Edelgard Huber von Gersdorff

Edelgard Huber von Gersdorff (7 December 1905 - 9 April 2018) was a German supercentenarian who was the oldest woman in Germany at the time of her death. At 112 years old, she was the second oldest living person in Germany after Gustav Gerneth.
Life
Edelgard Huber von Gersdorff was born in 1905 in Gera, Principality of Reuss-Gera (present-day Thuringia), as daughter of an aristocratic officer's family. She was nine years old when her father was drafted into World War I. Her mother then moved, alongside the two daughters Edelgard and Helga, to Karlsruhe, where her family originated from.
At the age of 22, Huber von Gersdorff was diagnosed with poliomyelitis. This forced her to spend several years in bed and, through a slow and arduous process, to relearn walking. Despite these setbacks, she continued exercising and studying.
After her graduation in law, she worked as a legal advisor at the Aareal Bank until she was retired.
At the time of her death, she was still living in Karlsruhe, where she celebrated her 112th birthday on 7 December 2017.
On the occasion of European 112 Day on 11 February 2018, Edelgard Huber von Gersdorff became honorary patroness of the campaign "One Europe - one number!", which aims at raising awareness for the Europe-wide availability of the European emergency telephone number 112. As the oldest German woman, she witnessed how Europe evolved over the course of one century: Going from the German Empire and transnational enmity, which erupted into two global wars, to the European unity process, which pacified the continent. She considered herself as European. She said in an interview that 112 was the symbol of help and of European integration.
She died on 9 April 2018 at the age of 112.

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