His great-great grandfather was a Prussian prince who formed the first German empire — but Carl-Eduard Graf von Bismarck is just a common deadbeat dad, his ex-wife charges in a new Manhattan lawsuit.
German countess Nathalie von Bismarck says in the Family Court filing that her ex owes $2.5 million in unpaid child support.
The scion of legendary Chancellor Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898) — who unified the German states in Europe into a massive empire in the 1860s — hasn’t paid his $50,000 in monthly child support since the couple separated in 2011, Nathalie says in court papers.
Their separation agreement, finalized during their 2014 divorce, promises a life of continued leisure for the countess: “The wife is not obliged to care for her own needs by taking up gainful employment.”
The count, a former banker with an economics degree from UCLA, must provide proof of his income and assets to Manhattan Support Magistrate Lewis A. Burofsky by March 14.
Nathalie, 45, who fled Europe last year to escape her ex, refuses to give her New York address in the suit, saying that she “fears for her physical safety.”
She got an order of protection in December, preventing Carl-Eduard, 51, from seeing or even contacting their son Alexei, 9, and daughter Grace, 6.
The court documents also state that Bismarck must undergo twice-daily Breathalyzers during visits with the kids and quarterly drug testing.
The couple married in 2004. Their divorce settlement gives the countess exclusive access to residential rooms in the family’s castle in Friedrichsruh, Germany.
Carl-Eduard tried to follow in his famous patriarch’s footsteps when he joined the German parliament in 2005, but he failed miserably, earning the dubious title of “laziest German MP” in 2007.
“The ghost of his grandfather comes to parliament more often than he does,” joked a spokesman for the German Christian Democrats in a news report at the time.
Carl-Eduard’s grandfather Otto von Bismarck II also served in the parliament. The great-great grandfather, Otto von Bismarck, was Germany’s first chancellor. Known as the “Iron Chancellor,” he is famous for the quip: “Laws are like sausages. It is better not to see them being made.”
Nathalie declined to comment. Bismarck did not respond to requests for comment.