Bismark, Johann Heinrich Ludwig von

Colonel, Chief Court Marshal

Born: 1774 in Windheim, district of Petershagen

died: 31.05.1816 in Biebrich am Rhein

Bismark, whose line is spelled without a "c", began his career as a Hanoverian cavalry officer and transferred to the service of the Electorate of Mainz, from where he joined the contingent of the Principality of Nassau-Usingen in 1802.

In 1804, as a major, he organized the formation of the cavalry (mounted hunters) in the state. When the principality was absorbed into the Duchy of Nassau in 1806, he served as commander of the mounted cavalry with the rank of lieutenant colonel and was also adjutant general to Duke Friedrich August zu Nassau, only to be appointed director general of the Nassau military administration (now colonel) in 1813 and to the office of chief court marshal.

Annoyed that August Heinrich Ernst von Kruse was promoted to general instead of him, Bismark retired to the office of Oberhofmarschall in 1814.

Bismark was quietly laid to rest in Schierstein. The Nassau officer has remained present in Wiesbaden as the namesake of the Bismarksaue meadow in front of Schierstein. This naming is presumably connected to Bismark's acquisition of the tithe farm, which originally belonged to the Bleidenstadt knights' monastery.

Kopp, Klaus: Around the Schierstein harbor. In: Everyday life between the powerful and the idle [pp. 95-99].

Wacker, Peter: Das herzoglich-nassauische Militär 1813-1866. Militärgeschichte im Spannungsfeld von Politik, Wirtschaft und sozialen Verhältnissen eines deutschen Kleinstaates (with contributions by Guntram Müller-Schellenberg), Taunusstein 1998 [pp. 440; 633].