Hermann Dörnemann

Who was Hermann Dörnemann?

Hermann Dörnemann of Germany was hailed in the press as the oldest living man in the world upon the death of 113-year-old American Fred Hale on 19 November 2004. Not until Hale's death, however, did Dörnemann's family offer documentation to the Guinness World Records or to a supercentenarian researcher, and at that point the claim of Puerto Rican Emiliano Mercado del Toro was put forward too with documentation that he was born in 1891, almost two years earlier, which was subsequently accepted as well. Dörnemann was born in Essen.

Dörnemann was recognized by the German government as Germany's oldest person for half a year, following the death of fellow 111-year-old Lina Zimmer on 28 August 2004, until his death in Düsseldorf. He was also very likely the oldest living veteran of World War I who fought for the Central Powers.

Dörnemann credited his longevity to drinking "a beer a day."