Hamburg mourns the loss of Ottilie Reimers - the oldest woman in northern Germany

Hamburg mourns the loss of Ottilie Reimers - the oldest woman in northern Germany

Eilbek, Deutschland - The Hamburg -based Ottilie Reimers died at the end of May 2025 at the age of 112. She was not only the oldest woman in Schleswig-Holstein, but also one of the oldest living people in Germany. Her life is an impressive testimony of change that the 20th and 21st centuries brought with it.

born in Hamburg-Ailbek on January 30, 1913, Ottilie Reimers spent a childhood and youth that was already in the shadow of the First World War. After attending the commercial school and subsequent commercial training, she worked as a secretary in a publisher. She finally unfolded her entrepreneurial streak when she started your own business with two shops for magazines, tobacco products and lottery. Here she also got to know her future husband.

a moving life

After retirement, the couple moved to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where they led a fulfilling life. After the death of her husband in 1982, Ottilie Reimers returned to Germany and settled in Bad Bevensen. In 2019, at the age of 106, she decided to move to the Rosenhof senior residence in Großhansdorf, where she lived to her death. This decision was not only a practical, but apparently also a happy one, because, as André Aue, the chairman of the management of the Rosenhof senior housing, her independence was impressive into old age. Reimers prepared her meals herself, went for a walk and did smaller purchases with a walker.

Ottilie Reimers celebrated her 112nd birthday in January 2025, with congratulations from the Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. On this day she was celebrated not only for her age, but also for her tireless will to live and her active lifestyle. Such life stories are particularly important in times when awareness of the responsibility for the elderly in society.

in the traces of life expectancy

Reimers ’long lifespan is also a reflection of a long -term trend in Germany. According to Destatis , life expectancy has more than doubled in the past 150 years. From 38.5 years for women in 1871/1881 to 83 years in 2021/2023. This increase is primarily due to progress in medical care, hygiene, nutrition and an improved quality of life.

It is noteworthy that despite the general increase in life expectancy, a decline in recent years has actually been recorded, which is partly due to the high mortality rate during corona apandemy. In this way, increased attention to the health of older people could be of central importance for the future.

With the death of Ottilie Reimers, society has lost a large life story that also reminds us of the developments of the living conditions and the value of age over time. Their persistence and joie de vivre are examples that suggest that we remain active in old age and to face the challenges of life.