Daniela Schadt was born on 3 January 1960 in Hanau, Germany. She completed her university entrance examination (Abitur) at the Karl Rehbein School in Hanau in 1978. She then studied political science, German studies and French literature at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, graduating with a Magister Artium degree in 1985.
She began her journalism career as an intern at the "Hanauer Anzeiger". In 1986 she became a freelance contributor to the "Nürnberger Zeitung". After a traineeship she joined the editorial staff in 1992, and continued to work there, most recently as the head of the domestic politics department, until Joachim Gauck’s election as Federal President.
Ms Schadt has been living with Joachim Gauck since 2000 and does not have any children.