Prince Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck-Schönhausen Duke of Lauenburg (1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was an aristocrat and statesman of the 19th century in Europe. As Prime Minister of Prussia from 1862 to 1890, he was most responsible for the uniting most of the many independent German countries into the new German Empire in 1871 and became its first chancellor.