In 1971, she earned her doctor's degree in Sinology from Heidelberg University.
From 1973 to 2004, she successively worked as lecturer and professor at the University of Bonn.
She was director of the Department of Sinology of the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg in 1998, and held that office until 2000.
During that time, she worked with her husband Richard Motsch, Tsinghua Case Museum and Commercial Publishing House to sort out Qian Zhongshu's Foreign Language Notes.
[2][3][4] In 1968, she was married to Richard Motsch (莫律祺), who is a lawyer.