Frieda Dahlenburg

BIOGRAPHY

Dahlenburg was born in the district of Suchsdorf in Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, on 13 April 1907, as the youngest of six children. She was the daughter of a dairy owner. According to her family, she always had plenty to eat. Butter, eggs, cheese, and meat were available even during the famine years before and between the wars.

After graduating from a girls’ high school, she met state inspector Richard Dahlenburg at a ball at the business school, where she had accompanied her best friend. The young couple became engaged at her future mother-in-law’s deathbed in August 1927, and married on May 16, 1928. Their daughter Lilli was born in 1931, followed by their daughter Freya in 1936. Since her husband always worked where the state government was based, they lived in Schleswig until the seat of government changed. They then moved to Walkerdamm with their first daughter. Her husband died on the Eastern Front on January 31, 1945. The previous year, he came back from the war on leave, and that was the last time they saw him.

According to her family, she always took care of her health. She had calf massages, exercised regularly, and went for a walk every day. She loved good literature and music, and lived alone until her 100th birthday. Around that time, she found her daughter injured and robbed in her apartment. After this traumatic experience, she moved into a nursing home.

Dahlenburg passed away in Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, on 21 July 2017, at the age of 110 years, 99 days.