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ItIn order to have achieved the fame that is accorded him, it is necessary for Dumbledore to have done something that had major repercussions in the Wizarding world, in order to have achieved the fame that is accorded him. Otherwise, why would his being Hogwarts' headmaster garnerhave garnered that much acclaim, even despite it being the only major school in England. Headmasters, like teachers, generally have limited direct influence, no matter how much their students accomplish. Dumbledore had apparently been offered the post of Minister for Magic, which he declined, and he has had many other honours bestowed upon him, not least of which (in his opinion) is his selection as one of the wizards appearing on Chocolate Frog cards. A headmaster is not typically singled out as, "possibly the best wizard in our lifetime." Granted, Dumbledore was academically brilliant, as revealed in ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'', but it seems that his defeating Grindelwald is what crystallized his ascendancy in the Wizarding public's collective minds. Thus Grindelwald provides a necessary foil to Dumbledore in his younger days. When their epic battle took place in 1945, Dumbledore would have been 64-years-old and in the prime of his powers. Grindelwald was, possibly, a little younger; he had been expelled from Durmstrang and took refuge at his aunt's home the summer after Dumbledore's graduation.
ThereAlso, there is a resort town in Switzerland, just north of the Eiger, named Grindelwald, as well as a village with that name in Tasmania, Australia. It is unknown whether either town was the inspiration for this character's name.
