Birth
3 December 1909Wrocław, Lower Silesia (then Breslau, Germany), PolandAge
114Current Residence
Kirchheim unter Teck, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Charlotte Kretschmann
Charlotte Kretschmann is a German supercentenarian who holds the record as the oldest person ever to have resided in Germany. She is currently among ten oldest living people in the world whose age has been validated. Her age was validated through collaboration between LongeviQuest and the European Supercentenarian Organisation (ESO).
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Biography
Kretschmann was born in Wrocław, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland (then Breslau, German Empire), on 3 December 1909. As a young woman, she joined an athletics club where she met her future husband, Werner. The two were married and had a daughter.
Following the start of World War II, Kretschmann fled westward with their daughter, while her husband was sent to France as a soldier. The couple reunited with the assistance of the Red Cross after the war’s end; they settled in Stuttgart.
Kretschmann outlived her only daughter. As a centenarian, she continued living independently until 2014, when she moved into a nursing home after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. At the age of 113, she still enjoyed reading newspapers, sipping a glass of red wine with her meals, and had a fondness for chocolate. When asked about the secret of her longevity, she stated, “It was the sports, the exercise even in winter,” and added, “But certainly also my happy childhood.”
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Kretschmann became the longevity recordholder of Baden-Württemberg in April 2022 after surpassing the final age of Edelgard Huber von Gersdorff.
On 18 September 2022, following the death of 113-year-old Anna Cernohorsky, Kretschmann became the oldest living person in Germany.
Upon the death of Maria Aulenbacher of South Carolina, USA on 8 February 2023, Kretschmann became the oldest living German person in the world.
Kretschmann surpassed the final age of Josefine Ollmann on 8 August 2023, becoming the oldest woman who ever lived in Germany.
On 10 December 2023, at the age of 114 years and 7 days, Kretschmann surpassed the final age of an unvalidated claimant, Gustav Gerneth, securing her position as the undisputed oldest person ever to have lived in Germany.
Kretschmann’s age was verified by Georg Fürholzer and Dr. Andrew Holmes through collaboration between LongeviQuest and the European Supercentenarian Organisation (ESO) and was validated by both organizations on 22 December 2023.
Upon the death of Pearl Berg on 1 February 2024, Kretschmann entered the top 10 oldest validated living people in the world, becoming the first German to do so since Maria Laqua died in 2002.
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* “Charlotte Kretschmann ist die älteste Frau Deutschlands – „Bewundernswerte Dame“” – Münchner Merkur, 5 December 2022
* “113-Jährige macht sich nicht viel aus Titel” – Zeit Online, 16 April 2023