William Wauer (1866–1962) was a German sculptor and film director of the silent era.

He was born in Oberwiesenthal on 26 October 1866 the son of a Lutheran minister, Canon Johann Carl Ernst Wauer and his wife Katharine Knobloch.

He then returned to Germany to study Philosophy and Art History at the University of Leipzig.

[3] The Nazis declared both his film and his sculpture as "degenerate art" putting an immediate end to both activities.

He died in West Berlin on 10 March 1962 and is buried in the Forest Cemetery in the Dahlem district.