The Death of Bismarck (1898)

Bismarck’s resignation in 1890 was a caesura in German history. His death eight years later, on July 30, 1898, officially marked the end of an era. On August 13, 1898, the British magazine Punch paid homage to the former chancellor with this rendition of a medieval funeral procession. (This very same magazine had published the iconic caricature "Dropping the Pilot" on the occasion of his resignation.) Representing the constituent states of the German Empire, the pallbearers below carry the knight who had unified Germany and set the country on its modern course.

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© Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz