# The king who arrived incognito

*1866 · A nine-day clandestine journey*

Karl of Hohenzollern, 27, rides second class from Düsseldorf to Bazias as the merchant Karl Hettingen, lands at Turnu Severin on 20 May, and takes the oath in Bucharest on 22 May 1866.

Bucharest, 18 September 2026 · 9 days, 17 checkpoints, one forged passport

## The route, checkpoint by checkpoint

This is the centerpiece of the page: all 17 stops from Düsseldorf to Bucharest, each dated as the memoirs date it. Ranges like 16 to 18 May are honest brackets between two sourced endpoints, not guesses.

Travel them in order, or jump to any checkpoint; the chapters below tell the same journey in full.

1. **Düsseldorf** (11 mai): Friday 11 May, the last day at home: farewell to his parents, a last ride in Prussian dragoon uniform to Benrath Castle, then plain clothes and the station.
2. **Bonn** (11 mai): His sister Marie rides with him for the first hours; at Bonn he joins Councillor von Werner, the companion of the whole journey.
3. **Zurich** (12–13 mai): Reached at 2 in the afternoon; von Werner telegraphs the Swiss official for a meeting at St. Gallen, but the man is away, so 24 hours are lost. The prince writes to the Emperors of Russia and France and the Sultan, and erases the markings from his linen.
4. **St. Gallen** (14 mai): 14 May: the passport is made out to Karl Hettingen, travelling on business to Odessa, with a note, added at his own request, that Herr Hettingen wears spectacles.
5. **Salzburg** (16 mai): 16 May, the Austro-Bavarian frontier: the customs officer gruffly asks his name, and to his horror he finds he has forgotten it. Von Werner pays duty on cigars to divert attention; then officers of his old Danish-war regiment walk into the waiting room and do not recognize him.
6. **Vienna** (16–18 mai): Vienna, crowded with mobilized troops, crossed safely in a second-class compartment with a newspaper for a shield.
7. **Pressburg** (16–18 mai): Through Pressburg, newspapers up, face hidden whenever a railway employee appears at the compartment door.
8. **Pest** (16–18 mai): Through Pest, still caged, as the memoirs put it, in the squalor of a dirty second-class carriage.
9. **Szegedin** (16–18 mai): Through Szegedin, an icy wind chilling the second-class carriage to the bone.
10. **Temesvar** (16–18 mai): Through Temesvar, last stop of the long rail crawl before the Danube.
11. **Bazias** (18–20 mai): End of the line: Austrian mobilization has suspended the river service, and the party is stuck for 2 days in what the memoirs call an unsavoury spot. At the inn's communal table, fellow guests speak disparagingly of Charles of Hohenzollern.
12. **Orsova** (20 mai): On 20 May they finally embark; at Orsova they transfer to a steamer built for the Iron Gates. Bratianu, arrived from Paris, must still treat his prince as a stranger.
13. **Turnu Severin** (20 mai, 16:00): 20 May, 16:00: the captain stops him, ticket stamped for Odessa in hand. A few minutes on shore, says the prince, and hurries to Bratianu's waiting carriage.
14. **Craiova** (21 mai): Through the ice-cold night at a hand gallop: the Jiu ferry is out of order at 4 in the morning, then an enormous multitude at Craiova and an escort of Dorobant cavalry.
15. **Slatina** (21 mai): At noon the decorated town of Slatina and a halt of a couple of hours; on the road he overtakes the 2nd Line Regiment marching on Bucharest.
16. **Pitesti – Golesti** (21–22 mai): At Pitesti, Dr. Davila rides out to meet him and the first ministers are presented; the night is spent at Golesti, where he signs his first decree: the pardon of the Metropolitan of Moldavia.
17. **Bucharest** (22 mai): 22 May: the keys of the city at Baneasa, rain after drought, the one-storey palace, the Te Deum at the Metropolie, and the oath in the Chamber.

## I. The empty throne

*11 February – 20 April 1866 · Bucharest and Iasi*

- Plebiscite, votes for: 685,969
- Plebiscite, votes against: 224

On the night of 11 February 1866, officers entered the palace in Bucharest and forced Alexandru Ioan Cuza to sign his abdication. The union of the principalities kept its throne but lost its prince: a princely lieutenancy and a provisional government took over, and the hunt began for a foreign prince from a reigning European dynasty. The first choice, Philippe of Belgium, declined.

The answer came from a plebiscite. On 13 April the lieutenancy and the ministry proclaimed Charles of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as prince under the name of Carol I, before the candidate had even accepted; the vote followed on 14 April, and the results were known on 20 April: 685,969 votes in favour, 224 against, with 124,837 abstentions. The Assembly validated the result the same day, 109 deputies in favour against 6 abstentions.

Bucharest said yes; Iasi nearly said no with rifles. On 15 April, after the morning service in the metropolitan cathedral, judge Nicolae Rosetti-Roznovanu and his followers, backed by Metropolitan Calinic Miclescu, marched to proclaim Moldavian independence and reject the Catholic foreigner. Troops fired after two soldiers fell: 12 dead and 16 wounded among the insurgents, and the leaders under arrest by nightfall.

The machine moved fast after that. On 25 April Ion Bratianu left for Düsseldorf to announce the official result to the prince, carrying extensive written and photographic documentation on the country the young man did not yet know. On 2 May the Paris Conference ordered a new election, the Chamber almost unanimously repeated its choice, and the provisional government granted the prince Romanian naturalization.

