Story Highlights
- Historical event:
- 1 April 1815
- Otto von Bismarck was born in Schönhausen, a wealthy family estate situated west of Berlin. The Bismarck family owned two castles there.
Otto von Bismarck, one of the most popular chancellors in German history, was born on this day in 1815.
He was called the “Iron Chancellor” (German: Eiserner Kanzler).
Bismarck was the first Chancellor of the German Empire since its promulgation at Versailles in 1871. Before that, he had been Chancellor of Prussia since 1862.
He was born in Schönhausen, a wealthy family estate situated west of Berlin.
The Bismarck family owned two castles, Schönhausen I and Schönhausen II, near the Elbe River.
They were one of the so-called Prussian Junkers families (landowning aristocracy which had a major role in Prussia).
The “Iron Chancellor” held grand hereditary aristocratic titles due to his lifetime merits.
He had been a Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen (Graf von Bismarck-Schönhausen) since 1865, Prince of Bismarck (Fürst von Bismarck) since 1871, and Duke of Lauenburg (Herzog zu Lauenburg) since 1890.
