Reichpost Bismarck Postcard of Schloss Friedrichsruh and 5 Pfennig Stamp

REICHPOST (Imperial Germany) issued a 5 pfennig stamp in 1889 like the one this postcard of Schloss (Palace) Friedrichsruh, Friedrichsruh (Aumühle), in Schleswig-Holstein 1898, the home of Prince Otto von Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg. The cancellation postmark originated from Friedrichsruh, Schleswig-Holstein, dated 16 March 1899.  An estimated 10,000 postcards were printed in Germany -- one year after Bismarck's death.

 

Prince Otto von Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg (1 April 1815 - 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of Junker landowners, Bismarck rose rapidly in Prussian politics, and from 1862 to 1890 he was the minister president and foreign minister of Prussia.

Before Bismarck's rise to the executive level, he was the Prussian ambassador to Russia and France and served in both houses of the Prussian Parliament. He masterminded the unification of Germany in 1871 and served as the first Chancellor of the German Empire until 1890, in which capacity he dominated European affairs. He had served as the chancellor of the North German Confederation from 1867 to 1871, alongside his responsibilities in the Kingdom of Prussia. He cooperated with King Wilhelm I of Prussia to unify the various German states, a partnership that would last for the rest of Wilhelm's life. The King granted Bismarck the titles of Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen in 1865 and Prince of Bismarck in 1871.
 

Bismarck provoked three short, decisive wars against Denmark, Austria, and France. Following the victory against Austria, he abolished the supranational German Confederation and instead formed the North German Confederation as the first German national state, aligning the smaller North German states behind Prussia, while excluding Austria. Receiving the support of the independent South German states in the Confederation's defeat of France, he formed the German Empire – which also excluded Austria – and united Germany.

Most historians agree that Bismarck was undoubtedly a man of great skill but who left no lasting system in place to guide successors less skilled than himself. Being a committed monarchist himself, Bismarck allowed no effective constitutional check on the power of the Emperor, thus placing a time bomb in the foundation of the Germany that he created.


Source: Wikipedia