Pensioner and mother-of-two Lioba Bichl has worked hard her entire life.
Holding down a successful career as a hairdresser, the now 75-year-old also managed to juggle her busy work schedule with raising two children.
But now she has hardly any money to survive, and confronted German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a dramatic television interview over her measly pension allowance.
Of her €907 pension, Ms Bichl – who lives in expensive Munich – has to fork out almost €300 (or £279) for living expenses.
She told the chancellor during the RTL and Spiegel TV interview: “Ms Merkel, age poverty affects especially women. Why do you not care?
“Germany is such a rich country, but us small people are kept small.
“Women work their entire lives, raise children and then they get punished? This cannot be the case!”
In Munich, more than 20,000 retirees live on the breadline. And globally, 80 per cent of the 2.6 million people affected by poverty are women.
The number of retirees who apply for basic security benefits in Munich is also increasing, partially due to the high cost of living.
Ms Bichl has already received a lot of praise for her feisty appearance from family and friends, with many saying she should be proud of her courage to standing up to the chancellor.
She said: “I’ve been dealing with people all my life. I do not care whether it’s a Prime Minister or a beggar in front of me.”
The pensioner also believes that thanks to her perseverance, she managed to hit a nerve with Mrs Merkel.
She said: “Right after I asked my first question the corners of her mouth went down.”
The savage take down comes amid a tough week of campaigning for Angela Merkel, after she was was bombarded by shouts of “get lost” and angry boos on Tuesday.
The German Chancellor faced a barrage of loud protestors during her pre-election tour, as she stopped to give a speech to crowds of around 4,000 people at Bergisch-Gladbach.