Battenberg mausoleum
Coordinates: 42 ° 41 ′ 29.4 " N , 23 ° 19 ′ 56.8" E
The Battenberg mausoleum in the Bulgarian capital Sofia is the final resting place of Prince Alexander I of Bulgaria, born of Battenberg . He was the first head of state of the Principality of Bulgaria , which emerged as a result of the Berlin Congress .
Alexander's death
After a putsch, Alexander I resigned from his post as prince in 1886 and went into exile with his wife Johanna Loisinger in Graz , where the couple lived as Count and Countess Hartenau. There he died unexpectedly on November 17, 1893. At his request, he was transferred to Sofia. He received a state funeral , which was attended by Alexander's widow, the new Bulgarian prince Ferdinand I and many Bulgarians. After a service in the Sveta Nedelja cathedral , Alexander was buried in the rotunda of St. George .
The mausoleum
In 1897 Alexander was reburied in the Battenberg mausoleum built for him on today's Wassil-Lewski-Boulevard . The Swiss architect Hermann Mayer designed an 11 m high mausoleum on 80 m² in a predominantly neo-baroque style . The mausoleum can be reached via an outside staircase . Above the entrance there is a cartouche with the princely coat of arms of Alexander. There is a crown on the dome roof . The interior design comes from the eminent Bulgarian painter Haralampi Tachew . In addition to monograms on the walls, there is a relief portrait of Alexander above the cenotaph .
The mausoleum was not accessible between 1947 and 1991. It was not restored and reopened until the end of the People's Republic of Bulgaria . Today, in addition to the cenotaph, Alexander's private things and documents that were made available by his widow in 1937 are on display. Johanna Loisinger was buried in Graz in the St. Leonhard cemetery.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Borislav Gurdew: On the 110th anniversary of Prince Battenberg's death. Retrieved January 1, 2018 (Bulgarian).
- ↑ Mausoleum of Alexander I Battenbarg. Retrieved January 1, 2018 (Bulgarian).
