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Professor Ludwig von Drake is one of Walt Disney's cartoon and comic book characters. He was first introduced on September 24, 1961, as the presenter (and singer of "The Spectrum Song") in the cartoon An Adventure in Color, part of the first episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color on NBC. Said to be an uncle of Donald Duck, he was supposedly named after either Ludwig von Mises or Ludwig van Beethoven. He is described as a scientist, lecturer, psychologist, and road traveler. The character displayed his "expert" knowledge on a variety of subjects in eighteen episodes of the classic anthology series, as well as on a number of Disneyland Records.

Ludwig von Drake comes from Vienna, Austria and has a fascination with knowledge. Since his youth he has been trying to obtain as many diplomas, in any science, as possible. When he is consulted by other family members, it is a running gag that he almost invariably turns out to have a university degree relevant for whatever information they are seeking. He is often shown as having little social competence, however, and is often portrayed as being very forgetful, sometimes even somewhat senile. In the comics Ludwig usually visits with Donald Duck and Donald's nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie. On occasion, Daisy Duck would coax (or even trick) the professor into giving lectures and tours for her ladies' club. Sometimes Ludwig and Gyro Gearloose have competed as to who is the greater inventor.

In the comic strips by the famous Disney cartoonist Al Taliaferro, Donald and his nephews usually call him 'Uncle Ludwig'. However, theories vary between authors about his precise relationship to the family. Some creators have presumed that his family is simply a German branch of the Duck family that hasn't been included in any major stories. In the story "[http://coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=W+LVD+++1-02 Duckburg, U.S.A.]", published in Ludwig von Drake #1 (November 1961), Professor Ludwig von Drake arrives in Duckburg by train, and it is shown that Donald Duck had never seen this Austrian relative before, not even in a picture. Grandma Duck, Uncle Scrooge McDuck, Daisy Duck, Gladstone Gander, Huey, Dewey and Louie, Gus Goose, and Gyro Gearloose also appear in this same story waiting to know Ludwig at the train station, and Grandma enthusiastically exclaims, "Professor Ludwig von Drake! Such a nice-sounding name!". According to Don Rosa's personal family tree, the (unauthorized) theory is he would have to be married to Donald Duck's aunt, Matilda McDuck, making him Scrooge's brother-in-law. Nevertheless, Ludwig exclaims in the Christmas story "[http://coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=W+CPGK++1-06 The Cuckoo Clock Caper]" that he and Scrooge are "joined in good fellowship".

In another theory, Humperdink Duck's early life before marrying Elvira Coot could be nebulous enough to pin him and Ludwig as half-brothers, thus making Ludwig a granduncle to Donald. In the story "[http://coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=W+LVD+++3-03 The Family Tree Spree]", Donald scares of seeing Ludwig's specs on the floor and thinks about them as "Uncle Ludwig's specs". In the end of this same story, it's revealed that Ludwig and Donald are on a same family tree, wherein they both have an ancestor called Colombust Duck, who tried to prove the world was flat. So it's possible to conclude that Ludwig, whose Austrian father obviously owns the surname von Drake, has an ancestor with the surname Duck because of his mother. In this case, Humperdink really could be regarded as half-brother on mother's side of Ludwig and both of their parents would be descendants from the failed geographer Colombust Duck.

Ludwig Von Drake has not been a contender in any CBUB matches.