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Paul Laubenthal was born in Cologne, the son of boatbuilder and engineer Johann Laubenthal. He trained as a graduate engineer. His brother was the painter Fritz Laubenthal.
Laubenthal was a gliding pioneer of the 1920s, both as a pilot and as a designer. His best-known models were the single-seat gliders Lore[4] and Laubenthal Württemberg, which he built for the Akaflieg Darmstadt (Darmstadt Academic Flying Group). He also designed and built, among other things, the Musterle[6] for Wolf Hirth, a replica of which is on display at the German Gliding Museum.
In April 1928, Paul Laubenthal (as a member of the Württemberg Aviation Association) traveled to the USA with fellow pilots Paul-Franz Röhre (head of the Rossitten Gliding School) and Peter Hesselbach (Darmstadt Academic Flying Group) at the invitation of the American Motorless Aviation Club. The aim of the six-month stay was to introduce German gliding technology to the United States and to assist in the establishment of an American gliding school. On July 29, 1928, Hesselbach set a new endurance gliding record there of 4 hours and 5 minutes.
On June 8, 1929, Laubenthal lost control of his aircraft during an airshow in Böblingen and crashed. He died at the scene from severe skull fractures.

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