Nikolaus Heinrich Ferdinand Herbert, Prince of Bismarck (born Nikolaus Heinrich Ferdinand Herbert Graf von Bismarck-Schönhausen; 28 December 1849 – 18 September 1904) was a German politician, who served as

Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

from 1886 to 1890. His political career was closely tied to that of his father,

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...

, and he left office a few days after his father's dismissal. He succeeded his father as the 2nd

Prince of Bismarck Prince of Bismarck (german: Fürst von Bismarck) is a title of the German nobility. The German word '' Fürst'' historically denotes a sovereign ruler, and is a higher title than ''Prinz''; however both titles are conventionally rendered as ''Pri ...

in 1898. He was born in Berlin and died in Friedrichsruh.

Early life

Herbert von Bismarck born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, the oldest son of

and his wife, Johanna, née von Puttkamer. He had an older sister, Marie (b. 1847), and a younger brother,

Wilhelm Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Mount ...

(b. 1852). 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 The Battle of Mars-la-Tour (also known as the Battle of Vionville or Battle of Rezonville) was fought on 16 August 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, near the village of Mars-La-Tour in northeast France. One Prussian corps, reinforced by t ...

. He joined the diplomatic service in 1874 on his father's wishes. Bismarck attempted to gain influence with the heir to the German throne, Prince Wilhelm, by appealing to his narcissism. In June 1884, he wrote to thank Wilhelm for a portrait that Wilhelm had given to him after they returned from a state visit to Russia: Bismarck became Under-Secretary and acting head of the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

in 1885, and the following year, he was appointed the

State Secretary for Foreign Affairs The State Secretary for Foreign Affairs ( sv, Kabinettssekreterare) is the highest position below the rank of cabinet minister at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. , Jan Knutsson is State Secretary.Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...

in 1888. He once said, "My father is the only person who can handle this business" In 1890, when

Kaiser Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and List of monarchs of Prussia, King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication on 9 ...

called for the resignation of Otto von Bismarck as Chancellor, Herbert von Bismarck also resigned as State Secretary, despite Wilhelm attempts to retain him so that his ''de facto'' dismissal of his father would "look better in the eyes of the world".

Personal life

Bismarck had wanted to marry Princess Elisabeth von Carolath-Beuthen in 1881, but his father would not allow it, as she was a Catholic divorcée and was ten years older than Herbert. The Chancellor pressured his son with tears, blackmail and threats to disinherit him by getting Kaiser

Wilhelm I William I or Wilhelm I (german: Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 2 January 1861 and German Emperor from 18 January 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the ...

to change the primogeniture statutes. That 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 en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, he married Countess Marguerite, Countess of Hoyos, a member of the originally-Spanish

House of Hoyos The House of Hoyos is a Spanish and Austrian noble family. It derives its name from El Hoyo de Pinares in Ávila, Castile and León, and can be traced to the 9th century. Juan de Hoyos and his family accompanied the later Ferdinand I, Holy Rom ...

from Hungary. She herself was half-English and a grand-daughter of

Robert Whitehead Robert Whitehead (3 January 1823 – 14 November 1905) was an English engineer who was most famous for developing the first effective self-propelled naval torpedo. Early life He was born in Bolton, England, the son of James Whitehead, ...

, the inventor of the

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

. They had five children: *Countess Hannah Leopoldine Alice von Bismarck-Schönhausen (1893–1971), married Leopold von Bredow (1875–1933) *Countess Maria Goedela von Bismarck-Schönhausen (1896–1981), married

Hermann Graf Keyserling Hermann Alexander Graf von Keyserling ( – 26 April 1946) was a Baltic German philosopher from the Keyserlingk family. His grandfather, Alexander von Keyserling, was a notable geologist of Imperial Russia. Life Keyserling was born to a wealt ...

(1880-1946) *HSH Otto Christian Archibald, Prince von Bismarck (1897–1975), married

Ann-Mari Tengbom Ann-Mari, Princess of Bismarck (née Tengbom; 26 July 1907 – 22 September 1999) was a Swedish socialite and the wife of Otto Christian Archibald, Prince of Bismarck. Biography Ann-Mari was born on 26 July 1907 in Stockholm. She was the dau ...

(1907–1999) * Count Gottfried Alexander Georg Herbert von Bismarck-Schönhausen (1901–1949), married Countess Melanie, Countess of Hoyos (1916–1949) *Count Albrecht Edzard Heinrich Karl von Bismarck-Schönhausen (1903–1970), married Mona Travis Strader (1897–1983). He was at his father's bedside when the latter died on 30 July 1898, at 10:57 p.m. He died in

Friedrichsruh Friedrichsruh () is a district in the municipality of Aumühle, Herzogtum Lauenburg district, Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany. Friedrichsruh manor is known as a residence of the princely House of Bismarck, mainly of Chancellor Otto von Bi ...

. The capital of the German colonial administration of

German New Guinea German New Guinea (german: Deutsch-Neu-Guinea) consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups and was the first part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , ...

was called Herbertshöhe (now

Kokopo Kokopo is the capital of East New Britain Province in Papua New Guinea. It is administered under Kokopo-Vunamami Urban LLG. The capital was moved from Rabaul in 1994 when the volcanoes Tavurvur and Vulcan erupted. As a result, the population of ...

) in his honor.

Orders and decorations

;German honours''Handbuch über den Königlich Preußischen Hof und Staat fur das jahr 1903''
p. 58
/ref> ;Foreign honours

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bismarck, Herbert Von 1849 births 1904 deaths Politicians from Berlin People from the Province of Brandenburg

Herbert Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert ...

German Protestants Free Conservative Party politicians Foreign Secretaries of Germany Members of the 6th Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the 9th Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the 10th Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the 11th Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the Prussian House of Lords Corps students Children of national leaders Prussian Army personnel German military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War Recipients of the Iron Cross, 2nd class Commanders of the Order of Franz Joseph Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Italy) Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun Recipients of the Order of the Medjidie, 1st class Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa Grand Crosses of the Order of the Star of Romania Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 2nd class Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star