 In 1937, after only three years at primary school, she moved on to secondary school in the Steglitz quarter of Berlin, then in 1942 passing her school final exams (abitur) as a pupil at the secondary school in Zossen, just outside Berlin.At school she participated in drama, playing a lead male role – that of Ferdinand in Schiller's play, Kabale und Liebe (""Intrigue and Love"") in a wartime production by the school's drama society.War ended in May 1945.