Supercentenarian Profile

Bruno Kant

Born:

1916-02-26

Werblinia, Pomeranian Voivodeship

Poland

Current Residence:

Eichenzell, Hesse

Germany

Bruno Kant is a German Roman Catholic priest and supercentenarian who is currently the country’s oldest known living man.

BIOGRAPHY

Bruno Kant was born in Werblinia, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland (then German Empire), on 26 February 1916. He was one of eight siblings (four boys and four girls). He had two siblings who lived past the age of 100: his older sister, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, who passed away in 2022, aged 108, and his brother, Johannes (Hans) Kant (14 May 1918 – 6 February 2024), died at 105 years and 268 days old. His father was a teacher. After World War I, when the area in which they lived became part of Poland, the family moved to Danzig.

He graduated from the Municipal Gymnasium in Danzig in 1934 and began studying philosophy and theology at the Braunsberg State Academy and the University of Freiburg. These studies were interrupted for several years by the outbreak of World War II. At the outbreak of World War II, he was drafted into the Deutsche Reichsbahn (German State Railway). This was followed by two years of military service. Only after returning from Russian captivity in 1948 was he able to resume his theological studies in Fulda. On 23 July 1950, he was ordained a priest in Fulda Cathedral. He subsequently served as a chaplain in Blankenau and Schwarzbach, and from 1955 in the parish of St. Joseph in Kassel.

On 20 June 1960, Kant was appointed to the parish of Marbach. A cosmopolitan pastor, he consistently devoted himself to the needs of the local community. Beginning in 1971, Kant served for ten years as deputy dean of the Hünfeld deanery. From the end of 1981 until his 70th birthday in 1986, he served as dean of this deanery. From 1974 onward, he also held the position of deanery president of the St. Cecilia Association for many years. Following his retirement in 1991, he willingly continued pastoral service in Löschenrod.

At 108, he was reported to be in excellent health. He could read without glasses, continued to do morning exercises every day, and walked with his walker—indoors when the weather was bad.

Shortly before his 110th birthday, he remarked, “I don’t understand why God has allowed me to grow so old, or what He still has planned for me.” At the time, it was reported that he relied on a walker and had a pacemaker, and that his poor hearing also posed challenges. Nevertheless, he continued to enjoy watching sports on television—especially tennis, which he had once played himself—as well as chess and the billiards game snooker.