Editing Gudrun Ensslin (section)

== Early life and education ==
Ensslin was the fourth of seven children, and grew up in [[Bad Cannstatt]], [[Baden-Württemberg]], [[Stuttgart]], where her father [[Helmut Ensslin]] ([[:de:Helmut Ensslin|de]]) was a pastor of the Evangelical Church.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eager |first=Paige Whaley |title=From Freedom Fighters to Terrorists : Women and Political Violence |publisher=[[Routledge]], [[Taylor & Francis]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-7546-8975-1 |location=London, New York |pages=64 |language=en}}</ref>

Ensslin was a well-behaved child who did well at school and enjoyed working with the Protestant Girl Scouts,<ref>"Als Jugendliche wird sie Gruppenführerin beim Evangelischen Mädchenwerk und aktive Gemeindehelferin, die die Bibelarbeit leistet", Gerd Koenen, ''Vesper, Ensslin, Baader'', Köln, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 2003, p. 93.</ref> and doing parish work such as organizing Bible studies. In her family, the social injustices of the world were often discussed, and she is said to have been sensitized to social problems in [[West Germany]] and the world as a whole.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Becker |first=Jillian |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1180935826 |title=Hitler's children : the story of the Baader-Meinhof terrorist gang |date=February 2014 |isbn=978-1-4918-4438-0 |location=AuthorHouse (18 Feb 2014) |pages=68–69 |oclc=1180935826}}</ref>

At the age of eighteen, Ensslin spent a year in the United States, where she attended high school in [[Warren, Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kapellen |first=Michael |title=Doppelt leben : Bernward Vesper und Gudrun Ensslin : die Tübinger Jahre |publisher=Klöpfer & Meyer |year=2005 |isbn=978-3-937667-65-2 |location=Tübingen |pages=114 |language=de}}</ref> She graduated in the honors group at the high school in 1959.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nic Dháibhéid |first=Caoimhe |title=Terrorist Histories : Individuals and Political Violence Since the 19th Century |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-317-19903-8 |location=Abingdon, Oxon, London |pages=126 |language=en}}</ref> After returning home, she finished the remaining requirements for her [[Gymnasium (school)|secondary education]].

Like her partner [[Bernward Vesper]] ([[:de:Bernward Vesper|de]]) and other members of the Red Army Faction, including [[Ulrike Meinhof]] and [[Horst Mahler]], Ensslin had excellent exam scores and received a [[scholarship]] from the [[Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes|German National Academic Foundation]]. Studying at the [[University of Tübingen]], she read education, [[English studies]], and [[German studies]]. Ensslin also met Vesper in February 1962.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Atkins |first=Stephen E. |title=Encyclopedia of Modern Worldwide Extremists and Extremist Groups |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-313-32485-7 |location=Westport, Conn. |pages=85 |language=en}}</ref>

In [[Tübingen]], together with two other students, Ensslin and Vesper organized a student workshop for new literature which led to a shoestring publishing business called ''Studio neue Literatur''. The first book produced was an [[anthology]] of poems against [[atomic weapon]]s, with prominent poets from all [[German language|German]]-speaking countries as well as a bilingual edition of poems by [[Gerardo Diego]].

In 1963 and 1964, Ensslin earned her elementary school teacher's diploma. In the summer of 1964, the couple moved to [[West Berlin]] where Ensslin began her thesis on [[Hans Henny Jahnn]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kraushaa |first=Wolfgang |title=Die RAF und der linke Terrorismus Bd. 1 |publisher=Hamburg Hamburger |year=2006 |isbn=978-3-936096-65-1 |volume=1 |pages=404 |language=German}}</ref>