Her father dies a few years later as officer in World War I. Like many other people in Germany she sufferes from hunger and poverty.
In 1932, after finishing her studies, Maria leaves Germany due to the political situation, heading to Cuzco, Peru where she had found a job as a teacher.
But only 9 years later, in 1941, profesor Paul Kossok shows her for the first time the mysterious lines and shapes across the "Pampa from Nazca".
And that's how it all begins.
Maria Reiche studies these geoglyphs for the rest of her life. She lives in a small hut at the margin of the pampa. An american foundation supports her financially, giving her tehnical equipment and drawing materials. But the working conditions are very rough.
In 1984 after 40 years in which she measured about 150 square kilometers, Maria Reiche is almost completely blind. This is where her research ends.
In 1992 Maria Reiche was the first foreign lady to recieve peruvian citizenship from the prseident himself. In 1993 she was distinguished with the highest peruvian decoration, the "Order of the Sun". Her work was published in a book. Dr. Maria Reiche never gave up her german citizenship. She died on 8th of June 1998.
