The Bismarck Family (illustrated) [pp. 113-120]

THE BISMAFi
property elsewhere in Pomerania, and has made
his new estate his principal country residence.
An English correspondent of the Daily News,
London, who visited his new property, thus
describes it:
"Nobody ever thought any thing about that
country before the Chancellor, in I867, bought
his property there. At present the melancholy
steppes which border on the Baltic are well
frequented, and Vertzin is now spoken of as
Sans Souci was formerly. The railway from
this town to Kceslin ought certainly to burn
tapers in honor of Count Bismarck. His resiclence is simply a grand seignorial mansion,
large and comfortable, but without any architectural style, the ideal of a dwelling of one who
is half countryman and half townsman. In front
is a garden laid out with great regularity, and
further on is a large park, which is well stocked
withl game.
The Count frequently invites his friends and
neighbors to hunting parties, at one of which
he had that fall last Autumn which mighlt have
proved fatal to Prussia. The sea is about
fifteen miles off, and during the Winter the
north wind must be particularly keen there.
The proprietor of this domain is engaged in
numerous commercial pursuits. The Minister
of his Prussian majesty sells wool, manufactures
tiles and bricks, and distills brandy. His sheepwalks are renowned, and the proceeds of the
shearing are sought for far and near. One of
these days you will hear that he is making
paper, and he has entered into partnership with
one of the principal men of Koeslin, M. Bellrend,
to establish a factory where this article will be
produced by a new process. I believe that the
firm Bismarck & Behrend is going to make
their produce from bark. Tile vast woods of
Vertzin, Wussow, Chlomitz, and Charlottenthal
will furnish raw material in abundance. Formerly, the place had a manufacturing reputation,
as large glass-works were established there, but
they are now abandoned. Tile Count is, without doubt, a country squire, but hle is one who
possesses genius. In him there is something
of the peasant, with his rude cunning, but also
indomitable energy. Thlere is in him something
of the Norseman, which is the antipodes to the
German whom we have hitherto known, almost
a contradiction. Count Bismarck has simply
transferred to politics the proceedings, manners,
and principles which he and his colleague landowners of Brandenburg and Pomerania apply
in part to matters of domestic and rural economy.
He treats the Prussians and Germans as he
treats his peasants, if we may so describe the
colonists of those countries."
c CKFAMIL r. I9
ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE BISMARCKS.
There are many versions of the origin of the
family and name of the proprietors of Schoenhausen. One is, that the Bismarcks are of
Bohemian extraction, and that at a very early
period they came to the Altmark, one of whose
villages still bears the name of Bismarck, and
is connected with the earliest history of the
family. There is another tradition that the
Bismarcks are of Wendish origin. According
to this, the real namne of the family is "Bij
Smarku," which, in Wendish, is, "Beware of
the way-thorn!" But the fact is, that the Bismarcks, like all the knightly families in the
Altmark, are descendants of the old German
warriors, who, under the guidance of Welfish,
Askanian, or other princes, conquered the Slavic
land lying on both sides of the Elbe, and laid
it as an offering to Christianity and German
civilization. The Bismarcks belong to the great
estate of Biscopesmarck, at first abbreviated to
Bischofsmarck, and finally to Bismarck.
The first appearance of the Bismarcks in
history is, when Rule or Rulo (that is, Rudolph) von Bismarck figures in the year 1270
in the town of Stendal, as a prominent member,
or really the head, of the guild of tailors. The
Prussian archives are singularly minute on this
dashing fellow's history, which, in fact, has some
striking points of resemblance to that of his
most distinguished descendant. Rule Bismarck
was equally noted for his wealth, shrewdness,
and daring. He represented Stendal in all the
most important negotiations at the German
courts, directed all the political affairs of his
district. and maintained until death a very highl
position. He was one of the founders of schools
in Stendal, and defended the cause of education
as long as he lived. At his death he left four
sons, the oldest of whom, Klaus, became the
most prominent and influential. He exhibited
rare political dexterity and indomitable will in
opposing the democratic party of his times.
On his gaining a great political victory in his
district, he was presented with the Castle of
Burgstall. This placed the Bismarcks at once
among the nobility, and, in all the subsequent
political movements of that section of the country, some one or other of the family played an
important part. The very Klaus of whom we
have spoken was the soul of the great and
successful effort in Brandenburg to resist the
attempts of the German Emperor Charles IV
to incorporate Brandenburg into the kingdom
of Bohemia, which he was designing to place
under the dominion of the Lutzelberg family,
and should stretch from Lubeck on the north
to the shores of the Adriatic.
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