Emy Roeder was born on January 30, 1890, in Würzburg. Roeder began her artistic training in 1912 under the sculpor Bernhard Hoetger in Darmstadt. She completed her studies in 1915 and thereafter went to Berlin, where she came in contact with many progressive artists like Belling and her future husband Herbert Gabe. She joined various artistic groups, including the Association of Radical Visual Artists. In the 1920's, Roeder achieved success as a sculptor in Berlin. She regularly participated in important exhibitions and was associated with notable artists such as Käthe Kollwitz, Ernst Barlach, and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. Despite her husband's membership in the Nazi party, Roeder was forbidden to exhibit her works. Roeder lived in Italy from 1933 until her return to Germany in 1950, when she received a teaching position, apartment, and studio from the city of Mainz. She took part in the first documenta exhibition in Kassel in 1955. Roeder died on February 7, 1971.