Birgit is a native of the city of Bamberg in Franconia, Northern Bavaria. She studied Realschullehramt for German and Catholic Theology at Otto-Friedrich Universität in Bamberg from 1993-1997. She received her M.A. in German Language and Literature from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2001, with a focus on second language acquisition. She also holds a Secondary Teaching Certificate in Teaching German as a Foreign Language, Certified through the State of Illinois.
Since then, Birgit is a beginning and intermediate German instructor in DePaul’s Department of Modern Languages. She has developed first and second year language courses. She likes to share German culture with movies, clips and songs. She also has researched, developed and implemented the course German Chicago for DePaul’s First Year Program, and the course German Literature 1850 to present. Birgit lives in Chicago and visits her relatives in Germany regularly. She then explores European cities with her family.