Renate Dollinger was born Rose Renate Sandberger in Breig, a mountain village in Silesia, Germany. (1924) She grew up there and in Breslau, fleeing to England on the Kinder-transport. (1939) She lived in a youth hostel in London for several years, learning English and attending art school. In 1943 she enlisted in the Land Army, and, as a member of the Royal Timber Corps, felled trees in Wales. In 1945 she joined the American forces, entering Germany as a civilian interpreter with the occupying Third Army. After two years of duty and travel there, including a futile search for her mother, she came to the United States to join her sister.
Renate Sandberger and Gerry Dollinger (1923-2004) met almost immediately at the Oakland Jewish Community Center and were married six weeks later.
Renate Dollinger paints mainly in oil, but has also done a considerable amount of work in watercolor, gouache and hand tinted etchings. She has exhibited widely in the Bay Area, and is represented in many private collections throughout the country.
