Europe News

Oldest German dies at 112: never married

Oct 8, 2007, 14:15 GMT

Berlin - The oldest person in Germany, Irmgard von Stephani, has died at the age of 112, only five months after moving out of her little apartment into an old people's home, welfare staff said.

Von Stephani never married or had children.

A nephew recently described her as 'straight-laced,' saying she was strict on etiquette and was annoyed when people forgot to say 'von,' a name prefix used by German nobility.

Lutheran Church welfare staff said she died at the home in a Berlin suburb, not far from her longtime one-room apartment.

Born in 1895 in the central city of Kassel, she marked her 112th birthday on September 20. The home said she died Friday but this was not announced immediately.

Von Stephani once said she had no special recipe for a long life. Care staff said she was regular about eating a piece of cake every second day and drank the occasional glass of wine.

The oldest German now alive is Elsa Tauser, 111. She lives in Hoisdorf near Hamburg.