Editing Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg (section)

=== Family and education ===

Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg was born at [[Hohenfinow]] in [[Province of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]], then part of the [[Kingdom of Prussia]], the largest state within the [[German Empire]]. He was the son of Prussian official Felix von Bethmann Hollweg. His grandfather [[August von Bethmann-Hollweg]] had been a prominent law scholar, president of [[Humboldt University|Frederick William University]] in Berlin and Prussian minister of culture. His great-grandfather Johann Jakob Hollweg had married a daughter of the wealthy [[Frankfurt am Main]] banking family of [[Bethmann family|Bethmann]].<ref name="EB1922">{{Cite EB1922 |wstitle= Bethmann Hollweg, Theobald von |volume = 30 |last1= Saunders |first1= George |author1-link= George Saunders | page= |short=1 }}</ref> His mother, Isabella de Rougemont, was a French Swiss and his grandmother Auguste Wilhelmine Gebser came from the Prussian noble family of [[Gebesee]].

He was educated at the [[Pforta|Schulpforta]] boarding school in the Prussian province of [[Province of Saxony|Saxony]] and studied law at the [[University of Strasbourg|Universities of Strasbourg]] and [[University of Leipzig|Leipzig]] and at the [[Humboldt University of Berlin]] from 1875 to 1879.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frauendienst |first=Werner |url=https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd118510320.html#ndbcontent |title=Neue Deutsche Biographie 2 |year=1955 |pages=188–193 [Online-Version] |language=de |chapter=Bethmann Hollweg, Theobald von}}</ref> He then served as a [[one-year volunteer]] in the military before entering on his career path.
[[File:Martha von Bethmann Hollweg 1909.jpg|left|thumb|252x252px|Martha von Bethmann Hollweg in 1909]]
On 17 June 1889 Bethmann Hollweg married Martha von Pfuel, the niece of Prussian Minister President [[Ernst von Pfuel]]. The marriage produced four children, one of whom died young. Their oldest son August Friedrich was killed on the eastern front on 9 December 1914.