She was born in Munich, the first daughter of Professor Ernst Wilhelm Eschmann, a renowned Professor of Philosophy, and Mistress Charlott Eschmann, a retired psychotherapist. She grew up in Roman Catholic Ticino (Switzerland), where her parents" house had become a constant meeting place of members of the Eranos Society.
In 1969, she submitted her Doctor of Philosophy thesis on the topic of "The idea of history in Aztec religion".
There, she encountered, for the first time, Vishwanath Baba in Joranda. She explored the phenomenon which Srinivas labelled as Sanskritization, id est (that is) the continuing incorporation of "prehistoric" and popular beliefs into "high" traditions. Her work on Jagannath and Narasimha exemplified the relation of tribal deities and the Jagannath cult of Puri.
From 1975, Eschmann was the head of the New Delhi branch of Heidelberg"s South Asia Institute.
Anncharlott Eschmann died on April 6, 1977, in New Delhi.
As a member of the Orissa Research Projekt, Eschmann went to India in autumn 1970.
