List of German supercentenarians


, the Gerontology Research Group had validated the longevity claims of 59 German citizens who have become "supercentenarians", attaining or surpassing 110 years of age. 49 of these were German residents and 10 were emigrants. The oldest known German alive is Ilse Meingast, born on 14 March 1912, aged. Augusta Holtz, an emigrant to the United States, remains the oldest German citizen whose age has been verified: she lived 115 years, 79 days, from 1871 to 1986.

100 oldest Germans

RankNameSexBirth dateDeath dateAgeBirthplacePlace of death
or residence
1F3 August 187121 October 1986PosenUnited States
2Charlotte KretschmannF3 December 190927 August 2024114 years, 268 daysSilesiaBaden-Württemberg
3Charlotte BenknerF16 November 188914 May 2004114 years, 180 daysSaxonyUnited States
4Gustav GernethM15 October 190521 October 2019114 years, 6 daysPomerania (1815–1945)|Pomerania]Saxony-Anhalt
5F14 March 1912LivingBrandenburgUnited States
6F11 November 190816 July 2022113 years, 247 daysBavariaSchleswig-Holstein
7Luzia MohrsF23 March 190416 October 2017113 years, 207 daysRhinelandBrazil
8Louise SchaafF16 October 190625 April 2020113 years, 192 daysBadenUnited States
9Erna BrosigF15 January 191123 July 2024113 years, 190 daysSilesiaLower Saxony
10Mary DrymalskiF22 July 18801 December 1993West PrussiaUnited States
11Maria AulenbacherF7 November 19098 February 2023Hesse-NassauUnited States
12Adelheid KirschbaumF29 September 188321 December 1996113 years, 83 daysRhinelandUnited States
13Mathilde MangeF10 August 190628 October 2019113 years, 79 daysRhinelandNorth Rhine-Westphalia
14Anna CernohorskyF13 September 190918 September 2022113 years, 5 daysBohemiaSaxony
15Maria LaquaF12 February 18899 February 2002112 years, 362 daysRhinelandRhineland-Palatinate
16Rosa ReinF24 March 189714 February 2010112 years, 327 daysSilesiaSwitzerland
17Anna BechlerF28 September 190729 July 2020112 years, 305 daysBavariaUnited States
18Rosalia HasenkampfF14 October 188910 July 2002112 years, 269 daysRussiaNorth Rhine-Westphalia
19Hildegard LangeF12 January 19078 September 2019East PrussiaNorth Rhine-Westphalia
20Gertruda GoreckaF12 November 191125 June 2024112 years, 226 daysWest PrussiaCanada
21Lydia SmudaF6 November 19066 June 2019RhinelandHamburg
22Frieda SzwillusF30 March 190221 September 2014112 years, 175 daysAnhaltSaxony
23Marguerite PetitF5 July 188321 December 1995112 years, 171 daysLorraineFrance
24Babette EndresF1 August 191012 January 2023BavariaBaden-Württemberg
25Berta RosenbergF5 September 189628 January 2009112 years, 145 daysHesse-NassauUnited States
26Martha ReinF17 August 18746 January 1987BavariaUnited States
27Gertrud HenzeF8 December 190122 April 2014112 years, 135 daysPomeraniaLower Saxony
28F7 December 19059 April 2018112 years, 123 daysReuss-GeraBaden-Württemberg
29Ottilie ReimersF30 January 191324 May 2025HamburgSchleswig-Holstein
30Therese FennersF8 March 190623 June 2018112 years, 107 daysRhinelandNorth Rhine-Westphalia
31Elisabeth TränknerF11 August 19067 November 2018Hesse-NassauBaden-Württemberg
32Meta BerndtF9 November 188928 December 2001112 years, 49 daysPomeraniaNorth Rhine-Westphalia
33Johanna KlinkF17 January 190320 February 2015112 years, 34 daysSilesiaSaxony
34Irmgard von StephaniF20 September 18955 October 2007112 years, 15 daysHesse-NassauBerlin
35Hildegard 'Hilda' RauF31 July 191229 July 2024111 years, 364 daysWürttembergBaden-Württemberg
36Katherine BodenbenderF19 April 190516 April 2017111 years, 362 daysHesse-NassauUnited States
37Anna StyśF24 July 19081 July 2020111 years, 343 daysWest PrussiaPoland
37Katharina HagemeyerF4 August 190812 July 2020111 years, 343 daysRhinelandNorth Rhine-Westphalia
39Amy 'Amelia' HolmesF10 April 18861 March 1998WestphaliaUnited States
40Adele RodensteinF3 September 190818 July 2020111 years, 319 daysRhinelandNorth Rhine-Westphalia
41Ida SchornF4 May 18648 March 1976PomeraniaUnited States
42Anna EistermeierF28 September 191030 July 2022BavariaBavaria
43Ella NeumannF9 October 19067 August 2018BadenNorth Rhine-Westphalia
44Anna KüpperF29 December 190818 October 2020111 years, 294 daysRhinelandRhineland-Palatinate
45Elsa PeckF20 April 190228 January 2014HanoverLower Saxony
