30 Thursday Aug 2012
Posted in Anniversaries & Birthdays, Events, Exhibitions, Romanian Royal Family, Royal Ceremonies
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Familia regala, King Ferdinand, Queen Marie of Romania, Regele Ferdinand, Romanian Coronation, Romanian Royal Family
I would like to share with you, dear readers, a few wonderful examples of souvenirs, which I found in the archives, produced for the occasion of the Romanian Coronation in 1922, dedicated to King Ferdinand and Queen Marie.
29 Wednesday Aug 2012
Posted in Anniversaries & Birthdays, Bucharest, Events, Exhibitions, Romanian Royal Family, Royal Ceremonies, Weekly Picture
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King Ferdinand, Queen Marie of Romania, Regele Ferdinand, Romanian Coronation, Romanian Royal Family
I am pleased to announce the opening on 6th of September 2012 of an exhibition at the National History Museum of Romania dedicated to the anniversary of 90 years since the Coronation of the sovereign couple King Ferdinand and Queen Marie on 15 October 1922 in Alba-Iulia (Transylvania). DM
King Ferdinand I & Queen Marie of Romania w. Regalia, October 1922. Photos by Guggenberger Mairovits
23 Saturday Jun 2012
Posted in Romanian Royal Family, World War One
Tags
First World War, Great War, istoria regalitatii, King Ferdinand of Romania, Regele Ferdinand, Romanian Royal Family, World War One
King Ferdinand of Romania & Prince Carol
King Ferdinand of Romania driving from the Royal military headquarters, October 1916. The King acts as his own chauffeur when occasions arise. Beside him is Prince Carol. The car is of a powerful, for those times, touring type with external brake levers. Behind is the pillared portico of the royal hunting lodge from Scroviste, near Bucharest. These are one of the first photographs of the monarch and his staff taken after Romania entered the First World War (August 1916). Continue reading »
08 Tuesday Mar 2011
Tags
Diana Mandache, European royal families, Familia regala, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, istoria regalitatii, King Carol I, King Carol II of Romania, King Ferdinand, King Michael of Romania, Regele Carol I, Regele Carol II, Regele Ferdinand, Regele Mihai, Valentin Mandache
This is a trailer from the documentary film entitled “Coroana Romaniei” (“The Crown of Romania”), directed by Marian Baciu from Sahia Studios in Bucharest, produced in 2010. The author of this blog presents the reigns of King Carol I, King Carol II, and His Majesty King Michael, together with the historian Valentin Mandache. King Ferdinand and his achievements are likewise surveyed. DM
24 Tuesday Aug 2010
Tags
European royal families, Familia regala, Ferdinand Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, istoria regalitatii, King Ferdinand of Romania, Regele Ferdinand
Prince Ferdinand Victor Albert Meinrad, the second son of Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Antonia (née Infanta of Portugal), was born at Sigmaringen on 24 August 1865. He completed his studies at the Düsseldorf gymnasium, the military school in Kassel, and also law studies at the University of Tübingen. He was a passionate botanist and reached a professional level in this field. He became the heir to the Romanian throne in 1889, and King of Romania on 27 September/10 October 1914 after the death of King Carol I, being subsequently known as King Ferdinand I. During his reign a modern Constitution was adopted by the Romanian Parliament in March 1923, the most democratic such basic law the country has ever had to date, which settled the new political transformations within the Kingdom of Romania after the end of the First World War and the unification of all the Romanian provinces with the old Kingdom of Romania. The official foreign tours Ferdinand made in Europe during 1922-1925 put the new basis of Romania’s diplomatic and political relations. Important economic, political and military treaties were signed during his reign. In December 1925 when his eldest son, Carol, renounced to his succession rights to the Romanian throne. King Ferdinand, as a result, named as heir his grandson, prince Michael (Mihai); the Parliament validated that act in January 1926. On 20 July 1927, Ferdinand died at Sinaia and was buried at the Curtea de Arges cathedral, the burial place of the Romanian Royal Family.
In an unpublished manuscript his wife, Queen Marie of Romania wrote about Ferdinand’s introverted personality, which often put him in the eyes of the outsiders in the shadow of his flamboyant wife’s personality:
“Ferdinand was almost painfully modest and always felt as though he must excuse himself for all he did, or left undone. Already as child he had a disconcerting way of accepting to be underdog. … he suffered from an inferiority complex, which he certainly did to an almost painful degree, and those who educated him, instead of endeavouring to help him out of his shrinking timidity, were inclined to consider this attitude advantageous to themselves as he was always ready to give way, obey, or to imagine he was in the wrong. His brothers of course, looked upon this as convenient particularity and ordered him about to their heart’s content; this was made all the easier as ‘Nando’, was somewhat hesitant about expressing himself, so he was seldom listened to, and got into the habit of letting others do all the talking, only repeating the last word they said, as though he always agreed. This, in later life, became almost a tick, and was most disconcerting to those who met him for the first time…”
All rights reserved ©Diana Mandache
23 Monday Aug 2010
Posted in Romanian Royal Family, Weekly Picture, World War One
Tags
Balkans, Familia regala, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, istoria regalitatii, King Ferdinand, Primul Razboi mondial, Queen Marie of Romania, Regele Ferdinand, Romanian Royal Family, South-East European Monarchs, WWI
The Great War Memorial for the fallen soldiers in the village of Zatreni, Valcea county/ Photograph ©Valentin Mandache
This post is dedicated to the anniversary tomorrow, 24 August, of King Ferdinand of Romania’s birthday (1865 – 1927), the sovereign of the country during the Great War.
