Our Bismarck

Cover picture (1895)

Cover picture memory edition (1898)

Our Bismarck is a large-format book about Otto von Bismarck published in 1895 with numerous drawings by Christian Wilhelm Allers and a text by Hans Kraemer , which was very popular during the time of Bismarck worship (1890s).

History of origin and issues

The book was first published in 1895 by Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft as a series of 14 booklets of 2 Marks each from spring 1894 to autumn 1895, and finally in autumn 1895 in bound form in a large folio format (32 × 41 cm) with gilt edging and over 5½ kg weight at a price of 50 gold marks . It followed up on Prince Bismarck who appeared in Friedrichsruh in 1892 . After Bismarck's death in 1898, a commemorative edition with changed content was published in a smaller format (24 × 32 cm, 2 kg). Together with the commemorative edition, the book reached a circulation of 100,000 copies.

The original drawings were bought by the Hamburg lawyer Joh. Mohrmann in 1898 and after his death in 1906 passed into the possession of the Hamburger Kunsthalle , where they are still preserved today in the Kupferstichkabinett.

content

The text reflects Bismarck's life biographically, the content is structured according to Bismarck's whereabouts with the five chapters Schönhausen , Bad Kissingen , Göttingen , Varzin and Friedrichsruh . The drawings show buildings and landscapes, but above all portraits of Bismarck and people in his surroundings. There are portraits of Herbert von Bismarck , Otto Ehrenfried Ehlers and Ernst Schweninger . When reproducing crowd scenes, Allers also incorporated acquaintances who visited him in his villa on Capri without them necessarily being at the specified location.

In the commemorative edition, the extensive representation of the torchlight procession (33 panels) has been removed, a description of the circumstances of death and numerous expressions of condolences have been added. Many drawings have been repositioned or shown in different sections. The volume is 286 pages plus a few plates.

gallery

Bismarck and Hermann von Wissmann
Otto E. Ehlers and Walter von Saint Paul-Illaire
Builder of the Hamburg City Hall (Part 1)

literature

“Our Bismarck” by Allers . In: The Gazebo . Issue 49, 1895, pp. 840 ( full text [ Wikisource ] review).
Christmas Library - Our Bismarck . In: Die Kunst für Alle , 1895, p. 73 ( Wikisource review).

Web links

Commons : Our Bismarck Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Digitized version of the memory edition at the Bavarian State Library
Locations for the memory edition in the library catalog GVK

Individual evidence

^ Nicole-Karen Hansel: The popularization of the Bismarck image by Christian Wilhelm Allers . In: Carsten Kretschmann: Knowledge popularization . Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2003, pp. 281-291, ISBN 3-05-003770-9
↑ Friedrich Schmidt-Sibeth: CW Allers / Hans Kraemer: "Our Bismarck" as a portrait and autograph source . In: Genealogy (Zeitschr.) 1971 pp. 729–734
^ Kurt Doss: Success and tragedy of an artist during the imperial era. The Hamburg painter and draftsman CW Allers . Hamburg 1981, ISBN 3-7672-0738-9 , here p. 56 and p. 76

[hansel1-1] Nicole-Karen Hansel: The popularization of the Bismarck image by Christian Wilhelm Allers . In: Carsten Kretschmann: Knowledge popularization . Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2003, pp. 281-291, ISBN 3-05-003770-9

[fss-2] Friedrich Schmidt-Sibeth: CW Allers / Hans Kraemer: "Our Bismarck" as a portrait and autograph source . In: Genealogy (Zeitschr.) 1971 pp. 729–734

[Doss-3] Kurt Doss: Success and tragedy of an artist during the imperial era. The Hamburg painter and draftsman CW Allers . Hamburg 1981, ISBN 3-7672-0738-9 , here p. 56 and p. 76