List of German presidents by longevity
This is a list of German Presidents since 1919 by age. This table can be sorted to display German Presidents by name, order of office, date of birth, age at inauguration, length of retirement, or lifespan.
Two measures of longevity are given; this is to allow for the differing number of leap days occurring within the life of each President. The first figure is the number of days between date of birth and date of death, allowing for leap days; in parentheses the same period given in years and days, with the years being the number of whole years the President lived, and the days being the remaining number of days after his last birthday. Where the president in question is still living, the longevity is calculated up to 7 December 2016.
Overview
The median age of accession is roughly 61 years and 10 months, which is a bit more than Horst Köhler. The youngest person to become president was Friedrich Ebert (age 48 years, 7 days). The oldest person to become president was Paul von Hindenburg (age 77 years, 222 days).
The oldest living president is Roman Herzog, born 5 April 1934 (aged 82 years, 246 days). The youngest living is former president Christian Wulff, born 19 June 1959 (aged 57 years, 171 days).
The longest-lived president was Walter Scheel, who died at the age of 97 years and 47 days. Scheel became the longest-lived president by living to 15 October 2008. On that day, he became one day older than Karl Dönitz, the previous holder of the oldest president record. The shortest-lived president was Friedrich Ebert, who died at the age of 54 years, 24 days.
German Presidents' ages
# |
President |
Date of birth |
Date of inauguration |
Age at inauguration |
End of term |
Length of retirement |
Date of death |
Lifespan |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Friedrich Ebert | 4 February 1871 | 11 February 1919 | 48 years, 7 days | 28 February 1925 | [1] | N/A28 February 1925 | 19,747 days (54 years, 24 days) |
2 | Paul von Hindenburg | 2 October 1847 | 12 May 1925 | 77 years, 222 days | 2 August 1934 | [1] | N/A2 August 1934 | 31,715 days (86 years, 304 days) |
3 | Karl Dönitz | 16 September 1891 | 30 April 1945 | 53 years, 226 days | 23 May 1945 | 12,999 days | 24 December 1980 | 32,606 days (89 years, 99 days) |
4 | Theodor Heuss | 31 January 1884 | 13 September 1949 | 65 years, 225 days | 12 September 1959 | 1,552 days | 12 December 1963 | 29,169 days (79 years, 315 days) |
5 | Heinrich Lübke | 14 October 1894 | 13 September 1959 | 64 years, 334 days | 30 June 1969 | 1,011 days | 6 April 1972 | 28,298 days (77 years, 175 days) |
6 | Gustav Heinemann | 23 July 1899 | 1 July 1969 | 69 years, 343 days | 30 June 1974 | 738 days | 7 July 1976 | 28,108 days (76 years, 350 days) |
7 | Walter Scheel | 8 July 1919 | 1 July 1974 | 54 years, 358 days | 30 June 1979 | 13,570 days | 24 August 2016 | 35,477 days (97 years, 47 days) |
8 | Karl Carstens | 14 December 1914 | 1 July 1979 | 64 years, 199 days | 30 June 1984 | 2,891 days | 30 May 1992 | 28,292 days (77 years, 168 days) |
9 | Richard von Weizsäcker | 15 April 1920 | 1 July 1984 | 64 years, 77 days | 30 June 1994 | 7,520 days | 31 January 2015 | 34,624 days (94 years, 291 days) |
10 | Roman Herzog | 5 April 1934 | 1 July 1994 | 60 years, 87 days | 30 June 1999 | 6,370 days | 30,197 days (82 years, 246 days) | |
11 | Johannes Rau | 16 January 1931 | 1 July 1999 | 68 years, 166 days | 30 June 2004 | 576 days | 27 January 2006 | 27,405 days (75 years, 11 days) |
12 | Horst Köhler | 22 February 1943 | 1 July 2004 | 61 years, 130 days | 31 May 2010 | 2,382 days | 26,952 days (73 years, 289 days) | |
13 | Christian Wulff | 19 June 1959 | 30 June 2010 | 51 years, 11 days | 17 February 2012 | 1,755 days | 20,991 days (57 years, 171 days) | |
14 | Joachim Gauck | 24 January 1940 | 18 March 2012 | 72 years, 54 days | Incumbent | Incumbent | 28,077 days (76 years, 318 days) | |
# | President | Date of birth | Date of inauguration |
Age at inauguration |
End of term |
Length of retirement |
Date of death | Lifespan |