Peter Gotthardt (born 22 August 1941) is a German composer, musician and publisher.
Film melodies composed by him (more than 500 in total) are known to a wide audience, including major successes such as the pieces Wenn ein Mensch lebt and Geh zu ihr [de] performed by the Puhdys from the 1973 DEFA feature film The Legend of Paul and Paula, directed by Heiner Carow.
Born in Leipzig, from 1961 to 1966, Gotthardt studied piano, correpetition, conducting and composing at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" in Berlin.
In 1965, he wrote his first composition for a documentary film by Winfried Junge [de].
In 1991, he founded his own music publishing company and has subsequently also written various compositions for industrial films.