Maria Schneider was born in Merka (Měrkow) a rural German settlement then of approximately 160 inhabitants, 10 km (6 miles) north of Bautzen and approximately 25 km (15 miles) north of the frontier with a recently created country called Czechoslovakia. Her father was a Sorbian farm worker. She left school at fifteen and embarked on a three-year commercial apprenticeship which lasted from 1938 till 1941. After this she worked as a commercial assistant and secretary.
