Gabi Kachold-Stötzer
Gabi Kachold-Stötzer, b. 1953 in Emleben (Thuringia). After training to be a medical technical assistant, she began studies in pedagogics in Erfurt. Expelled because of her solidarity with a fellow student, she was put "on probation" in production. In 1976 Kachold-Stötzer took part in a protest against Wolf Biermann's deprivation of citizenship, for which she was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment. These times provoked an initial creative spark in her: Kachold-Stötzer began to work and to experiment artistically, and founded the Erfurter Frauengruppe (Women's Group in Erfurt). In 1980 she took over the direction of a private gallery, which the Stasi closed the following year. In 1989 she actively participated in the citizens' movement in the GDR. Kachold-Stötzer lives and works as an artist in Erfurt.