Letter from Ferdinand I following the death of his son Boris III

Reference : DBB1

Main information

Manufacturer reference	DBB1
Category	Boris III
Category	Ferdinand I
Date of publication	20/03/2026

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Description

Letter from Ferdinand I following the death of his son Boris III

Manufacturer / main description

Letter from Ferdinand I following the death of his son Boris III.

06/09/1943

Letterhead paper with monogram, text in German.

Svaty-Antal, 6 September 1943.

To His Excellency
Generalleutnant von Witzleben
Berlin-Charlottenburg
Roscherstrasse 6

I ask Your Excellency, together with the knights
of the Order “Pour le Merite”, to accept
my warmest thanks for the heartfelt
and fraternal sympathy shown on the occasion of the death
of my beloved son, who, as a holder of the Order
“Pour le Merite”, was worthy of it.

Ferdinand

Research and descriptions prepared with the help of an AI assistant (ChatGPT-5). Typological inaccuracies or errors may remain.

Official letter written in German by the former Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, exiled in Central Europe after his abdication in 1918. The document is addressed to the German General von Witzleben in Berlin, a member of the prestigious Order “Pour le Merite”. The text expresses thanks for the marks of sympathy and solidarity shown following the death of his son Boris III, himself a recipient of the Order “Pour le Merite”. Boris III, the reigning tsar, died on 28 August 1943 in circumstances that remain debated. The letter is signed “Ferdinand”, with a characteristic handwritten flourish. The document bears a crowned coat of arms at the head, recalling the royal status of its author. In 1943, Ferdinand was living in retirement at Svaty Anton. Europe was then plunged into the Second World War. The correspondence testifies to the continuing links between former monarchical elites and German military circles. The Order “Pour le Merite” was Prussia’s highest military distinction, awarded in particular to senior officers. This document is of notable interest because of the autograph signature of a former European sovereign,
its context linked to the Second World War,
its mention of the Order “Pour le Merite”, an emblematic decoration, and its personal and commemorative character. The coexistence of typed text and handwritten signature is typical of official correspondence from high-ranking figures in the twentieth century.