Otto Lauffer (20 February 1874 – 8 August 1949) was a German folklorist and cultural historian.
Otto Lauffer was born in Weende[1] (which is today a district of Göttingen) on 20 February 1874 and spent his childhood there, until 1886.
From 1908 until the opening in 1922, he oversaw the building of the Museum for Hamburg History, continuing in his role as director until 1946.
In the same year that the University of Hamburg was founded, Otto Lauffer was granted the first professorship in folklore in Germany, which he retained until 1939.
Lauffer died on 8 August 1949 in Hamburg, and was buried in the Ohlsdorf Cemetery there (grave reference: R9 (29-30)).