Rudolf Köpke (23 August 1813 – 10 June 1870) was a German historian born in Königsberg.
From 1832 he studied theology in Berlin, where his interest changed to history under the influence of Leopold von Ranke (1795–1886).
With Georg Waitz (1813–1886), Wilhelm von Giesebrecht (1814–1889) and Siegfried Hirsch (1816–1860), he was an early member of the so-called "Ranke school" of historians.
From 1838 to 1842, he taught classes at the Joachimsthal Gymnasium in Berlin and eventually became associated with the Monumenta Germaniae Historica.
Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Dichters nach dessen mündlichen und schriftlichen Mittheilungen".