| Adele Rodenstein | |
 Rodenstein on her 111th birthday | |
| Birth: | 3 September 1908 Herbesthal, Liege, Belgium |
| Death: | 18 July 2020 Duisberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany |
| Age: | 111 years, 319 days |
| Country: |  BEL GER
|
| Validated | |
Adele Hubertine Rodenstein (née Sebastian; 3 September 1908 – 18 July 2020) was a Belgian-born German supercentenarian whose age is validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG). She was the oldest living person born in Belgium as well as the oldest living person in Germany.
Biography[]
Rodenstein was born as Adele Hubertine Sebastian in Herbesthal, a small German-speaking village in the Belgian province of Liege, on 3 September 1908. She was the youngest of nine siblings. Her mother died at an early age, so her father, after acquiring a job as a railway worker, moved the family to Hohenbudberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
In 1930, at the age of 21, she married Heinrich "Heinz" Rodenstein, an orthopaedic shoemaker. The couple lived in Rheinhausen, Duisburg, and had two children, both daughters. Heinz died in 1970, and one of their daughters died in 2016.
Rodenstein lived in an apartment, which is in the same building as her youngest daughter’s apartment, from 2004 until 2017, when she moved into a senior living facility. Since the age of 109, she has used a wheelchair. She had seven grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren, one of whom was born on her 110th birthday.
On her 111th birthday in 2019, Rodenstein was asked the secret to her long life. She replied with “Always think positive. I laugh and eat a lot.”
Rodenstein became the oldest living person born in Belgium after the death of Elisabeth De Proost on 25 January 2020. Following the death of Katharina Hagemeyer on 12 July 2020, she became the oldest known living person in Germany. She died six days later in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on 18 July 2020 at the age of 111 years, 319 days. Following her death, Josefine Ollmann became the oldest living person in Germany.
References[]
- 2022 validations Gerontology Research Group
- Adele Rodenstein feiert 106. Geburtstag Neukirchen-Vluyn, 4 September 2014
- Neukirchen-Vluynerin ist mit 109 Jahren noch putzmunter NRZ, 13 September 2017
- Congratulations! Elder Duisburger celebrates 111 years Douma News, 3 September 2019
- Gratulation! Älteste Duisburgerin feiert 111. Geburtstag WAZ, 3 September 2019
- Fallece la persona más longeva de Alemania En Segundos, 1 September 2020