Orff was a friend of Kurt Huber, one of the founders of the resistance movement ' (the White Rose), who was condemned to death by the and executed by the Nazis in 1943.
Orff je soustanovitelj »Guentherjeve šole« za gimnastiko, glasbo in ples v Münchnu, kjer je bil od leta 1925 do svoje smrti vodja glasbenega oddelka.