by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2017

While most monarchies have a traditional burial site (or sites), that is not the case in Bulgaria. Each of the reigning monarchs is buried in a different place as are most of their spouses. This article looks at the burial sites of the rulers of the Principality, and then the Kingdom, of Bulgaria. The last Tsar, Simeon II, who reigned briefly from 1943-1946, is still living, and remains active in the government of Bulgaria, having served as Prime Minister from 2001-2005.

The Bulgarian Monarchs

• Alexander of Battenberg, Prince of Bulgaria – reigned April 29, 1879 – September 7, 1886
• Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria – reigned July 7, 1887 – October 3, 1918
• Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria – reigned October 3, 1918 – August 28, 1943
• Tsar Simeon II of Bulgaria – reigned August 28, 1943 – September 15, 1946

The Royal Family of Bulgaria
Unofficial Royalty: Bulgarian Royal Family Index

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Photos of tsars and consorts are from Wikipedia.

Prince Alexander of Battenberg
Prince of Bulgaria
reigned April 29, 1879 – September 7, 1886

• Unofficial Royalty: Prince Alexander of Battenberg, Prince of Bulgaria

Prince Alexander of Battenberg was born April 5, 1857, in Verona, Italy, to Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine and Countess Julia von Hauke, Countess of Battenberg. A nephew by marriage of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, Alexander was recommended, and unanimously elected to serve as Prince (Knyaz) of the newly autonomous Principality of Bulgaria on April 29, 1879. His reign ended with his abdication on September 8, 1886. He spent the rest of his life living in Graz, Austria, where he served in the Austrian Army. In 1889, he married Johanna Loisinger and took the style Count of Hartenau. They had two children – Assen (1890) and Zvetana (1893). Alexander died in Graz on October 23, 1893, just 36 years old. Initially buried in Graz, his remains were soon returned to Bulgaria, where he received a state funeral at the St. Nedelya Church in Sofia. His remains were temporarily placed in the Church of St. George before being moved to the newly-built Battenberg Mausoleum.

Johanna Loisinger
wife of Prince Alexander

• Unofficial Royalty: Johanna Loisinger

Johanna Loisinger was the wife of Prince Alexander of Battenberg, the former Prince of Bulgaria. She was born in April 1865 in Austria and became a well-known actress and singer. She and Alexander married in February 1889 in France, three years after he had abdicated the Bulgarian throne. Styled as Count and Countess of Hartenau, they soon settled in Graz, Austria, and had two children. Following Alexander’s death four years later, Johanna settled in Vienna where she died on July 20, 1951. She was buried at the St. Leonhard Cemetery in Graz, Austria.

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Ferdinand I
Prince of Bulgaria
reigned July 7, 1887 – October 5, 1908
Tsar of Bulgaria
reigned October 5, 1908 – October 3, 1918

• Unofficial Royalty: Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria

Ferdinand I was the first Tsar of Bulgaria, having first reigned as Prince (Knyaz). He was born Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Koháry on February 26, 1,861 in Vienna, the youngest child of Prince August of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Koháry and Princess Clémentine of Orléans. Following the abdication of Alexander of Battenberg, Ferdinand was elected Prince (Knyaz) of Bulgaria on July 7, 1887. Several years later, in 1893, he married Princess Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Parma and had four children. He later married Eleonore Reuss of Köstritz in February 1908. In October of that year, Bulgaria was declared a Kingdom, and Ferdinand became Tsar Ferdinand I. His reign lasted nearly 10 years, before he abdicated on October 3, 1918, in favor of his son Boris. Ferdinand returned to Coburg, Bavaria, Germany where he lived the rest of his life. Ferdinand died in Coburg on September 10, 1948, and his coffin was placed in the vault in St. Augustine’s Church in Coburg, in front of the tomb of his parents.

Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Parma
Princess of Bulgaria

• Unofficial Royalty: Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Parma, Princess of Bulgaria

Princess Maria Luisa was the first wife of Ferdinand I, during the time when he was Prince of Bulgaria. She was born January 17, 1870, the eldest child of-of Robert I, Duke of Parma and Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. One of 24 children from his father’s two marriages, Maria Luisa’s half-siblings included Empress Zita of Austria and Prince Felix, Prince Consort of Luxembourg. She became Princess of Bulgaria upon marrying Ferdinand in April 1893, and had four children – Boris (1894), Kyril (1895), Eudoxia (1898) and Nadezhda (1899). Already in frail health, Maria Luisa died on January 31, 1889, just a day after giving birth to her youngest child. She is buried in the Cathedral of Saint Louis of France, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

