Bulgaria bought a portrait and valuables which belonged to Prince Alexander I of Battenberg at a tender organized by an auction house in Vienna, Austria. According to the announcement of the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture, Bulgaria bought the most famous original portrait of Prince Alexander Battenberg with royal insignia painted by artist Karl Dillitz, as well as three trays gifted to him by residents of Ruse, Lovech and Berkovitsa on occasion of the early years of his rule which lasted from June 26, 1879 until August 26, 1886. In 2019 Bulgaria marks 140 years since Alexander I of Battenberg was elected by the Bulgarian National Assembly as the Prince of Bulgaria. It was very important for Bulgaria to gain possession of these valuables, but it was also important to buy them at a reasonable price, Bulgaria’s Minister of Culture Boil Banov said. In his words, the Culture Ministry received information about these valuables just over a week ago via several channels. I spoke with Premier Borissov and the Minister of Finance Vladislav Goranov and we decided that Bulgaria would participate at the tender. We also decided not to announce our plans to participate at the tender in advance, in order to avoid possible speculative increase in the price of the valuables, Minister Banov said. The items were selected by experts from the National Museum of History. It is still not clear where these items will be on display, but several national cultural institutions have already shown interest in them.