker
• Viktor Klemperer von Klemenau (1876–1943), German banker
• Wilhelm Klemperer (1839–1912), rabbi
• William Klemperer, American chemist and Harvard University professor
• Wolfgang Klemperer (1893-1965), German-American physicist and aerospace engineer

See also

• 134348 Klemperer, a main-belt asteroid
• Klemperer – Ein Leben in Deutschland, a German TV series