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Bismarcks go to war in feud over €1bn family fortune
The Independent
|January 18, 2025
The heirs of Otto von Bismarck, Germany's legendary "Iron Chancellor", are embroiled in a bitter courtroom battle over a fortune as grand as their family name.
Carl-Eduard von Bismarck, the so-called “black sheep” of the family, is suing his younger siblings, Gregor and Vanessa, for an €83m (£70m) share of their inheritance.
This decades-long battle over wealth and legacy has brought the family’s scandals and dysfunctions into stark public view, tarnishing the name of a man once synonymous with German unification and diplomacy.
The courtroom clash in Lubeck, northern Germany, is the latest chapter in a saga of personal grudges, police interventions and public disgrace that threatens to overshadow the Bismarcks’ historic contributions.
The siblings are the great-great-grandchildren of Otto von Bismarck, who masterminded the unification of Germany in the 19th century. Carl-Eduard, 63, has earned a reputation as the black sheep of the family and a playboy princeling, disinherited by his father, Prince Ferdinand von Bismarck, in 2002 due to his flamboyant lifestyle. Once dubbed “Germany’s laziest MP” for his absenteeism during his brief political career, Carl-Eduard’s reputation stands in stark contrast to his ancestor’s legacy of diplomacy and statecraft.
The inheritance dispute has brought the siblings to a court in the northern town of Lubeck. Reports from German media describe tense proceedings, with the siblings avoiding eye contact as their lawyers spoke on their behalf.
This story is from the January 18, 2025 edition of The Independent.
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