| Charlotte Kretschmann | |
| Birth Date: | 3 December 1909 (age)[1] |
| Birth Place: | Breslau, Province of Silesia, German Empire |
| Nationality: | German |
| Known For: | Oldest living person in Germany |
| Spouse: | Werner Kretschmann (m. 1936, died 1996) |
| Children: | 1 (deceased) |
Charlotte "Lotte" Kretschmann (born 3 December 1909) is a German supercentenarian and the oldest living person in Germany.[2] [3]
Kretschmann was born in Breslau on 3 December 1909.[1] In her childhood she did gymnastics, and remarked that "she got everything she wanted from her parents".[2] [4] Kretschmann also said in an interview that she wanted to do what her older brother "was allowed to do" (namely sports). She thus ran 800 meters as a "discipline" which earned her a gold pin from the sports authorities.[4] In addition to her parents and older brother she also had grandparents who lived on a farm in Pomerania.[5] Kretschmann (27 at the time) met her husband Werner during a dance at a sporting event (c.1936).[4] During that same year they were married and in 1937 had a daughter named Siegried.[6] During World War II, her husband was drafted into the army and sent to the front line in France.[1] While Kretschmann stayed behind in their hometown she was forced to flee in 1944 with her daughter to Stuttgart.[1] The Red Cross "facilitated the couple’s reunion" after the war ended and the family of 3 settled there.[6] [7] Kretschmann's husband died in 1996, and her daughter Siegried died in 2019.[1] [4]
On 3 December 2019 Kretschmann turned 110 years old and lived alone until 2014 when she experienced a brain hemorrhage.[2] While this health scare prompted her to move into a nursing home in Kirchheim unter Teck, she has been noted by doctors for her relatively remarkable health given her age.[4] [8] Kretschmann has an Instagram account where she keeps a photo diary of her life.[9] She eventually became the oldest living person in Germany at the age of 112, and her age was verified by the Gerontology Research Group on 23 August 2023.[1] She is the oldest person to ever reside in Germany.[7] [10]