Klaus von Bismarck
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Dr. h. c. theol. Klaus von Bismarck |
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|---|---|
Klaus von Bismarck, 11 July 1961
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| Born |
6 March 1912 estate Jarchlin, Province of Pomerania, German Empire |
| Died | 22 May 1997 (aged 85) Hamburg, Germany |
| Allegiance |
 Nazi Germany
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| Service/branch | Army |
| Years of service | 1934–45 |
| Rank | Oberstleutnant of the Reserves |
| Commands held | Grenadier-Regiment 4 |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves |
| Other work | Head of Social Welfare for Evangelical Church of Westphalia Artistic director of WDR |
Klaus von Bismarck (6 March 1912 – 22 May 1997) was the Director General of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (West German Broadcasting) from 1961 to 1976, and the President of the ARD from 1963 to 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 Institute, 1977 to 1989.
Bismarck was a highly decorated Lieutenant Colonel (Oberstleutnant of the Reserves) in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. According to his memoirs published in 1992 he refused to obey Hitler's Commissar Order to execute all captured Russian political Commissars attached to the Russian Army whilst serving as an adjutant on the Russian front in 1941. (Gitta Sereny, 'Albert Speer - his battle with truth, Macmillan 1995)
He is a relative of Otto von Bismarck, Germany's first Chancellor, and was the son of Gottfried von Bismarck (1881–1928), Lord of Jarchlin and Kniephof, family estates located in Pomerania.
Bismarck received an honorary Doctor of Theology degree (Dr. h. c. theol.) from the University of Münster.
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