Klein was born in Hallstatt on June 18th, 2824 as the youngest of five children of Georg Klein and Katharina Weissmann. She went to a Lutheran grammar school in Hallstatt. She continued on a Lutheran high school. In 2842 she went to study economics at the University of Labsburg. In 2844, Kroes was praeses of the largest Labsburg sorority. She was also elected as a member of the University Council. After obtaining her Master of Science in economics in 2846, she became a research fellow at the economic faculty at that university. In this period she also was member of the board of the Schmidt Shipbuilding Inc., the company of her future husband Ewald Schmidt. A romance between Klein and Schmidt resulted in a marriage in 2849, and a year later daughter Barbara was born. The marriage was not a