How an €83m inheritance feud with Germany’s playboy prince could tear apart Otto von Bismarck’s dynasty
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.
The judge has requested further documentation to determine the true value of the Bismarck estate, estimated to be worth as much as €1bn. Gregor argues that Carl-Eduard received a significant loan from their father, which, if proven, could reduce his claim.
The feud dates back decades, with tensions escalating even before the death of Prince Ferdinand in 2019. In 2010, police were called to Friedrichsruh Castle, the family’s ancestral seat near Hamburg, during an alleged altercation between Carl-Eduard and his 71-year-old mother, Princess Elisabeth.
Carl-Eduard reportedly tried to evict her from the estate, leading to a confrontation so heated that officers arrived fearing weapons might be involved.
“The police arrived, and suddenly I was lying handcuffed on the ground with my face in the sand,” Carl-Eduard told the Bild newspaper at the time. His mother later withdrew a legal complaint against him.
He told Bild in an interview in 2010. “And my brother was shouting at the officers to test me for drugs and alcohol. They did, and when the results were negative, he told them: ‘Get better equipment.’”
His mother, he said, had withdrawn a legal complaint against him for bodily harm and had given a sworn statement that he had never threatened her with a hunting weapon.
