View source for Eleonore Reuss of Köstritz

{{Short description|Princess/Tsaritsa of Bulgaria from 1908 to 1917}}
{{Expand Bulgarian|topic=bio|Елеонора Българска|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox royalty|consort=yes
| name         = Eleonore Reuss of Köstritz
| image        = Елеонора Българска.jpg
| image_size   = 
| caption      = 
| succession   = [[List of Bulgarian consorts|Princess consort of Bulgaria]]
| reign        = 28 February 1908 – 22 September 1908
| succession1  = [[List of Bulgarian consorts|Tsaritsa consort of Bulgaria]]
| reign1       = 22 September 1908 – 12 September 1917
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Ferdinand I of Bulgaria]]|1908}}
| issue        = 
| full name    = Eleonore Caroline Gasparine Louise Reuss 
| house        = [[Reuss Younger Line|Reuss-Köstritz]]
| father       = Prince Heinrich IV [[Reuss of Köstritz]]
| mother       = Princess Luise Caroline [[Reuss of Greiz]]
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1860|8|22|df=yes}}
| birth_place  = [[Trebschen]], [[Kingdom of Prussia]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1917|9|12|1860|8|22|df=y}}
| death_place  = [[Euxinograd]], [[Kingdom of Bulgaria]]
| burial_date  =
| burial_place = [[Boyana Church]] 
| religion     = [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]]<br />''prev.'' [[Lutheranism]]
}}
'''Princess Eleonore Caroline Gasparine Louise Reuss-Köstritz''' ({{langx|bg|Елеонора Българска}}; 22 August 1860 – 12 September 1917) was [[Tsaritsa]] (Queen) of [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]], as the second wife of [[Ferdinand I of Bulgaria]] and member of the ancient [[Imperial County of Reuss|House of Reuss]] by birth.

==Life==
{{Moresources|section|date=November 2022}}
[[File:Royal Monogram of Queen Eleonore of Bulgaria.svg|thumb|100px|left|Royal Monogram of Queen Eleonore of Bulgaria.]]
Born in [[Trebschen Castle]] in the [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]]n [[Province of Brandenburg]] (present-day [[Poland]]), the daughter of Prince Heinrich IV [[Principality of Reuss-Gera|Reuss zu Köstritz]] (1821-1894) and his wife, Princess Luise Caroline [[Principality of Reuss-Gera|Reuss zu Greiz]] (1822-1875), widowed Princess of [[Saxe-Altenburg]]. She was also the younger sister of [[Prince Heinrich XXIV Reuss of Köstritz]] and a first cousin of [[Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin|Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia]]. Eleonore's father Heinrich IV and Marie's mother Auguste were brother and sister. She was described as "a plain but practical... capable and kind-hearted woman."

At the age of 17, Eleonore was engaged to Russian nobleman, Mark Alexandrovich [[:ru:Оспенный|Ospenyi]]. The day after the engagement he was summoned to [[Russia]] to fight in the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|Russo-Turkish War]]. Ospeni was wounded during a battle at the village of [[:bg:Телиш|Telish]] and later died from these wounds.

Following the death of his first wife, [[Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma]], Tsar Ferdinand sought another wife to carry out the official duties required of the consort of a head of state. As a man who was no longer required to produce heirs, Ferdinand stipulated to his assistant that he wanted a bride who did not expect affection or attention.<ref name="ReferenceA">Stéphane Groueff, ''Crown of Thorns: The Reign of King Boris III of Bulgaria, 1918-1943'', Madison Books, 1998.</ref> 

A list of candidates was whittled down to Eleonore and she and Ferdinand subsequently married at a Catholic ceremony on 28 February 1908 at [[St. Augustin, Coburg|St. Augustine's Church]] in [[Coburg, Germany|Coburg]] and a Protestant ceremony on 1 March 1908 at [[:File:Gera,_Thüringen_-_Schloss_Osterstein_(Zeno_Ansichtskarten).jpg|Osterstein Castle]], Reuss family estate. 

