FOR SUCH a nonentity as me, it takes courage to write about a man as stupendous as Bismarck.
Though well-behaved, he waged wars, and despite the wars he apparently instigated and advocated, he was a most accommodating husband.
Having grown up on a knight’s estate, he conducted himself, perhaps not always but for the most part, chivalrously. Toward ladies his behavior was remarkably gallant.
His master, who held the position of king, he served honestly. In that he was of service to him, he also helped his people. May I point out that Bismarck’s nature was a simple one? Indeed, one can be simple and at the same time very smart, and honesty can combine with cleverness. The devoted aren’t always unwise, nor the good inept.
Bismarck gained fame through his realism. Still, he, too, perhaps, possessed a romantic vein, in the evenings possibly enjoying reading poetry by lamplight.
All in all, he had a fiery temperament; he possessed what we call inspiration, he was original and seemed more convinced about the problematic nature of all earthly things than about himself.
He was endowed with an exceptionally healthy mind, whereby he achieved that which, from time to time, may have wrested a smile from his friends’ lips and from his opponents an abundance of disapproval.
Because he was well-read, one could discourse with him in the most diverse fashion. Even if, while with others, he didn’t manage an engaging smile every second, nonetheless it appears he wasn’t always frowning.
As for his achievements, it’s hardly necessary for me to remark upon them prolixly. One knows them well enough, but I permit myself to stress that I do not credit his iron will alone for all that he so splendidly achieved, because I do not doubt that his endeavors were often simply graced by so-called luck, by which, of course, in no way do I belittle his reputation.
Surely Bismarck himself often didn’t know how cleverly he acted. And with this I have reached the point where it seems fitting to say he was a kind of artist, that is, an actor, as circumspect as he was brave.
From his fellow countrymen he demanded devotion. During his entire career he advocated frugality, that is, preservation of strength, and practical consideration. He will have known the golden ruthlessness, so to speak, yet he didn’t think it desirable to see the dissemination of such maxims when they can never be applied by everyone.
An amusing thing about him is that he had a predilection for reading a certain poet prone to satire. He liked to wear wide-brimmed hats and let himself be accompanied on walks by a Great Dane he treated with the kind of attention one gives to things not understood, which certainly to us are always more intriguing than inferior.
If I’m not mistaken, Bismarck’s genius consisted, as with many other great men, of piety. Perhaps you’ll smile at these remarks, but that’s exactly why I wrote them, as in general I believe my best lines to be those that cause the reader to believe himself superior to the author.
(1926)
Translated with Annette Wiesner