The citizens of Zatreni in south west Romania, paid a high price during the Great War, with 233 men killed in action, a huge loss for a village. The memorial on the village green dedicated to the local heroes features a well rendered effigy of King Ferdinand, the supreme commander of the Romanian army, seen in the above photograph. The monument, most amazingly, survived the the communist period, probably because there was no inscription mentioning the sovereign’s name on the monument, which made the local communist authorities to propagate the idea that the bas-relief represented just a Great War era soldier personifying the army. Romania’s entry into the war on the side of the Entente was decided by a special Crown Council on 27 August 1916. DM
Romanians! The war which for the last two years has been encircling our frontiers more and more closely has shaken the ancient foundations of Europe to their depths. It has brought the day which has been awaited for centuries by the national conscience, by the founders of the Romanian State, by those who united the principalities in the war of independence, by those responsible for the national renaissance. It is the day of the union of all branches of our nation. Today we are able to complete the task of our forefathers and to establish forever what Michael the Brave was only able to establish for a short moment, namely, a Romanian union on both slopes of the Carpathians. [...] In our moral energy and our valour lie the means of giving him back his birthright of a great and free Rumania from the Tisza to the Black Sea, and to prosper in peace in accordance with our customs and our hopes and dreams.
Romanians! Animated by the holy duty imposed upon us, and determined to bear manfully all the sacrifices inseparable from an arduous war, we will march into battle with the irresistible élan of a people firmly confident in its destiny. The glorious fruits of victory shall be our reward. Forward, with the help of God! FERDINAND [Source: Records of the Great War, vol.V, National Alumni, 1923]
All rights reserved Diana Mandache’s Weblog Royal History
see also Forgotten Basreliefs representing Romanian royals
21 Saturday Aug 2010
Tags
Balkans, European royal families, Familia regala, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, King Ferdinand, Queen Marie of Romania, Regele Ferdinand, Romanian Royal Family, Royal Palace, Scroviste Royal Palace, South-East European Monarchs
The Scroviste Royal Palace located about 20 km north of Bucharest among lakes and forests, has been one of the favourite summer and week end retreats of King Ferdinand of Romania. Before the palace was built, there was just a hunting lodge used by Ferdinand, and from that basis new buildings and amenities were added in the subsequent decades. Today a new palace is used by the presidency of Romania. The images above show sketches for a palace section in Scroviste designed by Arthur Lorentz in the 1930s. DM
24 Monday May 2010
Tags
Diana Mandache, European royal families, Familia regala, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, istoria regalitatii, King Carol I, King Ferdinand, Queen Marie of Romania, Regele Ferdinand, Regina Maria, Romanian Royal Family, Royal Palaces
This is a drawing dating from 1893 and is an interior design proposal for Princess Marie’s boudoir at the time when the French architect Paul Gottereau started the works for the rebuilding of Cotroceni palace. The edifice was the official residence of Ferdinand & Marie. This design proposal was sent for the approval of Princess Marie. Unfortunately in the contemporary Cotroceni palace not all of the old decorations or furniture seen in the drawing above are still in place, due to the vicisitudes endured by this building over the ensuing decades, events that ranged from natural to human catastrophes such as earthquakes or the communist takeover in 1947. DM
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I endeavor in the “Weekly Pictures” post series to bring to light worthy of note, often less known images from the royal past and present and thus further enhance the understanding of royal history and what it represents for us.
Weekly picture: ©Diana Mandache’s weblog Royal History
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material is strictly prohibited
15 Monday Feb 2010
Tags
European royal families, Familia regala, Grand Duchess Vladimir, Grand Duke Vladimir, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, istoria regalitatii, King Carol I, King Ferdinand, Noblesse et Royautés, Queen Elizabeth of Romania, Queen Marie of Romania, Regele Carol I, Regele Ferdinand, Regina Elisabeta, Regina Maria, Romanian Royal Family
Families getting together: the Romanian Royals with the Grand Duke Vladimir, his wife and son at Sinaia, Pelesh Castle. (Weekly Picture: Diana Mandache's Weblog: Royal History)
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I endeavour in the “Weekly Pictures” post series to bring to light worthy of note, often less known images from the royal past and present and thus further enhance the understanding of royal history and what it represents for us.
Weekly picture: ©Diana Mandache’s weblog Royal History
