165 years since the birth of Tsar Ferdinand

Ferdinand Maximilian Karl Leopold Maria von Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha was the son of Prince August von Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha and Princess Clementine of Bourbon-Orléans. He was born on February 26, 1861, in Vienna. He was elected Bulgarian ruler and ruled Bulgaria from 1887 to 1918, serving as prince until September 22, 1908, and as tsar of Bulgaria from that date onwards, following the declaration of independence.

Ferdinand was the longest-reigning monarch of the Third Bulgarian Tsardom and, despite the many negative assessments of his rule, which are mainly related to the military defeats of 1913 and 1918 and his mistakes in connection with them, he made an enormous contribution to the strengthening and modernization of Bulgaria. His first 25 years at the helm of the state – from 1887 to 1912 – were years of continuous growth. In 1912, the Kingdom of Bulgaria was the strongest state in the Balkans, and the victories against the Ottoman Empire and its army on the battlefields of the First Balkan War were the clearest proof of this.

He was forced to abdicate on October 3, 1918, after Bulgaria’s defeat in World War I, left the country, and spent the rest of his life in exile. He tried several times to visit Bulgaria, but was always refused for purely political reasons. According to witnesses, the former monarch’s last words shortly before his death were: “When are we leaving for Bulgaria?” Ferdinand died on September 10, 1948, in Coburg, Germany.

In May 2024, Tsar Ferdinand’s last wish was fulfilled—his remains were buried on Bulgarian soil. With full state honors, the monarch’s coffin was returned to Bulgaria, to the Vrana Royal Palace near Sofia.

Text: Hristo Hristov