Otto von Bismarck: A Bicentennial exhibition and lecture

Most people think that the Bismarck was a battleship the British sank in World War II. But Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898), was a key figure in German history – and a man of great contrasts. A prolific writer, a cunning politician and the man who unified Germany after three wars, he is fascinating historians to this day.

On April 1st the bicentenary of Bismarck’s birth will be celebrated by the German President Joachim Gauck in Berlin. To share this event with its European friends the Bismarck Foundation is organizing an exhibition at the IHR. It will be shown until 25th May and then move to Paris and St. Petersburg.

The exhibition will be opened by the IHR Director, Professor Lawrence Goldman.

Professor Jonathan Steinberg, now at the University of Pennsylvania but formerly at Cambridge, who published an acclaimed biography of Bismarck in 2012, will then lecture on ‘the Iron Chancellor’ .

The event is organized by IHR Senior Research Fellow Dr Karina Urbach and Dr Ulf Morgenstern from the Bismarck Foundation.