[1][2] Bäumer has been described by Vandana Parthasarathy, writing in The Hindu, as a "renowned Indologist, one of the foremost expounders of Kashmir Saivism and a well-known figure in the field of inter-religious dialogue".

She pursued higher studies in Philosophy, Religion, Theology and Music at the Universities of Salzburg, Wien, Zurich, Rome and Munich between 1959 and 1967.

Her Ph.D. thesis Creation as Play: The concept of Lila in Hinduism, its Philosophical and Theological Significance was presented the University of Munich where she secured her doctorate of philosophy in 1967.

[13]: 24 Surekha Dhaleta, in an article in the Times of India, described her as passionate about Kashmir Shaivism, as manifest in the commentaries of its leading commentator Abhinavagupta.

She quotes Dr. Bäumer thus; "There is a lot of misrepresentation and misunderstanding about tantra, which forms the core of Kashmir Shaivism and has been generally misunderstood as black magic or witchcraft.