46Lina ZimmerF20 November 189228 August 2004111 years, 282 daysWürttembergBaden-Württemberg
47Hermann DörnemannM27 May 18932 March 2005111 years, 279 daysRhinelandNorth Rhine-Westphalia
48Helen JohnsonF20 July 189617 April 2008111 years, 272 daysBrandenburgUnited States
49Charlotte KlamrothF18 August 190316 May 2015111 years, 271 daysPrussian SaxonyRhineland-Palatinate
50Magdalene RegenerF5 March 189119 November 2002111 years, 259 daysHesse-NassauLower Saxony
51Pauline RaißleF16 December 190529 August 2017111 years, 256 daysWürttembergBaden-Württemberg
52Margot PetzoldF14 January 191120 September 2022Thuringia
53Gertrud GrutzaF19 December 190815 August 2020Lower Saxony
54Catherine TrompeterF26 March 189518 November 2006111 years, 237 daysAlsaceFrance
55Elisabeth HeckF11 July 18933 February 2005111 years, 207 daysBadenHesse
56Else RönschF14 March 19045 October 2015PomeraniaMecklenburg-Vorpommern
57Joanna LipińskaF18 August 19106 March 2022PosenPoland
58Hedy WegierF25 October 190312 May 2015SilesiaUnited States
59Adele LankenauF27 March 19136 October 2024111 years, 193 daysHanoverLower Saxony
60Paula BaumgärtnerF16 August 188124 February 1993111 years, 192 daysWestphaliaBaden-Württemberg
61Hélène Le BozecF24 December 190827 June 2020AlsaceFrance
62Adele ZiegenhagelF12 July 190610 January 2018111 years, 182 daysRhineland-Palatinate
63Margarete OttmannF23 February 190317 August 2014111 years, 175 daysSilesiaBavaria
63Ilse BeckF5 October 190629 March 2018111 years, 175 daysSaxonyThuringia
65Elisabeth SchneiderF19 August 19019 February 2013111 years, 174 daysWestphaliaLower Saxony
66Frieda BorchertF5 January 189722 June 2008111 years, 169 daysPomeraniaBerlin
67Christine HoscheidF16 February 19071 August 2018RhinelandNorth Rhine-Westphalia
68Anna MehlbergF2 December 190615 May 2018111 years, 164 daysBrandenburgBerlin
69Margarete DannheimerF28 January 19042 July 2015BavariaBavaria
70Jeanne SchneiderF11 July 189511 December 2006LorraineFrance
71Józefa CiesielskaF6 March 19123 August 2023PosenPoland
72Rosa RoseF4 December 190325 April 2015111 years, 142 daysHanoverLower Saxony
73Karolina KrügerF17 February 18853 July 1996111 years, 137 daysRhinelandNorth Rhine-Westphalia
74Katharina BraunF23 September 18675 February 1979111 years, 135 daysBavaria Rhineland-Palatinate
75Anna StephanF25 March 18923 August 2003111 years, 131 daysBohemiaBavaria
76Friedrich ReichensteinM1 February 19069 June 2017111 years, 128 daysWestphaliaIsrael
77Maria-Anna HigelinF18 November 188221 March 1994AlsaceFrance
78Anna BraunF5 July 191129 October 2022Brandenburg
79Gertrud TeichgräberF22 November 190816 March 2020BrandenburgLower Saxony
80F26 November 188419 March 1996Schleswig-HolsteinDenmark
81Gertrud BlohmF7 September 191229 December 2023Mecklenburg-SchwerinMecklenburg-Vorpommern
82Maria Gabriella LerchenthalF8 June 191313 September 2024BavariaItaly
83Elsa TauserF10 July 18966 October 2007111 years, 88 daysHamburgSchleswig-Holstein
83Käthe WulfF23 March 190219 June 2013111 years, 88 daysOldenburgHesse
85Bertha LindemannF11 March 189129 May 2002111 years, 79 daysBrunswickLower Saxony
85Eleonora ŁosiewiczF24 January 191013 April 2021111 years, 79 daysPosenPoland
87Johanna FrankF15 September 187524 November 1986111 years, 70 daysHamburgUnited States
88Ingeborg FründtF24 April 19131 July 2024HanoverLower Saxony
89F15 December 190719 February 2019OldenburgUnited States
90Zhenya BroytmanF21 August 189925 October 2010UkraineNorth Rhine-Westphalia
91Emilie KreckmannF28 October 191218 December 2023BavariaSaarland
92Elisabeth SchlinkF3 December 191024 December 2021West PrussiaSchleswig-Holstein
93Anna PalarowskaF22 October 19022 November 2013West PrussiaFrance
94Feuke GlatoF26 December 190831 December 2019HanoverLower Saxony
95Else AßmannF18 February 190215 February 2013110 years, 363 daysBrandenburgBerlin
96Dorothea DuisbergF7 October 19122 October 2023BremenChile
97Herta HansenF15 October 19108 October 2021110 years, 358 daysPomeraniaHesse
97Johann SchornackM29 February 191222 February 2023110 years, 358 daysRhinelandNorth Rhine-Westphalia
99Anna 'Änne' MatschewskyF3 October 191223 September 2023RhinelandBaden-Württemberg
100Agnes MeierF30 May 190719 May 2018North Rhine-Westphalia

