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Topic starter
25/02/2026 3:52 pm
Kirsten Anna Schwalbe was born in Struer, Midtjylland, Denmark on 10 March 1914 as one of six children.
She was widowed in 1981. She had worked as a seamstress, and enjoyed needlework even after her retirement. She continued knitting into her centenarian years. Until the age of 100 when she started using a walker, she could walk with no assistance.
At the age of 104, Ms. Schwalbe developed heart problems and became one of the oldest people in the world to have a pacemaker fitted. She still lived independently at the age of 109. As of 2023, her younger brother Bertel was alive at 103. Two other siblings of hers lived to 103 and 100 respectively.
Her age has been validated by the ESO and recognised by LongeviQuest..
On 4 April 2024, Schwalbe became the oldest living resident of Denmark, following the passing of 110-year-old Karen Moritz.
After the death of Jens Peter Westergaard on 23 July 2024, she became the last living person in Denmark who was born before 1915.
On 16 November 2024, following the death of 112-year-old Ms. Bostrom, she became the oldest living person in the Nordic countries.
On 10 March 2025, she celebrated her 111th birthday, becoming the 8th Danish born person to do so.
As of 25 February 2026, she lives in Struer, Midtjylland (DNK).
On her 109th birthday.
At the age of 109.
On her 110th birthday in 2024.
At age 110 with her brother Bertel (103).
On her 111th birthday in 2025.
In January 2026, aged 111.
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Topic starter
06/07/2026 11:45 am
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Topic starter
16/08/2026 7:01 pm
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14/09/2026 6:37 am
Following the death of Marcelle Demorgny, Kirsten has entered the Top 10 oldest living Europeans and is also the oldest living person born on 10 March.
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Topic starter
13/10/2026 9:54 am
https://fagligsenior.dk/2026/10/12/kirsten-er-112-aar-nu-kan-hun-skrive-danmarkshistorie/
Kirsten is 112 years old: Now she is writing Danish history
Kirsten Schwalbe still lives at home in Struer and believes that a good laugh helps keep her alive. On Wednesday, October 14, she will become the oldest person to have lived in Denmark.
Kirsten Schwalbe's three children have all reached the age of 80. But for their mother, it is difficult to understand.
"But I can't understand that my children have become old. I think they are young," she told Alt for Damerne.
She herself is 112 years old and already Denmark's oldest living person. On Wednesday, October 14, she can reach another milestone and become the oldest person to have lived her entire life in Denmark.
The previous record belongs to Karla Lindholm Jensen from Herning, who died in 2020.
Kirsten Schwalbe was born in Salling on March 10, 1914, a few months before the outbreak of the First World War. Since then, she has been a child, a wife, a mother, a factory worker and a pensioner.
And at an age that only very few people reach, she has also become known from television.
First job at 10 years old
Kirsten Schwalbe grew up with a large group of siblings and got her first job at the age of 10. She looked after children on a farm.
In 1938 she married her first husband. Together they had three children, and at first she was a stay-at-home mother.
Later she worked at a factory in Struer, where she sewed clothes. She worked there for 20 years until her retirement. Her husband died in 1981.
It was a life of many years of physical activity. It was not until she was 90 that she stopped going to the local swimming pool every week, as can be seen from a portrait of Ritzau from 2025.
She also enjoys knitting and doing crossword puzzles.
The children said no
Kirsten Schwalbe continues to live in her own home in Struer. On her 112th birthday in March, TV Midtvest described how she copes with everyday life with a few daily visits from the home help.
A place in a nursing home has been discussed. The municipality offered her a place, and she considered moving to make it easier for the children, she said in a previous interview with Alt for Damerne.
But the children did not agree.
"I told my children, who asked 'Why?', and when I said it was for their sake - to make it easier for them - they said they didn't want to hear about it," she told the magazine.
She stayed at home.
”Vi skal have noget at grine af”
Når Kirsten Schwalbe selv skal forklare sin høje alder, peger hun blandt andet på familien. Fire af hendes ni søskende blev også over 100 år, fortalte hun til Berlingske i 2024.
Hun har været fysisk aktiv gennem livet, har ikke røget cigaretter og smagte først alkohol i en sen alder.
Men hun har også været fuld et par gange, fortalte hun i samme interview.
Og så er der humøret.
”Vi skal have noget at grine af. Jeg tror også, det er med til at holde liv i os,” sagde hun til TV Midtvest i 2024.
At blive så gammel kræver dog mere end gode gener og godt humør, forklarede Kaare Christensen, professor og leder af Dansk Center for Aldringsforskning ved Syddansk Universitet, til Ritzau ved hendes 111-års fødselsdag.
Ifølge ham spiller både gener, livsstil og held ind. Gode gener skal følges af et relativt fornuftigt liv, og kvinder har bedre mulighed for at nå en meget høj alder end mænd.
TV followed her life
This year, more Danes have had the opportunity to get to know Kirsten Schwalbe through the program series "Kirsten's Wild Years" on TV 2.
TV Midtvest has followed her and is also behind her Instagram profile, which had more than 33,000 followers on her birthday in March.
In September, the media reported that she had become one of Europe's ten oldest living people.
Now her next milestone will be the Danish age record.
