Margarete Berger-Hamerschlag studied at the Kunstgewebeschule in Vienna and then began a career as an illustrator and artist. Berger-Hamerschlag also designed costumes for the theatre. Berger-Hamerschlag fled Austria as Nazism began to take a grip on the country. She and her husband Josef Berger arrived in Britain in 1936. After the outbreak of the Second World War, Josef Berger was interned for a while in the Isle of Wight. Berger-Hamerschlag taught in local youth clubs. In 1955, Berger-Hamerschlag's diaries and drawings were published as "Journey into the Fog". She was particularly well-known for her paintings of teddy boys.