Werner Paul Zwietnig-Rotterdam was born and grew up in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, (heavily bombed during World War II).

He continued teaching in the spring semesters at Harvard University.1975:Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Art, Whitney Museum, New York NY.

Paul Rotterdam was awarded the medal of honor for science and art from the Republic of Austria.2007 Retrospective exhibition of drawings at the Leopold Museum, Vienna.

In 2014 he publishes a selection of public lectures in German (Hirmer Verlag, Munich) and English (University of Chicago Press): "Wild Vegetation- From Art to Nature".

In November 2014 he had a public discussion with the philosopher Konrad Paul Liessmann at the Leopold Museum in Vienna covering the topic of the sublime which in Modernism has become an important criterion to measure progress in art.