Bismarck’s Post-mortem Photograph

On the night after Otto von Bismarck’s death, two photographers entered his home in Friedrichsruh without permission. The former imperial chancellor had died on the evening of 30 July 1898, eight years after leaving office. Willy Wilcke and Max Priester photographed him in bed without his family’s consent. The image, made in the early hours of 31 July, soon became the subject of legal proceedings.

1. Bismarck after death

Bismarck lies among pillows, with white cloth wrapped around his chin. A cup, candles and a clock stand beside the bed. According to a Deutsches Museum study, the photographers moved the clock from about four in the morning to 11.20 p.m., the time of Bismarck’s death.

Wilcke and Priester offered the photograph for sale. Bismarck’s son Herbert had it seized and prevented its publication. Contemporary reporting in August 1898 described proceedings against the photographers over their nighttime entry. Bismarck’s children also sued for the photographs to be handed over and the negatives, plates and copies destroyed.

The dispute reached the Imperial Court. On 28 December 1899, it based its decision on the violation of the family’s rights in its home. The judges applied the principle of restitution for what had been obtained unlawfully: the photographers could not retain the benefit of their intrusion.

The image survived. The Deutsches Museum study identifies its first publication as the 14 December 1952 issue of Frankfurter Illustrierte, more than half a century after it was taken.

2. AI-processed version