Berben was born in Detmold, North Rhine-Westphalia. She grew up in Hamburg, where her parents ran a restaurant.

Berben has appeared in about 150 film and television productions since 1969. Until today, Berben plays leading roles in a large number of German television productions, including the sitcom Zwei himmlische Töchter in the 1970s and the comedy show Sketchup with Diether Krebs in the 1980s. One of her best-known roles is the title character, a no-nonsense police commissioner, in the long-running crime series Rosa Roth between 1994 and 2013. Among her film roles are Sergio Corbucci's western Compañeros (1970) with Franco Nero, the Thomas Mann film adaption Die Buddenbrooks (2008) and the barmaid Petra in the sport film Eddie the Eagle (2016).

After the Six-Day War in 1967, she travelled to Israel, and afterwards became the partner of the Israeli singer Abi Ofarim. Since then, she has been associated with the pro-Israel lobby and has campaigned against antisemitism. She had a son, Oliver, in 1971, but never revealed the identity of the father.