BIOGRAPHY

Ilse Bartling was born in Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, Germany on 8 July 1914. She never met her father, who died in the First World War as an Oldenburg dragoon when she was just three months old. After his death, her grandfather brought her and her mother to Hameln, where she remained for the rest of her life. Following her graduation from Lohstrasse Middle School, she trained in needlework in her mother’s sewing room, a craft she continued to pursue passionately for many years. Through internships in hospitals and kindergartens, she gained a range of additional skills that proved valuable in managing her household.

Bartling met her first husband, Herbert Stummeier, while dancing and married him in March 1937. He did not survive World War II; first, she received a letter from him, but in February 1945, she was informed that he was missing. In 1952, she married her second husband, Herbert Bartling. Around 1969, at the age of 55, she was widowed once more. She had at least two children, Karin Stegemann and Hartmut.

Bartling lived independently in her own apartment until the age of 102. She only needed a walker after a gallbladder operation at 98 and was still riding a bicycle at 94, until her son Hartmut forbade her to do so for safety reasons.

Ilse Bartling passed away in Hameln, Lower Saxony, on 17 October 2024, at the age of 110 years, 101 days.

RECOGNITION

Her age has not been validated.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Frau Ilse Bartling feiert ihren 106. Geburtstag” – Julius Tönebön Stiftung, 8 July 2020

* “Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum 108. Geburtstag” – Julius Tönebön Stiftung, 13 July 2022

* “Ständchen zum 109. Geburtstag” – Julius Tönebön Stiftung, 10 July 2023

* “109 Jahre alt! So geht es dem Geburtstagskind Ilse Bartling” – Dewezet, 18 July 2023

* “110 Jahre jung – und geistig fit: Ilse Bartling feiert in Hameln einen bemerkenswerten Geburtstag” – Dewezet, 12 July 2024

* “Die älteste Hamelnerin ist gestorben – Ilse Bartling wurde 110 Jahre alt” – Deister- und Weserzeitung, 26 October 2024

GALLERY