Wilhelm Ferdinand Pauwels ([ˈpʌu̯əls]; 13 April 1830, Ekeren – 26 March 1904, Dresden) was a Belgian history painter who lived and worked in Germany.

From 1842 to 1850, he studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp), under Gustave Wappers and Nicaise De Keyser, where he became an outstanding colorist.

His students there included Ludwig von Hofmann, Osmar Schindler, Paul Thumann and Oskar Zwintscher.

From 1870 to 1881, he produced what was considered his greatest work: twelve frescoes in the upper part of the Ypres Cloth Hall, which had been left incomplete by Charles de Groux.

In 2000, the city of Ypres acquired six paintings by Pauwels for their Municipal Art Museum at a cost of 3,250,000 Belgian Francs (approximately 80,565 Euros) [2] In 1930, Ekeren named a street in his honor and installed a memorial stone.