In blogs and on many websites you can find a statement that the German chancellor loved this word so much that he even put it on the ring that he constantly wore. We have verified the authenticity of this story.
There is a popular story on the Internet about how the future German chancellor (and then ambassador) Otto von Bismarck found himself in the Russian wilderness and was amazed by the unshakable calm of his cab driver, who met any problems and doubts with the words “Nothing, master, nothing.” This philosophical view of life supposedly impressed Bismarck so much that he later ordered himself a ring with the inscription “Nothing” and wore it without taking it off, and also constantly repeated this word. This story is popular on VKontakte (examples here, here And here) And Facebook, she can be found on entertaining websites, V blogs, on sites educational institutions and even on the magazine’s website “Chief Accountant"
Otto von Bismarck, famous as first chancellor of the united German Empire, in 1859–1862 he was the Prussian ambassador to the Russian Empire. The earliest account of the viral ring story Verified has found dates back to 1885. In the tenth issue of the magazine “Russian Thought” for this year a short essay was published “Prince Bismarck's ring"
“Recently, the St. Petersburg Gazette told the story of an iron ring with the Russian inscription “nothing,” which Bismarck constantly wears on his finger.
The story dates back to 1862, when Bismarck lived in St. Petersburg as the Prussian envoy. One winter he received an invitation to an imperial hunt about a hundred miles from the capital. Being a passionate hunter, he left the day earlier to first hunt himself in those places rich in game; got carried away, got lost, and when it was time to arrive at the point appointed for the royal hunt, he found himself in some unknown village, completely drowned in snow.
Knowing already a little Russian, the count began to question the peasants. It turned out that the appointed place was twenty miles away. What should I do? A peasant was found who took the “spirit” to bring the count. A simple sledge was brought in, laid by a pair of tiny horses. Bismarck doubted it.
- Will you deliver? I need it soon!
- Nothing! — the man who climbed onto the irradiation calmly answered.
- You have some kind of rats, not horses.
- Nothing!
The Count sat down. The horses set off and, having passed the outskirts, rushed off with such furious speed that it took your breath away.
On potholes, Prince Bismarck said, it was even scary, you’d bite your tongue.
“After all,” I say, “you’ll drive your nags!”
- Nothing!
- How will it be okay when they die on the road?
- Nothing!
We entered the forest. The clearing is narrow, stumps and rhizomes are at every step, the sled now and then hits one side, then the other, then jumps up with both of us. The man is driving at full speed.
- After all, you will throw me out! - I say.
And he just turns around a little, so that one tip of his nose shows, and grins:
- Nothing!
And he just dumped it. I hit a tree stump and scratched my face. He got terribly angry, stood up, grabbed a thick iron rod that had fallen from somewhere and rushed with it at the man, sincerely wanting to beat him up. And he grabbed a full handful of snow with his gnarled hands and carefully climbed on top of me to wipe my face.
“Nothing,” he says.
This amazing Russian "nothing!" I was finally disarmed. I submitted, got back into the sleigh, and in the same frantic quarry, a quarter of an hour later the man took me where I needed to be. I thanked him, hid the iron rod as a souvenir, and upon returning to St. Petersburg I ordered this ring to be made from it with the inscription “Nothing!”
The diplomat, who heard this story personally from Bismarck, adds from his own words that the Russian “nothing” became the motto of his entire policy.
“When I had to struggle with doubt,” Bismarck told our diplomat, “when my thought and will were ready to retreat in the face of risk and danger, I said to myself in Russian: “Nothing!” - and boldly walked towards the goal.
“I,” Bismarck added to this story, “have been reproached more than once by my good Germans, as if I am sometimes too yielding to Russia and in my Russian policy I do not display that self-confident determination that I am accustomed to seeing in all other cases.” But to these reproaches I usually answer: “Gentlemen, take into account that in Germany I am the only one who has the habit of saying in difficult moments of life: “Nothing!” And in Russia there are a hundred million people who all say: “Nothing!”
In November of the same year, a brief retelling of this article was published in The New York Times. Unfortunately, it is not possible to find the original story, allegedly published in the St. Petersburg Gazette, according to the bibliographic reference book of the Russian National Library "Newspapers online and offline", issues of this newspaper for 1885 have not been preserved in open libraries or archives.
A German public organization is studying Bismarck's legacy - Otto von Bismarck Foundation. It manages an archive, two museums and a website bismarck-biografie.de, which contains many documents related to the life and work of Bismarck. Among other things, you can find photographs of the politician's personal belongings - for example, a bronze figurine of his beloved dog, glasses, a smoking pipe and the pen with which he signed the peace treaty with France. However, I couldn’t find a photo of the ring with the inscription “Nothing” “Verified” on this site, as well as any other jewelry. In the section "Cloth“It is said that Bismarck dressed extremely ascetically - for public appearances he preferred a military uniform, and in everyday life he wore the usual practical attire of a landowner: a cap or hat, a jacket or raincoat, trousers and boots.
In addition, many photographs of Bismarck over the years have been published on bismarck-biografie.de. The article in “Russian Thought” stated that the politician constantly wears his ring with the inscription “Nothing”. However, none of the photographs in which Bismarck's hands are clearly visible show rings on his fingers.
A characteristic accessory that a person never parts with would probably have been noticed by caricaturists, but Bismarck was also depicted in political cartoons without rings.
Some publications about Bismarck’s ring claim that he, in principle, fell in love with the Russian word “nothing” and often used it in their letters. Part of Bismarck's correspondence is also published on bismarck-biografie.de. However, word search nitschewo And "Nothing"did not produce any results. The story told in Russian Thought is not in three-volume memoirs Bismarck (there are no mentions of the word “nothing” in the context we need there either). It is not cited in the most famous German-language and English-language biographies of the chancellor.
Thus, all publications about Bismarck's ring and his love for the word “nothing” go back to one, apparently completely fictitious article in 1885 and are not confirmed by other sources. In no known photograph does Bismarck wear rings.
Cover photo: screenshot from bismarck-biografie.de
Read on topic:
- Did Bismarck say: “The Russians cannot be defeated. But they can be instilled with false values, and then they will defeat themselves”?
- Did Bismarck say: “There is nothing more vile and disgusting than the so-called Ukrainians”?
- Did Bismarck say: “I know a hundred ways to get a Russian bear out of its den, but not one to drive it back in”?
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