Anton Joseph Johann Maria de Waal (5 May 1837 – 23 February 1917) was a German Christian archeologist and Roman Catholic church historian.

De Waal was born in Emmerich am Rhein, then in the Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg in the Kingdom of Prussia, on 5 May 1837,[2] As a young man, he studied theology at the seminary in Münster.

[2] On 19 July 1868, De Waal became chaplain of the German National church of Santa Maria dell'Anima in Rome.

In 1876 de Waal obtained from Pope Pius IX permission to change the statutes of "Erzbruderschaft zur schmerzhaften Muttergottes der Deutschen und Flamen" (English: Confraternity of Our Lady of Sorrows of the German and Flemish) to take care of the church of Santa Maria della Pietà in Camposanto dei Teutonici and the adjoining cemetery.

In addition to his academic and pastoral work, de Waal wrote biographies in German of popes of his day (Leo XIII, Pius X and Benedict XV) as well as historical narratives and amateur theater pieces.