Eleonore Reuss of Köstritz
Tsaritsa of Bulgaria

• Unofficial Royalty: Eleonore Reuss of Köstritz, Tsaritsa of Bulgaria

Eleonore Reuss of Köstritz was the second wife of Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, and the first Tsaritsa of the newly proclaimed Kingdom. She was born August 22, 1860, the daughter of Prince Heinrich IV Reuss of Köstritz and Princess Luise Caroline Reuss of Greiz. On February 28, 1908, she married the then-Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria. Several months later, on October 5, Bulgaria became a Kingdom and Ferdinand and Eleonore became Tsar and Tsaritsa. They had no children. Eleonore died at Euxinograd Palace in Bulgaria on September 12, 1917, having fallen ill during the last years of the war. Per her wishes, she was buried in a very simple grave next to the medieval Boyana Church, in Sofia, Bulgaria, which she had helped to save. Years later, her grave was robbed and her headstone was destroyed. In 1989, the grave was excavated and restored to its original state.

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Children of Ferdinand I

Prince Kyril of Bulgaria, Prince of Preslav
(November 17, 1895 – February 1, 1945)
Wikipedia: Prince Kyril of Bulgaria
Prince Kyril was the second son of Ferdinand I and Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Parma. He was born November 17, 1895 in Sofia, and never married. Following the death of his brother Tsar Boris III in 1943, Kyril served as Prince Regent, overseeing the regency council put in place for the young Tsar Simeon II. Several months after a military coup that led to the Soviets seizing power in Bulgaria, Prince Kyril was sentenced to death by a “People’s Tribunal”, and executed on the evening of February 1, 1945 in Sofia. His body, along with many of the others executed, was thrown in a mass grave in the city cemetery in Sofia.

Prince Eudoxia of Bulgaria
(January 5, 1898 – October 4, 1985)
Wikipedia: Princess Eudoxia of Bulgaria
Princess Eudoxia was born October 4, 1898, in Sofia, the eldest daughter of Ferdinand I and Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Parma. Never married, Eudoxia was very close to her brother, Boris III, and acted as his official hostess prior to his marriage. After fleeing the country, she settled in Germany, close to her sister Nadhezda. She died in Friedrichshafen, Germany on October 4, 1985, and is buried in the Schlosskirche at Altshausen Castle, along with her sister and brother-in-law.

Princess Nadezhda of Bulgaria, Duchess Albrecht of Württemberg
(January 30, 1899 – February 15, 1958)
Wikipedia: Princess Nadezhda of Bulgaria
Princess Nedezhda was the youngest child of Ferdinand I and Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Parma, born on January 30, 1889. Her mother died the following day. In 1924, she married Duke Albrecht Eugen of Württemberg and had five children – Ferdinand (1925), Margareta (1928), Eugen (1930), Alexander (1933) and Sophie (1937). She died on February 15, 1958, in Stuttgart, and is buried along with her husband and sister in the Schlosskirche at Altshausen Castle.

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Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria
reigned October 3, 1918 – August 28, 1943

• Unofficial Royalty: Boris III, Tsar of Bulgaria

Tsar Boris III, born on January 30, 1894, in Sofia, Bulgaria, was the eldest child of Tsar Ferdinand I and Princess Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Parma. He became Tsar on October 3, 1918, following his father’s abdication after the defeat of Bulgaria during World War I. In 1930, he married Giovanna of Italy and had two children – Maria Louisa (1933), and Simeon (1937). Tsar Boris III died under mysterious circumstances on August 28, 1943, just weeks after a contentious meeting with Hitler. Many believe that he was poisoned because of his refusal to concede to the demands of the Nazis. Following at State Funeral at the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia, his body and heart were buried at the Rila Monastery in Bulgaria The following year, the new communist government had his remains exhumed and reburied at the Vrana Palace in Bulgaria. His casket was later moved to a secret location, which remains unknown. After the fall of the communist regime, an excavation took place at Vrana Palace, and his heart – which had been kept separate from his coffin – was found. In 1993, it was reinterred at the Rila Monastery.

Giovanna of Italy
Tsaritsa of Bulgaria

• Unofficial Royalty: Giovanna of Italy, Tsaritsa of Bulgaria

Princess Giovanna of Italy was born in Rome, Italy on November 13, 1907, the daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy and Princess Elena of Montenegro. She married Boris on October 25, 1930, becoming Tsaritsa of Bulgaria. Following her husband’s death in 1943, and the end of the monarchy in 1946, Giovanna and her children were forced to leave the country, and eventually settled in Spain. Later, she moved to Portugal, living in Estoril for the rest of her life. Tsaritsa Giovanna died in Estoril on February 26, 2000. Per her wishes, she was buried at the Chapel of the Friars at the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, located in Assisi, Italy.

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