Born on 12.12.1943 in Hanau/Main, Germany

Denomination: protestant

Marital status: widowed 1984, three adult children, four granddaughters, since 1998 remarried to Hasso von Henninges

1961 – 1980: Programmer, Systems analyst and representative in a leading shipping company

Political activities

– 1980 – 1994: Member of the Bundestag

– 1987 – 1990: Vice-Chairwoman of the Socialist Group in the Bundestag, Chairwoman of the Working Group on equal treatment of men and women

– December 1990 – October 1994: Vice-President of the German Bundestag

– Directly elected into the Bavarian Landtag as top candidate for the Bavarian Socialists in the constituency Nürnberg-Nord in 1994

– 1994 – 2000 Chairwoman of the Socialist Group in the Bavarian Landtag

– October 2002 – November 2005: Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth

– October 2005 – October 2009: Member of the Bundestag

Memberships (among others)

– Since 1972: Member of the German Socialist Party

– 1997 – 2003: Vice-Chairwoman of the German Socialist Party 1991 – 2000 Chairwoman of the Socialist Party in Bavaria

– Member of Verdi, AWO, Sozialistische Jugend Deutschlands Die Falken, AIDS-Hilfe and more

– Von 1993 – 2002 President of the Youth Organisation of the Red Cross in Bavaria

– President of the “Zentralstelle für Recht und Schutz der Kriegsdienstverweigerer aus Gewissensgründen e.V.” until October 2002

– May 2002 – October 2002: President of the German “Familienverband”

Numerous Publications: Author, Co-author and publisher of several books, among others: “Mut zur Menschlichkeit” (1992) “S.O.S. Familie” (2002)