Oppermann was born into a long-established family of craftsmen during the
Weimar Republic and grew up in
Wernigerode. His father was an engineer and master electrician, his grandfather a
master cooper. At the end of the
World War II, Oppermann decided on painting as his career choice at the age of fifteen and began writing at the same time. After graduating from the Städtisches Fürst-Otto-Gymnasium, now the Gerhart-Hauptmann-Gymnasium Wernigerode, Oppermann left the
GDR out of political conviction and studied at the
Hochschule für bildende Künste in West Berlin from 1950. Oppermann initially devoted himself to art education with Ludwig Gabriel Schrieber (sculpture) and
Curt Lahs (painting) and then switched to free painting as a master student of
Ernst Schumacher. In 1952, during a trip to Paris, he met
Günter Grass, the later
Nobel Prize for Literature winner, with whom he had been friends since their years of study together at the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts. In the 1960s Oppermann became known through his first exhibitions in Berlin. In his art, he strove to convey a "humane mission". In this sense, he felt committed to the Central German painting tradition. The period around 1960 also saw the beginning of his friendship with the Polish literary and theater critic Andrzej Wirth. Oppermann was also a member of the "Berliner Neue Gruppe" and published his first volume of literary poetry with etchings "
Altea" in 1962. He spent working stays in Spain, in the Villa Romana in
Florence and from 1967 onwards on the island of
Elba. From 1970 to 1985, Oppermann ran a studio on Elba. On the occasion of a first Latin America trip with exhibitions in
Bogotá and
Caracas, a newspaper review by Luis Freres referred to Oppermann as a "Prusiano-Latino" for the first time. The term can be traced back to Oppermann's in-depth examination of the Prussian past, which resulted from his claim to political-historical enlightenment, as well as to his emotional attachment to Spain (German: "engagierter Preuße und Lateinamerikaner"). Numerous solo exhibitions subsequently took Oppermann to Caracas, Lima, New York City, São Paulo, and many European capitals such as Berlin, Brussels, Paris, London and
Prague. In 1971 he was appointed professor at his alma mater, today's
Universität der Künste (UdK), where he was appointed professor. Oppermann taught painting here for 25 years. He worked for many years in university politics, was
Senator of the UdK, represented colleges and universities on the Broadcasting Council. From 1989 until his death, Oppermann ran a studio on Rambla de las Flores in
Barcelona alongside his workshop in Berlin. Today, his works can be found in many museums, such as the
Jewish Museum in Berlin,
Kupferstichkabinett Berlin, Landesmuseum
Bonn,
Kupferstichkabinett Dresden, Biblioteca Nacional de
Madrid, Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin as well as in public institutions and banks. In 1995, Gebrüder Mann Verlag, Berlin, published a comprehensive biography of the painter under the title "Karl Oppermann – Prusiano-Latino". In 1996 he moved the center of his life from Berlin to
Veckenstedt in the Harzvorland. From 2007 to 2019, Oppermann was chairman of the association
Kinder-Atelier Harz e. V., which he initiated and is based in Wernigerode. After numerous smaller poetry publications, he published his first volume of memoirs in 2005 under the title
Klatschmohn und Silberstift. The follow-up volume
Wechselgesang appeared in 2007 and
Nachschlag in 2010. In September 2010, Oppermann donated his entire oeuvre of prints to the Wernigerode Cultural Foundation. == "Karl Oppermann Foundation" ==