Kirchheim unter Teck, Baden-Württemberg — Charlotte Kretschmann, the oldest person ever to have lived in Germany, passed away on August 27th at the age of 114 years, 268 days. Her passing was first reported by Spiegel, which stated that she passed away peacefully on Tuesday evening in her retirement home.
Kretschmann was born in Wrocław, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland (then Breslau, German Empire), on 3 December 1909. As a young woman, she joined an athletics club where she met her future husband, Werner. The two were married and had a daughter. Following the start of World War II, she fled westward with their daughter, while her husband was sent to France as a soldier. The couple reunited with the assistance of the Red Cross after the war’s end; they settled in Stuttgart.
Kretschmann outlived her only daughter. As a centenarian, she continued living independently until 2014, when she moved into a nursing home after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage.
On 18 September 2022, following the death of 113-year-old Anna Cernohorsky, she became the oldest living person in Germany.
Kretschmann surpassed the final age of Josefine Ollmann on 8 August 2023, becoming the oldest woman who ever lived in Germany. On 10 December 2023, at the age of 114 years and 7 days, she surpassed the final age of an unvalidated claimant, Gustav Gerneth, securing her position as the undisputed oldest person ever to have lived in Germany.
At the time of her passing, she was the sixth-oldest living person in the world, and the second-oldest in Europe.
LongeviQuest sends our deepest condolences to the bereaved family and friends of Charlotte Kretschmann.
