Zauber's career peak was the 1981 track and field season. She began by winning her first national title at the East German Indoor Athletics Championships in the 1500 m.[4] She extended her success outdoors with a win at the East German Athletics Championships where she became the first and only woman ever to run under four minutes for the 1500 m at that competition.[5] This was a lifetime best mark for the athlete and she placed seventh on the global rankings for that year.[6] She also placed second in the 3000 m behind Ulrike Bruns.[7]
She was selected to run the 3000 m for East Germany at the 1981 European Cup and she delivered her first senior international win in a championship record time of 8:49.61 minutes. The East German women won all but four of their events and were the clear winner of the team title.[8] She was chosen to represent her nation again over that distance at the 1981 IAAF World Cup and she topped the podium, nearly a second clear of future Olympic champion Maricica Puică and world record holder Silvana Cruciata.[9][10]
Zauber did not appear at any major championships after that year and her last result of note came in 1985, at the age of 26, when she was runner-up nationally in the 3000 m for a second time (this time behind Ines Bibernell).[11]
