Born in Worbis, Province of Saxony, Saß-Viehweger grew up in Berlin where she attended school.[1] She studied jurisprudence in Berlin, Köln and Freiburg and finished in 1970 with her Second Staatsexamen; afterwards she worked as lawyer. From 1980 to 2013 she additionally acted as civil law notary.
She was member of the communal parliament in Steglitz from 1971 to 1975, and member of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin from 1975 (when her name was Barbara Saß) to 1995, and therefore, she was member of the Landtag for six successive Legislation periods, always with a direct mandate of her electoral district. She was mainly engaged in legal and domestic policy, where she was speaker of the parliamentary group of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) for many years. Furthermore, she acted in several investigation committees and she chaired the Enquete-Kommission (inquiry commission) for the administration reform in Berlin.
