Carl-Eduard von Bismarck

Count Carl-Eduard "Calle" von Bismarck (born February 16, 1961 in Zürich) is a German politician (CDU).

Background and education

Carl-Eduard Otto Wolfgang Jayme Anders Graf von Bismarck-Schönhausen is the grandson of the CDU politician Otto Christian Archibald, Fürst von Bismarck, the great-grandson of Prince Herbert von Bismarck and the great-great-grandson of German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck.

Bismarck's younger sister, Vanessa von Bismarck (b. 26 March 1971, Hamburg, Germany) works in public relations in the United States. His brother Count Gottfried von Bismarck-Schönhausen died of a cocaine overdose in 2007.

Following his Abitur in 1982 in Wentorf, he served in the military as an officer cadet, and from 1985 to 1989 he studied economics. In 1987 he married Mexican-American actress Laura Harring. The couple divorced in 1989 but they reportedly remain friendly. Between 1989 and 1992, he worked for the company "Investor Treuhand" in Düsseldorf. Since 1993 he has worked for the Princely Bismarck Administration ("Fürstlich von Bismarck'schen Verwaltung") in Friedrichsruh.

Political career

He became a member of the CDU in 1995, and was elected vice-chairman of the CDU in the Duchy of Lauenburg in 1999 (his ancestor, Otto von Bismarck, had been the nominal Duke of Lauenburg in the 1890s).

When Peter Harry Carstensen became Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein, Bismarck replaced him in the Bundestag, the German parliament.

In the 2005 federal election, he won his constituency with a plurality (44.4%) of the vote.

In 2007, he was called "Germany's laziest member of Parliament" by the Tabloid Bild, because he attended only 14 of 27 parliamentary sessions since the 2005 elections and voted only two times.He also failed to work in any of the parliamentary subcommittees and never attended any political meetings in his electoral district [ [http://www.bild.t-online.de/BTO/news/2007/05/07/faulster-abgeordneter/carl-eduard-graf-von-bismarck.html BILD v. 7. Mai 2007] ] .

He stepped down from his mandate on December 19, 2007 [ [http://orf.at/?href=http%3A%2F%2Forf.at%2Fticker%2F274855.html Von Bismarck tritt zurück - CDU erleichtert] , 20.12.2007] .

If he had stepped down in January, as planned, he would have been eligible for a pension, inciting more criticism [ [http://orf.at/?href=http%3A%2F%2Forf.at%2Fticker%2F274855.html Von Bismarck tritt zurück - CDU erleichtert] , 20.12.2007] .

See also

* Count Gottfried von Bismarck-Schönhausen (brother)
* Otto von Bismarck
* Mona von Bismarck

External links

* [http://www.vonbismarck.de Homepage of Carl-Eduard von Bismarck]
* [http://www.bundestag.de/mdb/bio/b/bismaca0.html Biography at the Bundestag]

References