Initially titled ''Princess of Bulgaria'', Eleonore assumed the title ''Tsaritsa'' ("Queen") on 5 October 1908 following Bulgaria's declaration of independence from the [[Ottoman Empire]].

Eleonore remained neglected by Ferdinand throughout their marriage, leaving her to raise her stepchildren and devote herself to the welfare of the Bulgarian people. Eleonore came into her own during the [[Balkan Wars]] and [[World War I|First World War]] when, working tirelessly as a nurse, she was a cause of great comfort for many injured and dying Bulgarian soldiers. It was said that she had "a special gift for relieving suffering".

Tsaritsa Eleonore became seriously ill during the final years of World War I, dying in [[Euxinograd]], Bulgaria, on 12 September 1917. Her last wish was to be buried in the cemetery of a 12th-century church at Boyana, near [[Sofia, Bulgaria|Sofia]]. During the Socialist period, however, the grave was broken into, her jewelry stolen and then the memorial stone bulldozed back in the grave, with no visible marks left over the ground. However, after the democratic changes in 1989, the original memorial stone was excavated and the site was restored back to the original state.

==Arms==
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto;text-align:center;"
|-
| [[File:Coat of Arms of Queen Eleanor of Bulgaria.svg|175px|center]]
|Coat of Arms of Queen Eleonore <br> of Bulgaria
|-
|}
==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''Eleonore Reuss of Köstritz'''
|2= 2. Heinrich IV, Prince [[Reuss of Köstritz]]
|3= 3. Princess Luise [[Reuss of Greiz]]
|4= 4. [[Heinrich LXIII, Prince Reuss of Köstritz]]
|5= 5. Countess Eleonore of [[Stolberg-Wernigerode]]
|6= 6. [[Heinrich XIX, Prince Reuss of Greiz]]
|7= 7. Princess Gasparine de [[House of Rohan|Rohan-Rochefort]]
|8= 8. Heinrich XLIV, Prince [[Reuss of Köstritz]]
|9= 9. Baroness Wilhelmine von [[German nobility|Geuder genannt Rabensteiner]]
|10= 10. [[Henry of Stolberg-Wernigerode|Heinrich, Count of Stolberg-Wernigerode]]
|11= 11. Princess Johanna of [[Schönburg family|Schönburg-Waldenburg]]
|12= 12. [[Heinrich XIII, Prince Reuss of Greiz]]
|13= 13. Princess Wilhelmine Louise of [[Nassau-Weilburg]]
|14= 14. Prince Charles de [[House of Rohan|Rohan-Rochefort]]
|15= 15. Marie-Louise de [[House of Rohan|Rohan-Guéméné]]
}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{commons category|Eleonora of Bulgaria}}
* [[Theo Aronson|Aronson, T.]] (1986)  ''Crowns in conflict: the triumph and the tragedy of European monarchy, 1910–1918'', J. Murray, London.  {{ISBN|0-7195-4279-0}}
* Constant, S. (1979)  ''Foxy Ferdinand, 1861–1948, Tsar of Bulgaria'', Sidgwick and Jackson, London.  {{ISBN|0-283-98515-1}}

==External links==
* {{PM20|FID=pe/004637}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Reuss Younger Line|House of Reuss-Köstritz]]|22 August|1860|12|September|1917|[[Reuss (state)|House of Reuss]]}}
{{s-roy|}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-vac|last=[[Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Bulgarian consorts|Princess of Bulgaria]]|years=28 February – 22 September 1908}}
{{s-non|reason=Title abolished}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-vac|last=[[Dragana of Serbia]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Bulgarian consorts|Tsaritsa of Bulgaria]]|years=22 September 1908 – 12 September 1917}}
{{s-vac|next=[[Giovanna of Italy]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Princesses of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha by marriage}}
{{Bulgarian royal consorts}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eleonore Of Reuss-Kostritz}}
[[Category:1860 births]]
[[Category:1917 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Zielona Góra County|Reuss]]
[[Category:People from the Province of Brandenburg|Reuss]]
[[Category:Bulgarian consorts]]
[[Category:House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Bulgaria)]]
[[Category:Princesses of Reuss]]
[[Category:Princesses of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha by marriage]]