Barbara Steiner studied stage and costume design at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. From 1992 to 1997, she was a permanent assistant to Bert Neumann at the Volksbühne Berlin. Since 1997, she has worked as a freelance designer and has been engaged, among other venues, at the Volksbühne Berlin, Luzerner Theater, Schauspielhaus Hannover, Schauspiel Köln, Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin, Theater Bremen, and Saarländisches Staatstheater. Barbara Steiner has also collaborated with directors such as Christoph Marthaler ("Strasse der Besten"), Karin Henkel ("Rausch"), Jorinde Dröse ("Die Schockstrategie", "Jeder stirbt für sich allein"), and Sebastian Baumgarten ("Banditen"). Since 1996, she has maintained an ongoing collaboration with Michael Talke on both theatre and opera productions, including "Clavigo", "Orpheus steigt herab", "Wassa Schelesnowa", "Minna von Barnhelm", "Freischütz", "Liebestrank", and "Rigoletto".