Elsa Tauser

Who was Elsa Tauser?

Elsa Tauser was a supercentenarian and Germany's oldest person for one day.

Tauser was born in Hamburg, district Neustadt, as youngest of 14 siblings. Her father was a jobless fitter and the children had to support the family income by polishing gold and silver, for example sets of cutlery from renowned hotels in downtown. Later Elsa Tauser became a saleswoman in a shop for luxury and haberdashery.

She married her first husband in 1916 and gave birth to her daughter Irma in 1923. Later they were divorced and Tauser married a second time a sailor in 1935. Their son Konrad was born in 1936. Her husband gave up on seafaring and became a caretaker. During World War II the family lost their apartments five times in consequence of bombing raids. Since the 1970s the couple was living Hamburg-Lurup. Elsa Tauser remained there after the death of her husband in 1989 until she moved into a nursing home in Hoisdorf, Schleswig-Holsteinin November 2003 at age 107. Until the age of 105 she managed her everyday life on her own.

Tauser became Germany's second-oldest person on 29 October 2006 with the death of the 110 years old Perpetua von Mauntz. Tauser became Germany's oldest person almost a year later, on 5 October 2007 when Irmgard von Stephani passed away at age 112. Her title reign lasted only for one day when she died in the morning of 6 October 2007 at age 111 years and 88 days in Hoisdorf. She was preceded in death by two children, six grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Tauser traced her longevity to singing a lot, especially with her 13 siblings.