BIOGRAPHY

Charlotte Feigel was born in Geneva, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland, on 9 December 1909. Although she was not Swiss, she was the daughter of German parents who moved with her to Eisenach in 1912. After World War I, she moved to Bensheim, Hessen, with her parents and siblings. She grew up there and married pharmacist Robert Feigel in 1934. The family relocated to Stuttgart in 1939 and then to Kirchheim unter Teck in 1942. Unfortunately, her husband went missing at the front during the war. In 1949, he returned home, scarred from Soviet captivity. They remained together for 14 more years until his passing in 1963. In 1954, she moved to Ettlingen to live with her son. After her husband’s death, their son, Wolfgang, continued to operate the Friedrichsapotheke pharmacy. She managed the housework for most of her life, although gardening had become too difficult for her.

Feigel first visited Tenerife in 1937 when she and her husband went to see her parents-in-law, who had settled on the island after the Nazis came to power in Germany. After that initial visit, she returned to the island many times, continuing to do so regularly even in her later years. In the 1990s, she traveled to California and Brazil with her son. She had taken Krün to heart, vacationing in the municipality since 1950. She celebrated her 108th birthday there, receiving a gift from the mayor. Her affection for Krün began thanks to her sister-in-law, who worked at a travel agency and selected Krün as a holiday destination. She enjoyed going on many hikes with her family. At 108, her legs were not as strong, but her son often took her to the little church on the Buckelwiesen.

Mayor Johannes Arnold Feigel conveyed the Prime Minister’s congratulations to her on her 110th birthday. Even at 110, she still cooked regularly, climbed stairs unassisted, and tended to the plants on the roof terrace of her house with her son.

Charlotte Feigel was born in Ettlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on 19 April 2020, at the age of 110 years, 132 days.

RECOGNITION

Her age has not been validated.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Teneriffas älteste Touristin ist 108” – Wochenblatt, 9 March 2019

* “Krüns wohl älteste Urlauberin: 108-Jährige reist seit fast 70 Jahren in den Ort” – Merkur.de, 15 May 2019

* “Älteste Ettlingerin ist mit 110 Jahren verstorben” – Badische Neueste Nachrichten, 21 May 2020

* “Das “Schaffen” hält die 110-jährige Ettlingerin fit” – Badische Neueste Nachrichten, 24 July 2020

GALLERY