The Gothic Cradle
8
Idyl of the child Otto, in his huge Gothic cradle at
Schoenhausen; wonders that gather 'round his destiny, a
forecast and a reality.
¶ Otto Edward Leopold von Bismarck, the great central figure in our
story, was the fourth of six children, three dying in infancy. He was
born April 1, 1815, but a few months before the crowning defeat at
Waterloo--that year big with the hammer-blows of Destiny!
¶ In lonesome Schoenhausen on the Elbe, the village lately devastated
by Marshal Soult and his plundering soldiers, the infant Otto sleeps
peacefully in his oak-carved Gothic cradle. A century later, we still
see that huge cradle as one of the souvenirs in the famous Bismarck
museum at Schoenhausen.
¶ Schoenhausen house is one of those thick-walled monuments of
mediæval masonry.
There is, to be sure, something out of drawing about the antiquated
three-story house; and we survey with respect for the past the queer
courtyard, leaded panes, park with the artificial island, wooded
byways, and old forest, and not far away is the village church with
the square stone tower; hard by, also, the kattenwinkel, or Katte's
corner, at the confluence of the Havel and the Elbe; and on the house
is the Katte's coat-of-arms, a cat watching a mouse, the mark of the
sturdy 17th century builder, Katte, who to honor his wife, Dorothea
Sophia Katte, added her name to his builder's sign over the lintel.
¶ In this historical 1815, seed-time and harvest strangely blend, yet
are years apart.
For, while the child sleeps in his Gothic cradle, the Congress of
Vienna meets to redistribute among the hungry kings the old domains
stolen as prizes in the long Napoleonic wars; and in turn, after
incredible political adventures, running over years, the child before
us, grown to be a man, will smash the rulings of Vienna and will
build an empire stronger far than that of imperial France, now dying
at Waterloo.
¶ All these wonders gather 'round the destiny of the child in the big
Gothic cradle, before which we now tiptoe at Schoenhausen, lest we
awaken the baby and he cry.
* * * * *
¶ When the French overrun Prussian territory the old land-owning
military aristocracy was reduced to bankruptcy. Mortgages falling due
could not be paid; the king extended credit for four years; and in the
interim Prussians were forced to use depreciated rag-money; all the
gold and silver had been confiscated by the French invaders.
¶ Great dissatisfaction followed. The farms had been tilled by
feudal-laborers, practically slaves; these oppressed peasants now flew
to arms.
Schoenhausen was a dreary place indeed; while the Bismarcks were
better off than their neighbors, still the times were out of joint and
ruin fell over the broad acres.
¶ Then came an unexpected change. Along about 1816, Karl inherited
Kneiphof, Kuelz and Jarchelin estates from his cousin, moved to
Kneiphof, just east of the hamlet of Naugard.
The house was exceeding modest; a brook, the Zampel, ran near by; and
there was a carp pond. Karl was fond of hunting in the old beech
forest. Such were the unsettled conditions in the Bismarck family, up
to Otto's sixth year.
9
Soft-hearted Karl and Spartan Mother Louise; her rigid
character, its good and its bad side; her extreme punctilio and
her pistol-shooting, to steady her sight.
¶ Otto von Bismarck inherited his tall form from his father, Karl
William. This unusual type of cavalry captain subscribed for French
journals and ate off silver plate. Karl's regiment was known as the
"White and Blue," and one of his duties was to get up at 4 in the
morning and measure corn for horses. At one time the captain lived in
Berlin, but he soon tired of the capital and gladly returned to the
country where he passed his days as squire. To the end of his life, he
was fond of horseback riding and hunting; and he brought his sons up
to ride like centaurs.
¶ Bismarck's mother, Louise Wilhelmina Mencken, married at the age of
sixteen; her husband Karl was nineteen years her senior.
¶ In the family circle, the father was known as the heart, the mother
as the brains; but in Louise's case it might well read "ambition." She
wished to see Otto von Bismarck, her youngest son, become a
diplomatist--a judgment that in the light of after years seems almost
uncanny.
Later, at the full tide of the Chancellor's great glory, frequently
his earliest friends used to say, "Bismarck, had your mother only
survived to see this day!"
* * * * *
¶ The wife's leading trait was her inflexible resolution, the will to
rulership;--and rule she certainly did, always.
For one thing, she steadied her nerves and schooled her sharp eyes by
practising pistol shooting.
There was Spartan courage about her decisions! Frau Bismarck's
irritability had been growing of late; Karl was too soft with Otto.
She was angered to think that her husband might spoil Otto, by too
much coddling. The domestic climax came.
¶ That day at table, Otto with childish impatience, began swinging his
legs like a pendulum. The good-natured Karl hadn't it in his heart to
correct the child, but instead began making excuses for Otto's
conduct. This aroused Louise's ire. To smooth matters Karl said, "See,
Minchen, how the boy is sitting there dangling his little legs!"
¶ Louise then and there read her ultimatum. She would not have her son
spoiled by the foolishness of his soft father--not at all! She would
send her beloved son away, first. At the time, Otto was only six years
old.
And she thereupon proceeded to keep her decision--acting with all the
aggressiveness for which in later life Otto von Bismarck was himself
celebrated.