Berthold Hartwig Arthur, Graf von Bernstorff (21 January 1842 – 12 February 1917) was a German politician, forester and landowner. He served in the Reichstag from 1893 until 1907. In 1893, he bought the Dutch island of

Schiermonnikoog Schiermonnikoog (; ) is an island, a municipality and national park in the Northern Netherlands. Schiermonnikoog is one of the West Frisian Islands, and is part of the province of Friesland. It is situated between the islands of Ameland and Rot ...

Biography

Von Bernstorff was born on 21 January 1842 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

. He studied at the Forest Academy in

Eisenach Eisenach () is a Town#Germany, town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia, and bordering northeastern Hesse, Hessian re ...

and graduated in forestry from the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

. He worked at the forestry department of

Hannover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

until 1866. Between 1869 and 1883, he worked in the forest administration of

Gartow Gartow is a municipality in the district Lüchow-Dannenberg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the easternmost tip of Lower Saxony, not far from the river Elbe, approx. 30 km northeast of Salzwedel, and 20 km west of Wittenberg ...

. From 1883 until 1891, von Bernstorff was a member of the District Council of Dannenberg and

Bleckede Bleckede (, Polabian language, Polabian ''Bleketsa'') is a town in the district of Lüneburg (district), Lüneburg, in Lower Saxony, in northern Germany. It is situated mostly on the left bank of the Elbe, approx. east of Lüneburg. Bleckede is l ...

. He served in the Reichstag from 1893 until 1907 for the

German-Hanoverian Party The German-Hanoverian Party (, DHP), also known as the Guelph Party (), was an agrarian, federalist political party in the German Empire and the Weimar Republic. It represented the interests of Hanoverian separatists and regionalists that sought ...

. The island of

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

, Netherlands was private property. In August 1893, sold the island to von Bernstorff. Even though it was under German ownership, the island remained part of Friesland, and the citizens remained Dutch. Von Bernstorff had planned to turn the island into a luxury holiday resort similar to

Sylt Sylt (; ; Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, with a distinctively shaped shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian Islands and is the largest island in North Fris ...

, however the investments remained limited to a

jetty A jetty is a man-made structure that protrudes from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater (structure), breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French la ...

and a little forest. Von Bernstroff died on 12 February 1917 in Höllwangen (nowadays part of

Überlingen Überlingen (; ) is a German city on the northern shore of Lake Constance (Bodensee) in Baden-Württemberg near the German-Swiss border, border with Switzerland. After the city of Friedrichshafen, it is the second-largest city in the Bodenseek ...

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

, at the age of 75.

Aftermath

Schiermonnikoog would remain in the family. The Netherlands made several attempts to buy the island, however the family refused to sell. During World War II, it was owned by , his grandson. In July 1945, after the liberation of the Netherlands, the island was seized by the Netherlands as enemy property. The von Bernstorff family would spend years in

litigation A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. ...

to reclaim their island, but to no avail. In 1983, Germany awarded von Bernstorff DM80,000 as compensation for their losses. In 1998, Hotel Graaf Bernstorff opened on the island. The Rijsbergen estate, the residence of the owner of Schiermonnikoog from 1757 until 1945, became a

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monastery in 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernstorff, Berthold von 1842 births 1917 deaths Politicians from Berlin Members of the 9th Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the 10th Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the 11th Reichstag of the German Empire 19th-century German landowners Schiermonnikoog University of Göttingen alumni German foresters German-Hanoverian Party politicians

Berthold Berthold may refer to: * Berthold (name), a Germanic given name and surname * Berthold Type Foundry, former German type foundry * Berthold, North Dakota, a place in the United States See also * Berthod, a surname * Berchtold Berchtold (also Bert ...