BIOGRAPHY

Hildegard Kress was born in Luxembourg on 18 August 1912. She began school in 1918 in Luxembourg, where she also spent her childhood. She never got married.

Later, she moved to Germany and worked in an office for 40 years. She lived in the northern part of Hanover for many years before relocating to the Margot Engelke Nursing Home in 2009—just four days before her 98th birthday.

Hildegard Kress passed away in Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany, on 12 January 2023, at the age of 110 years, 147 days.

RECOGNITION

In August 2022, she celebrated her 110th birthday, becoming the third documented supercentenarian born in Luxembourg—after Jean Ley (1903–2013) and Germaine Litwinski-Kauffmann (1908–2019)—as well as the first emigrant from the country to reach supercentenarian status.

Her age was verified by Georg Fürholzer, and validated by LongeviQuest on 20 May 2025.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Schultüte erinnert an Einschulung im Jahre 1918” – HAZ, 18 August 2018

* “Hannover: Hildegard Kress ist die älteste Bürgerin der Stadt” – Neue Presse, 18 August 2019

GALLERY