Bernd Teicher of Ramsgate turns 102
Later in life, he decided to write his life story for his grandchildren.
Fred Astaire once shared wonderful words about getting older.
“Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you’ve got to start young,” he famously said.
Bernd Teicher of Ramsgate is one such man who can attest to this.
He recently celebrated his 102nd birthday (on July 23) in the company of his wife Uschi, and members of the Pondoland CREW (Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wild Flowers).
It was no ordinary day. The guests arrived at the Teischer home where Uschi had baked a special German chocolate cake, a beautiful fruit tart and cheese puffs.
These were served on exquisite floral plates, and everyone raised crystal glasses of champagne and orange juice in honour of this incredible man.
Bernd was born in Dresden in 1924. A stamp collector since childhood, he became so knowledgeable and specialised that he was eventually able to hold stamp auctions.
After selling his business, he became an ardent collector of minerals and rocks.
Uschi shared how, every year, they would travel to Europe, where Bernd collected specimens from far and wide – much to her consternation as the rocks made their suitcases extraordinarily heavy.
Later in life Bernd decided to write his life story for his grandchildren.
What began as one project grew over the years until, remarkably, he had written seven books.
Their son, Harry, shared a fascinating statistic. Only a tiny fraction of the world’s population reaches the age of 102 or beyond.
In Germany alone, recent census-based estimates suggest that only a few thousand people are aged 102, with men representing a relatively small proportion of them.
There is another milestone to celebrate soon as on August 30 they will celebrate 63 years of marriage.
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