Photo: Ludwig Wegmann, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons¹⁴

Klaus von Bismarck

German officer and journalist (1912–1997)

Klaus von Bismarck (6 March 1912 – 22 May 1997) was the Director General of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (English: West German Broadcasting) from 1961 to 1976, and the president of the ARD broadcasting association in 1963-1964. He was also the president of the German Evangelical Church Assembly from 1977 to 1979 and a member of its presidium from 1950 to 1995, as well as president of the Goethe-Institut from 1977 to 1989.²

From Wikipedia’s article on Klaus von Bismarck (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Mar 6, 1912, died May 22, 1997.¹

About

During World War II, Bismarck served as an officer in the Wehrmacht. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. According to his memoirs, published in 1992, while serving as an adjutant on the Russian front in 1941 he refused to obey Hitler's Commissar Order to execute all captured Communist political commissars attached to the Soviet Army.

He was a great-great nephew of German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, and was the son of Gottfried von Bismarck (1881–1928). Klaus von Bismarck was the last owner of the family's estates in formerly German Farther Pomerania, including Kniephof (now Konarzewo, Poland), where Otto von Bismarck spent his childhood.

Bismarck received an honorary Doctor of Theology degree (Dr. h. c. theol.) from the University of Münster. He was one of the eight signatories of the Memorandum of Tübingen which called for the recognition of the Oder-Neiße line as the official border between West Germany and Poland and spoke against a possible nuclear armament of West Germany.

From Wikipedia’s article on Klaus von Bismarck, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.²

Companies

Goethe-InstitutPresident¹³
Goethe-InstitutChair 1977 to 1989¹³

Early life and education

Date not recordedFriderico-Francisceum³

Career

Occupation: broadcasting director, journalist, writer.⁸

1977 to 1989Chair, Goethe-Institut⁷
1963 to 1964Chair, ARD⁶
Date not recordedWorked at Westdeutscher Rundfunk⁴
Date not recordedPresident, Goethe-Institut⁴
Date not recordedPresident of the DEKT⁵

Personal life

BornMar 6, 1912, Jarchlino⁹
DiedMay 22, 1997, Hamburg¹⁰
CitizenshipGermany¹¹

Awards

1986Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia¹²
Date not recordedGreat Cross with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany¹²
Date not recordedKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves¹²

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

1
WikidataKlaus von Bismarck on Wikidata
2
WikipediaKlaus von Bismarck on Wikipedia
3
WikidataKlaus von Bismarck: education, on Wikidata
4
WikidataKlaus von Bismarck: Worked at Westdeutscher Rundfunk, on Wikidata
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WikidataKlaus von Bismarck: President of the DEKT, on Wikidata
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WikidataKlaus von Bismarck: Chair, ARD, on Wikidata
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WikidataKlaus von Bismarck: Chair, Goethe-Institut, on Wikidata
8
WikidataKlaus von Bismarck: occupation, on Wikidata
9
WikidataKlaus von Bismarck: place of birth, on Wikidata
10
WikidataKlaus von Bismarck: place of death, on Wikidata
11
WikidataKlaus von Bismarck: citizenship, on Wikidata
12
WikidataKlaus von Bismarck: award, on Wikidata
13
WikidataGoethe-Institut, President
14
Wikimedia CommonsKlaus von Bismarck photo by Ludwig Wegmann, CC BY-SA 3.0 de