Born in Emleben in 1953, with 3 siblings, Gabriele Stötzer trained as a medical-technical assistant, then obtained her high school diploma at evening school, and in 1973 began studying at the University (PH) Erfurt. She struggled there with the ideologized content of her studies, was expelled in 1976, and imprisoned the same year for protesting against the expatriation of a critical singer. She spent a year in the Hoheneck women's prison. Afterward, she became an important female figure in the male-dominated underground art scene of the East German dictatorship. Through photography, weaving, Super 8 films, and performance, she developed her own "image of a woman" with herself and her friends, both as a model for art and life. Since 2009, Gabriele Stötzer has been exhibited and recognized internationally.