Peter Fischer, a Catholic priest in Coburg, makes no secret of it. When he started his service in St. Augustin in 2019, he knew only the bare minimum about Bulgarian history, Tsar Ferdinand and a burial place of European dimension at his new workplace. The story of the Coburg offspring Prince Albert and Queen Victoria – of course, pretty much everyone in Upper Franconia knows that. But the Catholic branch of the ducal house, the abdicated Bulgarian Tsar in his Coburg exile and his “travel coffin”? That’s more for gourmets.
To clarify the most important thing right away: This Wednesday a government plane will take off from Sofia, land in Nuremberg and be loaded there with the mortal remains of the former Tsar Ferdinand, which come from the aforementioned “travel coffin” from the parish church of St. Augustin. In October 1918 Ferdinand abdicated as Tsar in Bulgaria, Vienna – where he grew up – would have been a nice destination, but Austria refused. So on to Coburg, to the family’s dynastic roots.
If you haven’t heard the word “travel coffin” in such a context, Peter Fisch can reassure you. Fisch is a political scientist and parish councillor in Coburg, he recently had the time and has familiarised himself with the subject matter. No matter which expert he has spoken to about the case in recent weeks – undertakers, monument conservationists, ambassadors – at some point they all said the same thing: “I’ve never had anything like that before.” Or at least implied that.
Why the “travel coffin”? Well, the Tsar in exile wanted to find his final resting place, as they say, not in Franconia, but in Bulgaria. But in 1948, the year of the ex-Tsar’s death, the omens for celebrating aristocratic traditions were not good. Socialism was in vogue. So the coffin with the mortal remains remained in Franconia for more than three quarters of a century.
And – and this is also one of the twists and turns of this case – the travel coffin covered in red velvet will continue to be on display in Coburg, which is unexpected for the community. It has long since become a monument, and there are strict limits on taking it out of the country. This is why a funeral home was called in recently. Ferdinand is to be laid to rest in a crypt in the Vrana Palace in Sofia.
The coffin, however, will continue to be on display at the foot of his parents’ marble grave in the Coburg crypt, where it will serve as a reminder of the story of a man whose life was marked by two turning points. Ferdinand was born in 1861 as his parents’ fifth child, a latecomer in a way. Without any great prospects of a high office, he is said to have enjoyed life accordingly. Fate would have it that at the age of 25, with no government experience, he took over power in a country that at the time did not have the reputation of being one of the most progressive in Europe. The new ruler, who was tech-savvy and had been a tsar since 1908, knew how to change that – but he also waged wars, which later did not help his image in his former homeland.
The second turning point came in 1918. In the lecture that Peter Fisch recently gave with a view to Ferdinand’s impending transfer, this chapter is entitled “Final Destination: Coburg”. The former Tsar spent almost 30 years privatizing in Franconia. Financially reasonably well-off, he passed the time with ornithology, natural history and Richard Wagner – and appeared as a generous sponsor: at the Coburg Fortress, in the State Theater and in the community of St. Augustin, people had good things to say about the man in exile.
The city of Coburg made him an honorary citizen. There you can find other traces of the abdicated Tsar, not least at ceremonial occasions. Anyone who gets married in Coburg has to enter Ferdinand’s former residence, a palace within sight of the State Theater, known to locals as the “Bulgarian Palace”. Today the registry office is housed there.
Otherwise? Coburg’s contribution to the history of the British royal family is traditionally celebrated in Upper Franconia. Recently, the number of people who signed the condolence book for the Queen was “absolutely unbelievable,” reports city spokesman Louay Yassin. Even locals are hardly aware that in St. Augustin, where a Brazilian princess is also laid to rest, the ups and downs of at least European history can be told through the lens of a royal family, says Peter Fisch. Perhaps that will change a little now, he hopes. Even if it is through a loss.