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Karl was born in 1934 in the Black Forest area of Germany. At the age of 14 he apprenticed as a carpenter which included decorative carving. In 1952, at the age of 18 he emigrated to Canada, finding work in Renfrew County, first as a farm laborer and later at the Brayside mill. When the mill closed he moved on to the Company's forest operations. In 1956 Karl retrained as a bricklayer and worked on construction , making his home in Pembroke where he had married a girl from neighboring Pontiac County. 1958 saw the family move to Timmins Ontario where Karl worked in the mine for 7 years. Throughout these years the challenges of providing for and raising a family left little time for his carving interests however by 1965, now working again as a bricklayer on construction throughout southern Ontario he began carving in earnest when home on weekends.

In 1976 Karl and his wife opened a shop on Pembroke Street West near the Riverside Park to sell their carvings, (she was a sculptor of Soapstone).

1977 saw Karl enter his first competition , on an international level, at the Toronto Woodcarving Exhibition, winning amongst other awards, the Special Award of Merit and the Golden Hammer Award. In subsequent years , whenever he entered he won awards.

His work will be found in private collections in Canada, Germany, England, Holland, Russia and the United States. Karl has exhibited at the Canadian National Exhibition in Ottawa and in Toronto his carvings have been part of exhibits at the Toronto Sportsman's Show and at Queens Park.

Retired now, Karl continues to carve for his own enjoyment while accepting a limited number of commissions, and selling occasionally from a large inventory built up over the years.