Ella was born in 1928 in East Prussia within a family with 12 children. She left her family when she was 11 years old. On her own she flew from the war towards West-Germany, with the destination the island Sylt in the Northern Sea, where she wanted to get to distant family members. She worked in the station restaurant, later was trained in hotel business, worked as a cook, as a cleaning woman and as a guesthouse keeper. With this effort she managed after 25 years to buy her own house on the island which she since then rented out as private guesthouse. She got three kids from three different men and never got married. With 83 years she managed her house on her own, having up to 15 guest at once.