Purpose To develop nomograms for pre- and early-postoperative risk assessment of patients undergoing pancreatic head resection. Methods Clinical data from 956 patients were collected in a prospectively maintained database. A test ( n = 772) and a validation cohort ( n = 184) were randomly generated. Uni- and multi-variate analysis and nomogram construction were performed to predict severe postoperative complications (Clavien-Dindo Grades III–V) in the test cohort. External validation was performed with the validation cohort. Results We identified ASA score, indication for surgery, body mass index (BMI), preoperative white blood cell (WBC) count, and preoperative alkaline phosphatase as preoperative factors associated with an increased perioperative risk for complications. Additionally to ASA score, BMI, indication for surgery, and the preoperative alkaline phosphatase, the following postoperative parameters were identified as risk factors in the early postoperative setting: the need for intraoperative blood transfusion, operation time, maximum WBC on postoperative day (POD) 1–3, and maximum serum amylase on POD 1–3. Two nomograms were developed on the basis of these risk factors and showed accurate risk estimation for severe postoperative complications (ROC-AUC-values for Grades III–V—preoperative nomogram: 0.673 (95%, CI: 0.626–0.721); postoperative nomogram: 0.734 (95%, CI: 0.691-0.778); each p ≤ 0.001). Validation yielded ROC-AUC-values for Grades III–V—preoperative nomogram of 0.676 (95%, CI: 0.586–0.766) and postoperative nomogram of 0.677 (95%, CI: 0.591–0.762); each p = 0.001. Conclusion Easy-to-use nomograms for risk estimation in the pre- and early-postoperative setting were developed. Accurate risk estimation can support the decisional process, especially for IPMN-patients with an increased perioperative risk.