German orchestral and opera director best remembered for his interpretations of the music of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss.

At his family's urging, Knappertsbusch studied philosophy at the University of Bonn. However, he also pursued his interest in music and in 1908 began studying at the Cologne Conservatory under Fritz Steinbach and Otto Lohse. After five years as director of the opera company in Elberfeld (1913–18), he moved on to Leipzig and Dessau and in 1922 was appointed to succeed Bruno Walter as director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. In 1936 Knappertsbusch was ousted from his post as opera director at Munich, partly because Hitler disliked his conducting style. He went to Vienna, where he became director of the Vienna Opera and was also a guest conductor with the Vienna Philharmonic.

Knappertsbusch returned to Munich and the Bavarian State Opera after World War II. He often conducted at the Bayreuth festivals, and many critics believe that his finest performance was the Parsifal that he conducted at Munich and again at Bayreuth in 1951. He made a number of recordings.