She is remembered for documenting developments in East Berlin during the Communist era and for her international assignments for Stern and later for Geo.

She developed an interest in photography while working on the editorial staff of the East German entertainment periodical Das Magazin.

[1][2] In 1966 she began to study photography under the photographer and university teacher Arno Fischer, who became her lifelong partner.

Perhaps Bergemann's most important legacy is the series of black-and-white photographs she took of everyday life in East Germany as it evolved over the years.

Later, she compiled photographic reportages about New York City, Tokyo, Paris and São Paulo; and even more recently, turning from black and white to colour, she travelled through Africa and Asia on assignments for Geo.