Brigitte Hildebrand, 90, lives in a village near Lake Schaal on the former inner-German border between Hamburg and Berlin.
After her family fled Masuria in northern Poland at the end of WWII, they settled in the north German Lauenburg region. After graduating from agricultural and home economics school, she married Jochen, a certified agricultural engineer, local fire chief, and mayor of her town. From then on her life revolved around milking machines, udders and cans for the next years until they switched from livestock farming to agriculture.
On the side, she trained as a dance instructor and traveled with her dance groups to America, Poland, and Iceland and the two later did long trips to Namibia, Nepal and Russia.
Very early on, with her husband’s help, she had laid out a garden, naturally for potatoes and vegetables, but also with pear trees, willows, walnut trees, and magnolias. To this day, she spends every day in the garden, weeding, replanting, and watering: “This garden is my whole joy, it keeps me alive,” she says.
How old are you and how old do you feel?
Oh, well, I’m 90 years old, and sometimes I feel like I’m 90, but mostly like I’m 70. Emotionally like I’m 50. "Well, physically, I have to take so many painkillers. I don’t want to go into details, but I do two different exercises for my shoulders and hips. I’ve been doing them every day for years. Otherwise, I’d be in pain and that way I don’t need a single painkiller.
I work in my garden, that is some serious physical work. And the garden, you know, is about the size of a soccer field. I do it almost all by myself. That is what keeps me going everyday.
What helps you maintain your physical, mental, and social well-being?
I have a good circle of friends and acquaintances: that’s because my late husband and I have always had lots of friends and lots of good neighbours. And I’m continuing that, I’m keeping it up.
What advice do you have for aging well?
Oh, you have to figure that out for yourself. There are no rules. No, everyone has to figure it out for themselves.
Life expectancy 2023
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