Gabriele Rossmanith was born in Stuttgart and studied violin at the Musikhochschule Trossingen.
After obtaining her diploma in violin she studied voice at the Musikhochschule Stuttgart with Sylvia Geszty.
In 1985 she won First Prize in the Mozartfest Wettbewerb.
Upon her graduation in 1985 she joined the Staatstheater Karlsruhe, and in 1988 became an ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera, where she sang over 100 roles, including Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Micaëla (Carmen), Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Morgana (Alcina), Oscar (Un ballo in maschera), Helena (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Nedda (Pagliacci), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), Anne Truelove (The Rake’s Progress), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel) and Musetta (La Bohème).
She has enjoyed major success as Mélisande (Pelléas et Mélisande), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Blanche (Dialogues des Carmélites) and Ännchen (Der Freischütz).
Gabriele Rossmanith has performed as a guest soloist at the opera houses of Munich, Antwerp, Brussels, Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, Frankfurt, Barcelona, Toulouse, Strasbourg and the Glyndebourne Festival.
She has worked with many major directors, including Willy Decker, Christof Loy, Guy Joosten, Harry Kupfer, Bob Wilson, Marco Arturo Marelli, Peter Konwitschny, Renaud Doucet, Achim Freyer, Calixto Bieito, John Dew and Vera Nemirova, and with conductors such as Horst Stein, Christian Thielemann, Donald Runnicles, Michel Plasson, Sir Antonio Pappano, Robin Ticciatti, Silvio Varviso, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Ivor Bolton, Kirill Petrenko, Gerd Albrecht, Ingo Metzmacher, Simone Young, Kent Nagano et al.
Numerous concerts and radio and television recordings, as well as Liederabende, chanson, and chamber music programs round out her musical activities.
In 2011 the Senate of the Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg honored her with the title Kammersängerin.
Since the 2020/21 season she is Artistic Director of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera.