’tis but a hut or little more,
the threshold narrow, slim the door—
and yet within this space so wee,
proudly uprears the laurel-tree.
bismarck’s house in ordinary costume.—its history.—“sultan uilem and grand vizier bi-smarck.”—“bismarck, grand homme, bakschisch!”—the cuckoo clock.—daily habits.—sunday at bismarck’s.
in that portion of the wilhelms-strasse at berlin, which has remained comparatively quiet, although it is bounded on one side by the animated and famous street unter den linden, and on the other by the noisy and busy leipziger-strasse, one of the arteries of berlin circulation, not far from the wilhelms-platz, stands a plain one-storied house, with twelve windows in the front—the ministry of foreign affairs—since 1862 the official residence of count bismarck.
it is the most modest ministerial residence in berlin; in no large state of europe does the foreign minister live so quietly as count bismarck does here. to the right of the minister-president is the hotel of prince radziwill—entre cour et jardin—with its railings and stately front court; to the left is the building of the royal privy court printing-office of messrs. von decker; opposite the former palace of the order of st. john of balley brandenburg, so magnificently restored by schinckel, and now the property of prince carl of prussia. one advantage bismarck’s dwelling enjoys, with all the aristocratic houses of the wilhelms-strasse—it has a large garden with fine old trees in it, which extends as far as the k?nigsgr?tzer-strasse.
the whole extent of the wilhelms-strasse, from the linden to the leipziger-strasse, formerly belonged to the thurgarten—the[442] freehold being the king’s. on the enlargement of the city by frederick william i., this site was given to the generals and higher officials as free building-ground, and was supported by the king with his well-known energy by building materials and other subventions. the present site of wilhelms-strasse and k?nigsgr?tzer-strasse, by the privilege of the 21st of september, 1736, was covered by a free house, respecting the builder of which there is still some question. it was unquestionably the work of one general von pannewitz; probably wolf adolf von pannewitz, born the 13th march, 1679, at great-gaglov, in lower lausitz, who had been page and equerry to king frederick i., and had joined the regiment of gensdarmes in 1714, from the disbanded garde du corps. he became lieutenant-colonel of this regiment in 1719, in 1725 commander, and in 1728, after the death of field-marshal general von natzmer, its chief. pannewitz had gained renown on the rhine, in italy, and brabant, and had so distinguished himself in the first silesian war, that the great king allowed him to retire from the service on account of bodily illness, very honorably, with a pension of three thousand thalers. how the ownership of this old hero, who had honestly served three kings of prussia, passed to the well-known countess barbara campanini, the married presidentess von cocceji, we can not tell; but according to the register she sold the house on the 10th april, 1756, to the actual privy state and directing war minister and grand master of the robes, herr count von eickstedt. after the death of this nobleman it became the property of his widow, the countess von eickstedt-peterswaldt, caroline-friedrike, born von grumbkow; then that of her daughter, the widowed obermarshallin von wangenheim, philippine juliane, born countess von eickstedt-peterswaldt. this lady was, however, bismarck’s grand-aunt, having been married first to the royal captain ernst friedrich von bismarck, at sch?nhausen (born 1729, died 1775), a grand-uncle of the minister-president—so that in the last century a bismarck lived both at sch?nhausen and in the wilhelms-strasse. in the year 1804 the hanoverian councillor of finance, johann crelinger, bought the house, but soon sold it to the wife of the russian imperial minister and ambassador at the royal prussian court, herr maximilian von alopeus, luise charlotte auguste friedrike, born a von veltheim.[443] from her it passed into the possession, in 1815, of her husband, baron alopeus, who sold it in 1819 to the government.
the family of alopeus, originally derived from a learned family of finland, have long played a great part in berlin society. baron maximilian was thrice russian ambassador for several years in 1790, 1802, and 1813 at berlin, and was succeeded in the post by his younger brother, who has been raised to the rank of count—daniel alopeus, who died here in 1831. public attention has been very recently drawn to this younger alopeus by a book which has passed through dozens of editions in france, and has been translated into almost all languages. the principal personage of this specifically roman catholic book is alexandrina, countess albert de laferronays, the only daughter of daniel alopeus and the lovely johanna von wenckstern, who married for the second time the prince paul lapuchin, of korsie in the ukraine.
the fiscal board bought the house originally for the then minister of state, count von bernstorff, together with all its furniture and fittings. since that time all the foreign ministers of prussia have resided there, with the exception of ancillon, who remained in a private house, unter den linden.
it has been long known that the apartments are not sufficient for the requirements of the service. the ministerial bureaux, grown too unwieldy for the ground-floor, had to be transferred to another building, scarcely saving much trouble in the transaction of business. the apartments form a very fitting dwelling-place for a nobleman in private life, but are by no means suitable for the prussian prime minister and chancellor of the north german federation. bismarck has naturally felt this inconvenience more than any one else; but, as far as we know, he has taken no steps towards any alteration, but usually contents himself with a good-humored joke about it.
