Otto Gschwantler (13 April 1930 – 31 October 2016) was an Austrian philologist who was head of the Institute for Germanic Studies at the University of Vienna.

Initially trained as a shoemaker by his father, Gschwantler studied at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich under Otto Höfler.

For this thesis he was awarded the Sub auspiciis Praesidentis by President Adolf Schärf, which is the highest possible distinction for academic achievements in Austria.

[3] Along with Helmut Birkhan and Peter Wiesinger, Gschwantler belonged to the circle of Höfler's closest students, who jokingly called themselves the "Drachenrunde" ("dragon club").

He contracted Parkinson's disease in his later life after a traffic accident, and was for many years admirably cared for by his beloved wife Gertraud.