Born Edith Gertrud Meta Raschke in Neukölln (now part of Berlin), Rahl trained as an actress and dancer.

In 1935, she made her stage debut in Leipzig under the direction of Douglas Sirk and started her film career in 1936 with the movie The Mysterious Mister X.

She was occasionally active in German dubbing, lending her voice to Lucille Ball, Ma Gorg on the puppet series Fraggle Rock, and others.

Rahl's first marriage was to financier Theodor Reimers, her second was to producer Wilhem Sperber, and her third was to architect Werner Bürkle.

She lived in a retirement home in Munich, where her minder was Thomas Speyerer, and died of cancer in 2009.