1990-1996 - studies philosophy and German modern literature at Jena, Berlin and Groningen
September 1996 - completes university study with a thesis on Hegel and Marx (see Books: Vom Kopf auf die Füße? Zur Hegelrezeption des jungen Marx (From the head to the feet? On the Hegel perception of young Marx), Bonn 1997 )
will finish shortly her doctorate in economics
1989 - joins the SED (Socialist Unity Party of GDR)
1991-1995 - Member of the Party Executive Board of the PDS (Party of Democratic Socialism)
1998 - PDS candidate for direct election to the German Bundestag in the city of Dortmund (result: 3,25% of first votes and 2,12% of second votes)
October 2000 - June 2007 - Member of the Executive Bureau of the PDS, later Linkspartei.PDS
2004 - elected to the European Parliament (result: 6,1% of the votes for the PDS)
June 2007 - elected to the Executive Board of the party DIE LINKE (The LEFT)
March 2009 - elected to be candidate for German elections on the party list of the LEFT party in Northrhine-Westphalia and direct candidate in the city of Düsseldorf
2009 - elected to the German Parliament (result in constituency: 9,7% of first votes for Sahra Wagenknecht, 9,9 % of second votes for the LEFT)
Spokesperson on Economic Policy of LEFT parliamentary group
Wahnsinn mit Methode – Finanzcrash und Weltwirtschaft