The Iron Chancellor speaks again

After remaining silent for well over a hundred years, the voice of the ‘Iron Chancellor’ can now be heard again.

His was a voice that once issued orders that terrorised the whole of Europe and when he spoke it was considered best to listen, even if the last time anyone heard him anything at all was late in the 19^th century.

However, the tones of Otto Von Bismarck (1815 - 1898) can now be heard once again – from beyond the grave - thanks to a remarkable discovery made at the Thomas Edison archive in the U.S.

A long forgotten wax cylinder phonograph, used by Edison as one of the first recording devices in the 1870s and 80s, was found to contain an original voice recording – a voice that was subsequently verified by experts as belonging to Bismarck.

The recordings are thought to include Bismarck singings songs – French as well as German – and offering advice to his son.

Bismarck’s strength and political savvy is considered by historians to have been one of the main  reasons why a major European war was avoided between 1871 and 1914.

Although not of the greatest technical quality (they have lain undiscovered since 1957) and barely audible, the recording does provide a fascinating insight into the private life of a man who was once the most powerful and feared figure in all Europe.