This post was modified 5 days ago by Ale76
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Topic starter
14/10/2026 2:26 pm
https://nyheder.tv2.dk/samfund/2026-10-14-nu-er-kirsten-schwalbe-danmarks-aeldste-nogensinde
Kirsten Schwalbe is now Denmark's oldest person ever.
112 years and 218 days. That is the age Kirsten Schwalbe from Struer has reached today, and she thus takes over the title of Denmark's oldest person ever.
112 years and 218 days. That is the age Kirsten Schwalbe from Struer has reached today, and she thus takes over the title of Denmark's oldest person ever.
For several years now, Kirsten Schwalbe has held the title of Denmark's oldest living person.
But now, she is making Danish history.
At 112 years and 218 days old, Kirsten Schwalbe is now also the oldest person ever to have lived in Denmark.
The previous record was held by Karla Lindholm Jensen from Herning, who died in 2020 at the age of 112 years and 217 days.
Kirsten Schwalbe was born on March 10, 1914, in Salling. She has spent most of her life in Gimsing, near Struer, and currently lives in sheltered housing in Struer, where she still manages most things herself.
She has three daughters, aged 81, 85, and 87; the eldest lives in a nursing home in Grindsted. The two youngest still visit their mother several times a week, helping with shopping, meals, laundry, and so on.
A household name in Denmark
In recent years, Kirsten Schwalbe has also become a familiar face to many Danes.
In recent years, Kirsten Schwalbe has also become a familiar face to many Danes.
TV MIDTVEST has been following Kirsten closely since 2022. It began with the series *Længe leve de 100-årige* (Long Live the Centenarians), and she has since appeared in several other programs on the channel.
Most recently, she starred in the series *Kirstens vilde år* (Kirsten’s Wild Years), where viewers followed her as she embarked on a series of new experiences. She has also published a book.
On Instagram, nearly 50,000 people follow along as Kirsten enjoys a new experience each month. Overall, she receives a great deal of attention and affection from people across Denmark.
Only two Danes over 110
Kirsten Schwalbe is just one of two living Danes who have reached the age of 110.
Kirsten Schwalbe is just one of two living Danes who have reached the age of 110.
The second-oldest is 110-year-old Gerda Christensen from Hobro. She was born on January 17, 1916.
There is thus a gap of more than two years between Denmark's oldest and second-oldest living person.
Kirsten Schwalbe also still has her younger brother, Bertel, who turns 105 later this month. Together, they make up the world's oldest living pair of siblings. Clearly, good genes run in the family; among the ten siblings, seven lived past the age of 91.
Kirsten herself does not consider it all that remarkable. She is "just an old woman," as she frequently points out.
And she expects to live to be 113.
She has promised as much.
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14/10/2026 2:33 pm
Congratulations to Kristen, one of my favourite supercentenarians!💐 I hope she remains in great health and improves on the Danish record significantly.
ESO Correspondent for Hungary (since 2020)
GRG Correspondent for Hungary (2020-2023)
Tracker and researcher of Hungarian and other Central European (super)centenarians (since 2016)
Enthusiast of extreme longevity (since childhood)
14/10/2026 3:58 pm
@ale76 Congratulations to Ms. Schwalbe, what a truly incredible milestone!
ESO Correspondent for Portugal (since 2026)
____
When the young commander of the guard declared his love for her, she rejected him simply because his frivolity startled her. "See how simple he is," she told Amaranta. "He says that he’s dying because of me, as if I were a bad case of colic."
-One Hundred Years of Solitude
Topic starter
15/10/2026 9:00 am
https://longeviquest.com/2026/10/kirsten-schwalbe-becomes-denmarks-oldest-person-ever/
Kirsten Schwalbe Becomes Denmark’s Oldest Person Ever
Kirsten Schwalbe, a resident of Struer, Midtjylland, reached the age of 112 years and 218 days today, setting a new national longevity record for Denmark.
Schwalbe was born in Struer, Midtjylland, Denmark on 10 March 1914 as one of six children. At 12 years old, she started work as a nanny for a local farming family, where she learned to cook, clean, and the art of housekeeping. Her mother died aged 49. At the age of 15, Schwalbe moved to Holstebro to work as a housekeeper. The neighbour’s son would later become her husband in 1938; the couple had three daughters. Schwalbe returned to her hometown of Struer in 1945, bringing her family with her. Her first experience in drinking beer was not until the age of 70, after being convinced to taste it by her son-in-law.
Schwalbe was widowed in 1981. She had worked as a seamstress, and enjoyed needlework even after her retirement. She continued knitting into her centenarian years. Until the age of 100 when she started using a walker, she could walk with no assistance.
On 4 April 2024, Schwalbe became the oldest living resident of Denmark, following the passing of 110-year-old Karen Moritz.
Denmark’s previous longevity record was held by Karla Lindholm Jensen (7 May 1908 – 10 December 2020), who died at the age of 112 years and 217 days. Schwalbe reached the same age yesterday and surpassed Jensen’s record today, 14 October.
However, the record for the oldest person ever born in Denmark remains held by Danish-born emigrant Christian Mortensen, who died in California, USA, in 1998 at the age of 115 years and 252 days. He also formerly held the title of the world’s oldest man.
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