Otto was born in
Petrikau, Poland, a son of Heinrich Otto and Theodora Otto née Koschelik. He was educated at the
Berlin University of the Arts (
Hochschule der Künste) in Berlin. In 1973 he was appointed professor at the University of the Arts in
Bremen, and there founded the Bremer sculpture school. In 1976 he left for
Worpswede, Germany, where he lived, worked and, after a long illness, died. Many of his works had been purchased for public spaces, including the
Torso vor Raster (1987) at the
University of Trier. A major retrospective of his work was held at the Gerhard Marcks building in Bremen in 2009, to coincide with his 80th birthday. == References ==