His father was a director and at first Peter studied art history, literature, theater and acting in Munich. He volunteered in theatres and from 1957 began to direct and produce short and documentary films. He had an interesting collaboration with Vlado Kristl on their short feature Der Topf (1963). His feature debut was the film No Shooting Time for Foxes (Schonzeit für Füchse, 1966), drama about life in post- war Germany, which immediately won the Silver Bear in Berlin. He continued to direct many short and documentary films and three years later he made his second feature film Deine Zärtlichkeiten (1969), co-directed by Herbert Vesely. His film about the Austrian artist Hundertwassers Regentag (1971) was nominated for an Oscar in the category Best Short Documentary, and for the Golden Palm in Cannes for best short film. He made documentaries about artists such as Max Ernst. His other feature films include the western comedy Potato Fritz (1976), musical biopic Spring Symphony (Frühlingssinfonie, 1983) about Clara Wieck and Robert Schumann, Caspar David Friedrich - Grenzen der Zeit (1986) biopic about the artist from the 19th century and the comedy Schloß Königswald (1988). He worked also together with his brothers who were also directors and screenwriters, Ulrich and Thomas Schamoni and the director of photography Victor Schamoni.