site.btaKing Ferdinand’s Remains to Be Transported from Germany to Bulgaria by Military Plane

On Wednesday, the remains of Bulgarian King Ferdinand I (reigned 1887-1918) will be transported from Germany to Bulgaria by air force plane in accordance with a decision of the Council of Ministers. The Defence Ministry is  responsible for the organization of the transportation, with the support and coordination of the Foreign Ministry, the the press service of the Cabinet said.

The decision of the Council of Ministers was adopted following a letter from an initiative committee for the return of the remains of King Ferdinand, signed by Prof. Dr. Petar Stoyanovich and Assoc. Prof. Ivaylo Shalafov, recalled by the Council of Ministers. Before taking action, the Cabinet turned to both the National Assembly and the President for an opinion. No objections were received from either institution, after which the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Ministry undertook the  task.

The memorial ceremony will begin there at 3:30 p.m. and will be open to the public.

Ferdinand’s grandson Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and his family, together with Metropolitan Anthony of Western and Central Europe as an official envoy of the Holy Synod and Archbishop Luciano Suriani, Apostolic Nuncio to Bulgaria, will be in attendance.

The coffin will be placed in the central lobby of the palace for a brief farewell in a close family circle. Next, the public will be admitted to pay their last respects.

After abdicating in favour of his son Boris III in October 1918, King Ferdinand lived in exile in Germany and died in the Bavarian city of Coburg on September 10, 1948, aged 87. He was laid in a temporary sarcophagus in front of his parents’ tomb in the crypt of Coburg’s St Augustine Church. His last wish was to be buried in Bulgaria.

In the year of his death it was impossible to bury the king in Bulgaria, due to the political situation despite his desire and that of his family. After democratic changes took hold in the country several initiative committees were set up, but their efforts were fruitless despite their good intentions. Today’s democratic conditions and respect for history allow the remains of King Ferdinand I to be laid to rest in the family vault in his beloved palace Vrana.