Otto Christian Archibald, Prince von Bismarck (25 September 1897, Schönhausen, Brandenburg – 24 December 1975) was a German politician and diplomat, and the Prince of Bismarck from 1904 to his death.
He was the elder son of Herbert von Bismarck, as well as the grandson of the famous Otto von Bismarck and elder brother of Gottfried Graf von Bismarck-Schönhausen. A lawyer, he became the owner of the family estate in Schönhausen, and joined the diplomatic service in 1927, serving in Stockholm (1927–28), London (1928–37), with the Foreign Ministry in Berlin (1937–40), as Envoy to Rome (Kingdom of Italy) (1940–43), and finally as head of the Italian section of the Foreign Ministry (1943–44).
In August 1942, Bismarck was directed to request that Italy turn over Jewish refugees in Italian-occupied Croatia for deportation to the East. He disclosed that the goal was the "dispersion and elimination" of these Jews.
He was a member of the DNVP (the conservative party) in the Weimar Republic, and served as a Member of Parliament from 1924 to 1928. In 1933 he joined the Nazi Party and in 1935 he became a member of the Anglo-German Fellowship. In the 1950s he considered becoming a member of the FDP (the liberal party), which offered him a nomination for Parliament, but eventually joined the conservative CDU instead. He served as a Member of Parliament for the constituency of Herzogtum Lauenburg (Duchy of Lauenburg, his grandfather held the title Duke of Lauenburg) from 1953 to 1965, and as a member of the foreign affairs committee. He was also a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and served as its Vice President from 1959 to 1960 and from 1961 to 1966. He was also chairman of the Deutsche Parlamentarische Gesellschaft from 1957 to 1961. He received the Great Cross of Merit in 1965.
Bismarck married Ann-Mari Tengbom (1907–1999), a native of Sweden, daughter of Ivar Tengbom, on 18 April 1928, and they had six children, including the current head of the princely House of Bismarck, Ferdinand von Bismarck, and the philanthropist Gunilla von Bismarck. His grandson Carl-Eduard von Bismarck served as a Member of Parliament, representing the CDU for the constituency Herzogtum Lauenburg, from 2005 to 2007.
Famous quotes containing the words otto, christian, von and/or bismarck:
“Today in Germany, everyone is being watched—even the watchers.”
—Abraham Polonsky, U.S. screenwriter, Frank Butler, and Helen Deutsch. Mitchell Leisen. Otto Krosigk (Reinhold Schunzel)
“What is clear is that Christianity directed increased attention to childhood. For the first time in history it seemed important to decide what the moral status of children was. In the midst of this sometimes excessive concern, a new sympathy for children was promoted. Sometimes this meant criticizing adults. . . . So far as parents were put on the defensive in this way, the beginning of the Christian era marks a revolution in the child’s status.”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)
“You can make children believe whatever you want, and the children of today are the soldiers and mothers of tomorrow.”
—Dudley Nichols, U.S. screenwriter. Jean Renoir. Major Von Keller (Walter Slezak)
“Politics is the art of the possible.”
—Otto Von Bismarck (1815–1898)