Biographies

Maria Laqua

Maria Laqua was born in Rheydt-Odenkirchen, Rhineland, today in North Rhine-Westphalia, as one of 13 children. She worked as a housemaid, got married, and gave birth to two sons in the 1920s, who both died in the Second World War. Her husband Charles died in 1958. She lived for 35 years in a retirement home in Bad Hönningen, Rhineland-Palatinate. She was survived by a great-niece who attended her regularly. Laqua was bedridden during her final years and spoke only occasionally. She was the oldest person ever in Germany when she died in her sleep aged 112 years, 362 days. Her record age was surpassed by Josefine Ollmann in November 2021.

Hermann Dörnemann

Hermann Dörnemann was, at the time of his death, the oldest living person in Germany and the oldest living man in Europe for about one year. After the death of 113-year-old American Fred Harold Hale in November 2004, Dörnemann was believed to have become the world's oldest living man, but Emiliano Mercado del Toro from Puerto Rico was later confirmed to be almost two years older. Dörnemann credited his longevity to "drinking a beer a day". He died of pneumonia in Düsseldorf, aged 111 years, 279 days.

[|Elisabeth Schneider]

Elisabeth Schneider was the oldest living person in Germany from November 2011 to her death in February 2013, aged 111 years and 174 days. She was born in Bad Oeynhausen, today in North Rhine-Westphalia, and had two sisters. She married in 1923 and gave birth to a daughter two years later. Schneider lived on her own until the age of 97. She died in a retirement home in Varel, Lower Saxony. She was survived by her daughter, two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Gertrud Henze

Gertrud Henze was the oldest living person in Germany from February 2013 until her death in April 2014. She was born in Rügen, worked as a librarian, and never married nor had children. From 1993, she lived in a retirement home in Göttingen. She was in good health, and listed reasons for her longevity including: reading a lot, having lively contact with other people, sometimes enjoying a cigarette and a glass of wine, and never getting married. She celebrated her 112th birthday only with some friends and relatives, because the public interest in her prior birthday had been too exhausting. She enjoyed reading, with the help of a magnifying glass. Henze died at the age of 112 years and 135 days. She donated her body to medical science for genetic research.

Frieda Szwillus

Frieda Szwillus was Germany's oldest living person from April 2014 until her death five months later, aged 112 years, 175 days. She was born Frieda Hennig in Dessau, and had six siblings. Her family moved to Erla when she was six. She was married twice, raised one biological child and three stepchildren, and outlived all of them. Until her later years, Szwillus lived at home in Raschau with her family. She was in good physical condition, but suffered from dementia. Her family attributed her longevity to a lively family life. She often visited her siblings, but never went on holiday. She also enjoyed knitting and embroidering. She died at the age of 112 years and 175 days.

Gustav Gerneth

Gustav Gerneth was born in Stettin, German Empire. He worked in a shipping company and at a gas plant. During the Second World War, he was a mechanic in the German air force. He married Charlotte Grubert in 1930 and the couple had three sons; she died in 1988. Gerneth lived in Havelberg in Saxony-Anhalt for over forty years, and continued to do so on his own, with family members caring for his household. According to a statement by his granddaughter on his 113th birthday, he still had a lucid mind, watching football, solving crosswords, and doing mental arithmetic. Asked for the reason for his long life, he said: "I have always been living and eating well. No diet. Always butter, never margarine. I have not touched any cigarette all my life and I drank alcohol only at celebrations." Gerneth died on 21 October 2019 of natural causes, aged 114 years and 6 days, believed to have been the world's oldest man, although Guinness World Records has not verified his case.

Josefine Ollmann

In November 2021, Josefine Ollmann surpassed Maria Laqua's age to become, at the time, the oldest person ever in Germany and the first German to officially reach the age of 113. Ollmann, whose age was validated by the GRG in February 2023, died at the age of 113 years and 247 days.