She received an education at the Lettehaus and, at the age of 20, attended Marlise Ludwig's acting school at Wilmersdorfer Wilhelmsaue.
She appeared in 150 episodes of the popular radio entertainment series Pension Spreewitz on RIAS.
From 1981 to 1987, she was the narrator in the RIAS radio play series Damals war's - Geschichten aus dem alten Berlin.
She had been married since 1972 to fellow actor Klaus Sonnenschein, whom she had met at the Theater Tribüne in 1970, in their third marriage[6] and lived with him in their home in Holstein and in Berlin-Schlachtensee.
[7] In the TV film Schaumküsse (2009), Hancke and Sonnenschein made a joint appearance as a married couple, which was their last role as actors for both of them.