Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Rußwurm (also known as Carl Friedrich Wilhelm or just von Rußwurm; 25 November 1812 in Ratzeburg, Germany[a] – 17 February 1883 in Reval (Tallinn), Estonia) was a German-Estonian pedagogue, ethnologist and historian.

His father, Johann Georg Rußwurm (1781–1848) was the rector of the cathedral school at Ratzeburger Dom [de] and later a pastor in Selmsdorf, and his uncle Johann Wilhelm Bartholomäus Rußwurm [de] was also a pastor.

After attending the cathedral school his father taught, he studied theology in Bonn and Berlin.

In 1841, he moved to the health resort town of Hapsal (now Haapsalu), where he initially worked as a teacher and later as an inspector of the local county school.

He dealt mainly with Estonian cultural history and ethnography and the genealogy of Baltic German families.