Moser-Rath received her doctorate in 1949 from the
University of Vienna with the publication of her thesis:
Studien zur Quellenkunde und Motivik obersteirischer Volksmärchen aus der Sammlung Pramberger, which was an analysis of the narratives in Irish fairy tales. She took her first job at the Austrian Folkculture Museum (
Österreichischen Museum für Volkskunde). In 1955 she married Hans Moser, who was the Director of the Bavarian Folk Museum (Bayerischen Landesstelle für Volkskunde) in
Munich, but who was also an Austrian native. In 1969 she went to the
University of Göttingen as an assistant professor to work under Professor
Rolf Wilhelm Brednich on the
Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales (Enzyklopädie des Märchens). In 1982 she became a full professor there. She is known primarily for the quality of her work on the
Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales, and her analysis of literature from early modern times, and especially of
Catholic sermons from the
baroque period. ==Works (selection)==