BIOGRAPHY

Daub was born Maria Fliegel in Limburg an der Lahn, Hesse, Germany, on 18 August 1913. Her father, Jakob, was well known as the owner of a grocery store and the local post office. Daub’s maternal grandfather, Wilhelm Fliegel, served as mayor of Dietkirchen from 1870 to 1912. Daub ran a grocery store in her hometown until the early 1970s and was still well-known as ‘Postmaria.’ She was the second oldest of seven siblings. Some of her siblings died young, and others did not return from World War II, leaving only two survivors. With her mother often occupied running a shop that sold food, coal, briquettes, and fertilizer, Maria was cared for by her aunt next door. After elementary school, she attended Marienschule. Due to a shortage of men at home, she had to forgo her high school diploma but later acquired business knowledge at the local business school.

She took singing lessons for a while and later joined the church choir, where she sang for six decades. Traveling was her great passion; she visited Israel and the former Yugoslavia, rode a camel in Africa, and cherished trips to the Canary Islands and places of pilgrimage like Lourdes.

In 2011, she was still living independently in her apartment, but that year she underwent a serious operation. She was in a coma for two months and later learned that the doctor in the intensive care unit had predicted a 99 percent chance she would not survive. Afterward, she could no longer live alone and moved into a nursing home.

At the age of 108, when asked about her experience with the past year’s COVID-19 restrictions, she remarked that there were no special incidents; in fact, time seemed to stand still for her. She was the first to be vaccinated in the nursing home and tolerated the vaccine without any side effects. When asked about the secret to her long life, she remarked, “Eat, drink, have something sweet now and then, and sleep regularly.” On her 109th birthday, she was personally visited and congratulated by Michael Köberle, the District Administrator of Limburg an der Lahn. At the time, she remained both physically and mentally fit.

Daub passed away in Limburg an der Lahn, Hesse, Germany, on 20 February 2024, at the age of 110 years, 186 days.

RECOGNITION

Her age was verified by Georg Fürholzer, and validated by LongeviQuest on 3 September 2024.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Die älteste Frau im Landkreis hat am Mittwoch Geburtstag” – Frankfurter Neue Presse (FNP), 17 August 2021

* “Landrat Michael Köberle gratulierte Maria Daub zum 109. Geburtstag/Seniorin ist älteste Bewohnerin des Landkreises” – Landkreis Limburg-Weilburg, 19 August 2022

* “Landrat gratuliert ältester Kreisbewohnerin Maria Daub zum 110. Geburtstag” – Landkreis Limburg-Weilburg, 21 August 2023

* “Traueranzeigen von Maria Daub” – VRM Trauer

GALLERY