| Gottfried Graf von Bismarck-Schönhausen | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 19, 1962 Uccle, Belgium |
| Died | June 30, 2007 (aged 44) London, England, UK |
| Nationality | Germany |
| Other names | Gottfried von Bismarck |
Gottfried Alexander Leopold Graf von Bismarck-Schönhausen (19 September 1962 – 30 June 2007) was a member of the German House of Bismarck best known for his flamboyance and parties.
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Born in Uccle, Belgium,[1] Gottfried von Bismarck-Schönhausen was the second son of Ferdinand, Prince of Bismarck and grandson of Otto, Prince of Bismarck, a diplomat at Germany's embassy to the UK in London until a feud with Third Reich foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. He was the great-great-grandson of German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck.
Bismarck's great-uncle and namesake was a Nazi official who allegedly became part of the famous plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. His younger sister, Vanessa Grafin von Bismarck-Schönhausen (born 26 March 1971, Hamburg, Germany) is a public relations agent in the United States. His elder brother Carl-Eduard Graf von Bismarck-Schönhausen (born 1961) was a member (MP) of the German Bundestag.[1][2]
Bismarck grew up primarily in his family's ancestral estate near Hamburg. He attended school in Germany and Switzerland and had a brief internship at the New York Stock Exchange before enrolling at Christ Church, Oxford University, where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) earning a third class honours degree. He was a member of the exclusive Piers Gaveston Society, "noted for its predilection for rubber wear and whips, which he embellished with his androgynous apparel and lipstick" as well as the prohibitively expensive Bullingdon Club, known for its members' wealth and destructive binges, alongside friends like Darius Guppy.[3] Confessing that he did not enjoy the typical social life in Oxford, he and his friends would escape to the more wild, fashionable parties in London on the weekends or whenever possible. He reportedly drank heavily at night and took amphetamines by day to concentrate on his studies.[4]
The death of heiress Olivia Channon in Graf von Bismarck's room would disrupt his life.[4] Olivia was the daughter of Paul Channon and granddaughter of the famous diarist Henry Channon. She was found dead from a heroin overdose in Bismarck's rooms at Christ Church in 1986. Bismarck was charged with drug possession. He was fined GB£80, but the shadow of Olivia's death haunted him; he was said to have "wept like a child" at her funeral.[4] His father, Prince Ferdinand, recalled him to Germany for treatment at a private clinic, it was said he left Oxford so quickly that a family servant had to settle his bills with public houses (bars), tailors and restaurants.[3]
After completion of his studies at a German university, where he wrote a doctoral thesis on the East German telephone system, Bismarck visited the family estate at Schönhausen, that was lost under communist rule in East Germany.[3] This was a powerful personal experience for him facing the course of history. Later, after having spent some time in Los Angeles, he went to work as an executive for the now defunct Telemonde with the intent to raise capital from the stock-market prior to its collapse in 2002. He returned to London soon after and became a promoter of holidays in Uzbekistan. He was a co-founding executive with AIM Partners, a London based investment firm.[3]
In August 2006, Anthony Casey, 41, fell 20 m (60 ft) from Graf von Bismarck's Chelsea flat and died. Bismarck was not arrested and the police said there were no drugs found in his flat. Nevertheless, this incident re-awakened the so-called "curse" from the past, and triggered speculation from the tabloid press. Stories included an article from London's Daily Mail that claims the incident was fueled by a cocaine-fueled orgy involving several individuals. The coroner's report had found no alcohol in Casey's body, but did discover a significant amount of cocaine. The accusation of a 'gay orgy' was officially denied by Gottfried, though the coroner, Dr. Paul Knapman, told The Guardian that a great deal of sexual paraphernalia was discovered in the flat, including sex toys, lubricant, and a rubber tarpaulin.[5] "In common parlance, in the early hours of the morning, there was a gay orgy going on," Dr. Knapman told the newspaper. "Nevertheless, this was conducted by consenting males in private."
On 2 July 2007 Bismarck was found dead in his near-empty £5 million flat in Chelsea (which was in the process of being sold). He was 44 years old at the time of his death. An inquest into the circumstances of the death was opened on 6 July.
Bismarck had been injecting cocaine on an hourly basis in the day before his death said Sebastien Lucas, the pathologist, who carried out the postmortem. He said Bismarck's body contained the highest level of cocaine that he had ever seen, as well as morphine; the German aristocrat also had liver damage, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV.[6]