to the left, on the first floor, are two spacious saloons, having a view of the court and garden. these are very convenient, and are decorated with old family portraits, some of which we have mentioned in our previous chapter on sch?nhausen. it is not usual to decorate official residences with ancestral portraits; but, as every thing of the kind was wanting, bismarck had his portraits brought from sch?nhausen. in the second saloon stands the countess’s piano, and here there is an excellent likeness of[444] bismarck’s sister, frau von arnim, as a child. next to this is the sitting-room of the countess, with a good picture of bismarck in the frankfurt period. from the first saloon one passes to the right into a large reception-room, where the ministerial council is also held. this is very simply decorated by a portrait of the king, and a gigantic porcelain vase, presented by the king to bismarck. to the right of this saloon is bismarck’s dining-room, with its old carpet, of which so much has been said in berlin, although we really can not say why. next to this is a ball-room, over the hall, where the very large dinners also are served. to the left, next to the ministerial saloon, is the comfortable but simple study of bismarck. a double writing-table with a low-backed chair on either side, is the principal object. in the corner, by the stove, is a chaise-longue, with a lion’s skin over it. this lion’s skin was brought to the minister-president by the celebrated traveller rohlfs, from africa. we are indebted to him also for the following anecdote:—rohlfs was on board an egyptian ship, and was obliged to tell the officers a great deal about “sultan uilem” and his grand vizier “bi-smarck,” which seemed like a new edition of haroun-ar-reschid and the vizier djaffar to the orientals. the name bismarck pleased them wonderfully, as bi-smarck in arabic signifies “swift fire,” “rapid action.”
in the “wochenblatt der johanniter ordens-balley-brandenburg,” another traveller thus relates his ride from cairo to the pyramids—we there read: “every one who has been in the east or has read a book of travels knows the events of the next hour. the visitor to the pyramids is seized like an irresponsible being by four brown shapes, each clad in a single garment; two of them drag him up the irregular steps of the pyramid of cheops, while the two others assist by shoving and pushing. it is of no use to beg and pray—always forward, forward! the eye roves giddily on the depths, and anxiously glances up the uneven steps, the worn and slippery blocks of stone—upward, upward, until one falls exhausted on the little platform, and without any power of assembling moral courage. the guides then dance round with the customary cry of ‘bakschisch! bakschisch!’ (money! money!) dark traditions concerning an englishman who declined to pay, and was precipitated into the[445] depths, do not make the situation any the pleasanter; and had i not understood the arab people, having left my companions far behind, i should have felt very uncomfortable. but i alleged weariness, and would bind myself to nothing. but when all appeals in german, arabic, english, and italian had failed (for these fellows smatter all languages), the tallest fellow, who had guessed my nationality, placed himself before me, and, holding up his forefinger, pathetically exclaimed, “signor! bismarck grand homme! bakschisch!” at this appeal to my patriotic feelings, laughter got the upper hand, and i divided my copper money among these gentlemen, just as the heads of my companions became visible at the edge of the topmost stone ridge.”
in this study hang pictures of the great elector and the great king, with some other portraits of king william. otherwise the room is quite without decoration. a side door leads into the boudoir of the countess, another into bismarck’s bedroom, and the dressing-room beyond.
beside the door leading from the study to the bedroom, is a cuckoo clock, which every quarter of an hour reminds those whom bismarck receives here, in an appealing and unmistakable manner, that they are not to forget they are in the presence of a man whose precious time belongs to his king and country. with some this warning is unnecessary, but in other cases it is very useful, and should any one neglect its appeals, the possessor of the cuckoo clock is quite the man to support them in the politest manner in the world. softly and cautiously various stories are whispered of the important influence this cuckoo clock has exercised on the fates of many.
such are the apartments inhabited by prussia’s premier; his children live in a wing of the house.
when at berlin, bismarck is accustomed to breakfast, entirely dressed in a blue uniform overcoat, about ten o’clock. at this time he opens all the letters which have come in, runs through the telegraphic dispatches and the latest news of the morning papers, and then receives his councillors in the study, rides for an hour, and then proceeds to the royal presence. at his return from the palace, about five, the family dines; but it is a rare circumstance not to find friends present. bismarck has always an excellent appetite, and prefers the red wine of bordeaux, which[446] he once on the tribune of the second chamber called “the natural drink of the north german,” to rhenish wine. the greatest punctuality prevails at his table. he especially delighted in exhorting his sons, while they were young, to sit upright; and a person who for a long time had the honor of being bismarck’s table companion, asserts in full seriousness, that owing to the continual directions bismarck gave his sons on this point, which he also profited by himself, he had, according to his own calculation, himself grown two inches taller in the time. conversation is sparkling, open, and almost always illustrated by the humorous manner of the host and the witty animation of the countess. the language employed is always german, very seldom a little french or english. bismarck’s family table has an especial charm at christmas time, when a great tree stretches its branches over the guests. after dinner the minister-president stays for a short time in his wife’s salon, where he drinks a cup of coffee and[447] smokes, during which time he runs through the kreuzzeitung and the norddeutsche allgemeine. he then retires to his study and receives the ambassadors, or a council of ministers is held, and after that he works by himself. about midnight he returns into the salon to his wife, and is pleased if he finds any company there. this rarely fails, especially when the diet or reichstag is assembled. it may be very well understood that this arrangement is often altered, according to circumstances: the council of ministers often sits in the morning, and then the count can scarcely find time, after his audience of the king, to get his accustomed ride in the thiergarten.
in the warmer seasons of the year he often goes into the garden after dinner, where the trees are; he was very commonly here every day with roon and moltke, before the war of 1866. the trees could tell some strange mysteries, but of course they are “sworn,” as is proper with ministerial trees. sometimes bismarck mounts the ice-house; there he gets a “view”—it certainly is not very extensive, but still green and pleasant—over the large neighboring gardens. the minister-president attends divine service with his family in the holy trinity church, in which he was once confirmed. the communion he receives at the hands of the consistorial councillor souchon, who has also confirmed his children. if bismarck, from personal illness, is unable to attend public worship, he likes to have a private service read for him and his by some young divine. but it is a rule to receive no one in the morning—for it is sunday in bismarck’s house.
