Ernst Adolph Meißner was a German animal and landscape painter from the Munich School and an engraver.

Ernst Adolph Meißner was born as the son of Carl Meißner and Johanna Christiane, b. Leschke was born in Dresden and baptized Evangelical Lutheran. Meißner received his training at the Dresden Art Academy, where he was matriculated from 1851 to 1855. His teachers were Robert Kummer and Ludwig Richter. He belonged to the artist circle of Otto Gebler, Christian Friedrich Mali and Heinrich Zügel .

Even as a young man he made extensive trips to Switzerland, Italy, Holland and Hungary. In 1870 he then settled in Munich. On November 20, 1880, he married Marie Magdalena Sofie Meier from Regensburg. The children Robert Ernst Wilhelm and Luise Anna Auguste Meißner emerged from this marriage.

Meißner became known for his landscapes in which he depicts the meager life of the rural population. Animals usually play a central role in the paintings. Important works were shown in an exhibition in the Munich Glass Palace in 1902; some paintings were acquired by King Albert of Saxony.