Prince Ferdinand of Bismarck, has died at the age of 88 years old. The news was first reported by the German paper, Bunte. The prince passed away following complications experienced during surgery. He leaves behind him his wife, Princess Elisabeth and their three children. He is followed by his son, Carl-Eduard von Bismarck, who is now regarded as the new Prince of Bismarck.
Ferdinand was the great-grandson of former German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. He was born on 22 November 1930 in London as the eldest son of Prince Otto von Bismarck and Swedish born Ann-Mari Tengbom. He grew up in London, Rome and Sweden, and was educated at the Schule Schloss Salem boarding school.
After a few years in Brazil in the early 1950s, where he worked for the German-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, he went on to study law, earning a law degree in 1956. He worked for the European Commission in Brussels for some years and, since 1967, worked as an attorney in Hamburg, based from his home in Friedrichsruh. He has also managed his family’s estate.
The Prince was also involved in politics. He became a member of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany when he was thirty years old and was chairman of the local party in Aumühle. He was a member of the board of the Otto von Bismarck Foundation and ispatron of the Bismarckbund and the Bismarck Order, as well as chairman of the Duchy of Lauenburg Foundation.
The House was founded in 1270 by Herebord von Bismarck and has held, or currently holds, the titles of Duke of Lauenburg, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen and Junker. The House of Bismarck is a German noble family that rose to prominence through the achievements of the statesman Otto von Bismarck. He was granted a hereditary comital title in 1865 and the hereditary title of Prince of Bismarck in 1871.