He might go to distant
Koenigsberg to assume the crown, but his home was amongst them; other
provinces might be gained or lost with the chances of war, but while a
single Hohenzollern lived he could not desert his subjects of the Mark.
They had the intense local patriotism so characteristic of the German
nation, which is the surest foundation for political greatness; but
while in other parts the Particularists, as the Germans called them,
aimed only at independence, the Brandenburger who had become a Prussian
desired domination.

Among them the Bismarcks lived. The family again divided into two
branches: one, which became extinct about 1780, dwelling at Crevisse,
gave several high officials to the Prussian Civil Service; the other
branch, which continued at Schoenhausen, generally chose a military
career. August's son, who had the same name as his father, rebuilt the
house, which had been entirely destroyed by the Swedes during the Thirty
Years' War; he held the position of Landrath, that is, he was the head
of the administration of the district in which he lived. He married a
Fraeulein von Katte, of a well-known family whose estates adjoined those
of the Bismarcks. Frau von Bismarck was the aunt of the unfortunate
young man who was put to death for helping Frederick the Great in his
attempt to escape. His tomb is still to be seen at Wust, which lies
across the river a few miles from Schoenhausen; and at the new house,
which arose at Schoenhausen and still stands, the arms of the Kattes
are joined to the Bismarck trefoil. The successor to the estates, August
Friedrich, was a thorough soldier; he married a Fraeulein von Diebwitz
and acquired fresh estates in Pomerania, where he generally lived.

He rose to the rank of colonel, and fell fighting against the Austrians
at Chotusitz in 1742. "Ein ganzer Kerl" (a fine fellow), said the King,
as he stood by the dying officer. His son, Carl Alexander, succeeded to
Schoenhausen; the next generation kept up the military traditions of the
family; of four brothers, all but one became professional officers and
fought against France in the wars of liberation. One fell at Moeckern in
1813; another rose to the rank of lieutenant-general; the third also
fought in the war; his son, the later Count Bismarck-Bohlen, was wounded
at Grossbehren, and the father at once came to take his place during his
convalescence, in order that the Prussian army might not have fewer
Bismarcks. When the yo