site.btaExhibition on Prince Alexander of Battenberg's Life Opens at National Art Gallery

The exhibition entitled "Sandro - Prince Alexander of Battenberg. A European Castaway" was officially opened Tuesday evening at the National Art Gallery in Sofia. The 28 panels present photographs and unknown facts from the life of the first Bulgarian prince after Bulgaria's Liberation in 1878.

The exposition is presented in Bulgaria by the Values Foundation of Antonina Stoyanova, wife of President Petar Stoyanov (1997-2002) and with the support of Sofia Municipality. Among the first to see the exhibition were the National Assembly President Rossen Zhelyazkov, Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova and representatives of the German Embassy in Sofia.

On Wednesday, September 6, Bulgaria celebrates Unification Day, Stoyanova said. She stressed that the biggest credit for this event goes to Battenberg, who made possible the unification of the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia, risking even his throne. "Thus, from a Bulgarian prince he became the unifier of the Bulgarian state. With this sacrifice he will remain forever in our consciousness," she said.

National Assembly Chair Rossen Zhelyazkov said: "This is the man who, upon entering Plovdiv, was greeted with the exclamation: 'Prince of Northern and Southern Bulgaria!'" He recalled that the prince chose Bulgarian names for his children and wished his remains to be laid in Sofia. 

The next exhibition display will be in the building of the Bulgarian Parliament, Zhelyazkov announced.

The German Embassy's Cultural Attaché read a congratulatory address from Ambassador Irene Maria Plank. She said that what Alexander of Battenberg achieved as a young prince within seven years was truly impressive.

"The opening of the exhibition in Germany last year was a great success. I hope and wish that this exhibition will be sustained with the same success here and I thank the Values Foundation for bringing the exhibition to Bulgaria so quickly, despite the extremely short preparation time," said Johnny Glover, who read a congratulatory address from Dr Joachim Horn, chairman of the foundation Stiftung Heiligenberg Jugenheim.

Heiligenberg Castle is the ancestral seat of the Battenberg family.