Herbert von Bismarck

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Herbert, Prince von Bismarck (Nicolaus Heinrich Ferdinand Herbert von Bismarck) (28 December 1849 – 18 September 1904) was born in Berlin, the son of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck and his wife Johanna, née von Puttkamer. He fought in the Franco-Prussian War, sustaining a bullet wound through the left leg during a cavalry charge at the Battle of Mars-La-Tour. He joined the diplomatic service in 1874, on his father's wishes. He became State Secretary of the Foreign Office in 1886. He once said that 'My father is the only person who can handle this business'. He wanted to marry Princess Elisabeth von Carolath-Beuthen in 1881, but his father would not allow it, as she was a Catholic divorcee and she was ten years older than Herbert. The Chancellor pressured his son with tears, blackmail and threats to disinherit him by getting Kaiser Wilhelm I to change the primogeniture statutes. This experience left Herbert a very bitter and alcoholic man. He once shot five bullets through a Foreign Office window to be told he may have hit someone. He replied 'Officials have to be kept in a permanent state of irritation and alarm; the moment that ceases they stop working'. On 21 June 1892 in Vienna he married Marguerite Hoyos, Freiin zu Stichsenstein, granddaughter of Robert Whitehead, the inventor of the torpedo. They had five children:

• Grafin Hannah Leopoldine Alice von Bismarck-Schönhausen (1893-1971)
• Grafin Goedela von Bismarck-Schönhausen (1896-1981),
• Fürst Otto Christian Archibald von Bismarck-Schönhausen (1897-1975),
• Graf Gottfried von Bismarck-Schönhausen (1901-1949), and
• Graf Albrecht von Bismarck-Schönhausen (1903-1970).

He entered the civil service in 1874 and was promoted during the chancellorship of his father to the position of undersecretary in the foreign office. He became State Secretary for Foreign Affairs in 1886.

In 1890, when Kaiser Wilhelm II called for the resignation of Otto von Bismarck as chancellor, Herbert von Bismarck also resigned as State Secretary.

He was at his father's bedside when the latter died on 30 July 1898 at 10:57 pm.

He died in Friedrichsruh.

[edit] Notes

Regarding personal names: Fürst is a title, translated as Prince, not a first or middle name. The female form is Fürstin. Regarding personal names: Graf is a title, translated as Count, not a first or middle name. The female form is Gräfin.