The casket with the mortal remains of Tsar Ferdinand leaves for Bulgaria late on Monday. This was reported by the Catholic Church “St. Augustine” in the German city of Coburg, in whose crypt the body of the monarch was laid after his death in 1948, next to the sarcophagi of his mother and father.
After his death, Tsar Ferdinand was placed in a so-called traveling coffin, because his dying wish was to be buried in Bulgaria, which he had ruled for 31 years, first as prince and then as king.
The ruler, who is blamed for the national disasters following the War of the Allies and the First World War, lived in exile in Coburg for almost 30 years after his abdication in 1918.
The return of his mortal remains to Bulgaria takes place according to the will of his grandson Simeon of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The coffin will be laid to rest in the family crypt of his beloved Vrana Palace in Sofia, the Tsar Boris and Tsaritsa Joanna Fund announced earlier.
“On Monday, May 27, 2024, from 5:00 p.m., Tsar Ferdinand’s remains will be sent to a public service. On that day, the coffin will be in St. Augustine’s Parish Church from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. This gives an opportunity for all who wish to do so to say goodbye in person to the deceased in silence,” reads the announcement from Coburg.
Photo: Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (1861-1948), House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Gotha-Kohary, in Bulgarian Field Marshal’s uniform 1941. Tsar of Bulgaria, representative of the Catholic branch of the Saxe-Coburg-Gothа dynasty, which in the 19th century ruled several monarchies in Europe – Great Britain, Belgium, Portugal and, from 1887, Bulgaria. His mother, Princess Clementine of Bourbon-Orléans, was the daughter of the last French king, Louis-Philippe / LOSTBULGARIA.COM.