> Request leave from his dragoon regiment and travel directly to the Danube principalities.
> – Bismarck's advice to the prince, April 1866, via the Election article

**Meanwhile,** in Berlin, the King of Prussia had already answered favourably on 16 April, and Bismarck was urging the prince to take leave and go.

## II. The papers

*11 – 16 May 1866 · Düsseldorf to Salzburg*

- Leave from the regiment: 6 weeks
- Lost at Zurich: 24 hours

The first plan was the short one, straight through Vienna to Bazias. It had to be abandoned: an indiscretion made the proposed itinerary public, and the whole point was that no one should expect a prince on that train. Then, on 9 May, the King of Prussia signed the long-expected mobilization order against Austria, and Prince Charles was ordered back to his regiment. He was saved by 6 weeks of leave granted by the King himself, while Balaceanu's letters from Romania begged him not to delay.

The last day at home was Friday 11 May 1866. He rode down the avenue to Benrath Castle in the uniform of the Prussian dragoons, changed into plain clothes at his brother's house, and went to the station with his sister Marie, who travelled with him for the first hours. At Bonn he joined Councillor von Werner. Zurich was reached at 2 in the afternoon, and there the journey broke down for the first time: the Swiss official who was to arrange the passports was away from home, so 24 hours were lost while the prince wrote formal letters to the Emperors of Russia and France and the Sultan of Turkey.

Zurich was also where the party split its trail. Baron von Mayenfisch set out independently for Munich and the Romanian officer Lieutenant Linche for Bazias, while the prince and von Werner erased the markings from the prince's linen and cut his baggage to the indispensable. On 14 May, at St. Gallen, the passport was finally made out: Karl Hettingen, travelling on business to Odessa, with a note recording that Herr Hettingen wore spectacles. Second class all the way; a merchant does not ride first.

The papers were barely enough. On 16 May, at Salzburg on the Austro-Bavarian frontier, a customs official gruffly demanded the prince's name, and to his horror he found that he had forgotten it. Von Werner flung himself into the breach by insisting on paying duty for some cigars, and while the officer's attention was diverted the prince refreshed his memory with a glimpse at his passport. Minutes later, officers of the King of Belgium's Regiment, with whom he had served in Denmark in 1864, entered the waiting room. Fortune favoured him again: all passed off well.

> He to his horror found that he had forgotten it.
> – Reminiscences of the King of Roumania (1899), on the Salzburg customs check

**Meanwhile,** two weeks earlier, on 2 May, the Paris Conference had ordered a new election, and the Romanian Chamber had almost unanimously confirmed the prince again.

## III. The crossing

*16 – 20 May 1866 · Salzburg to Turnu Severin*

- Days stuck at Bazias: 2
- Landing at Severin: 20 May, 16:00

Past Salzburg the journey became an endurance of ordinary misery. Vienna was found crowded with troops, and the travellers continued as far as the capital unrecognized, then on through Pressburg, Pest, Szegedin and Temesvar, still caged in the squalor of a dirty second-class carriage, an icy wind chilling them to the bone. The tedious railway journey ended at Bazias, where they were to go downstream by steamer.

But the mobilization of the Austrian troops had completely disorganized the river service, and a most unwelcome delay of 2 days followed at this unsavoury spot. The prince spent the time writing letters and dispatches, and one night at the inn's communal table he heard fellow guests speak disparagingly of Charles of Hohenzollern and predict he would be hunted down like Cuza. He kept writing.

Joan Bratianu arrived from Paris in time to accompany his future sovereign on the last stage, but strict secrecy was still imperative, so he was compelled to treat the prince as a stranger. On 20 May they managed to embark with the two companions; at Orsova they transferred to a boat built to withstand the Iron Gates. Sitting on the second-class deck among sacks of cargo, the prince went on writing his correspondence.

At 16:00 the boat lay alongside the quay of Turnu Severin. As the prince hurried ashore, the master of the steamer stopped him to ask why he should land here when he wanted to go to Odessa. The prince replied that he only meant to spend a few minutes on shore, and hurried forward. The moment he touched Romanian soil, Bratianu, hat in hand, asked his prince to step into a waiting carriage, and behind him the captain's voice exclaimed: By God, that must be the Prince of Hohenzollern.

> By God, that must be the Prince of Hohenzollern!
> – The steamer captain at Turnu Severin, as reported in the 1899 memoirs

**Meanwhile,** in Bucharest, the provisional government had already granted him Romanian naturalization earlier in May.

## IV. The oath

*20 – 22 May 1866 · Turnu Severin to Bucharest*

- Horses on the carriage: 8
- Reign that began that day: 48 years

The landing was only the start of the hurry. After two telegrams to the princely lieutenancy and the government, the prince and Bratianu set out for the capital in a carriage drawn by 8 horses at a hand gallop that never slackened through the ice-cold, misty night. At 4 in the morning they reached the river Jiu and lost time, the ferry being out of order. At Craiova an enormous multitude gave him a royal welcome; escorted by two sections of Dorobant cavalry he reached Slatina at noon, halted a couple of hours, and on the road overtook the 2nd Line Regiment marching on Bucharest.

Outside Pitesti a mounted escort rode out to meet him, among them Dr. Davila. There General Golescu and Ion Ghica, president of the ministry, were presented: the first members of his government the prince had ever greeted. The night was spent at Golesti, and there he entered upon his duties with a signature: a decree pardoning the Metropolitan of Moldavia for his share in the separatist riots of 15 April.

On 22 May came the triumphal entry. At Baneasa the mayor handed him the keys of the city with a speech, and it rained that very day after a long drought, which the locals took for a good omen. The procession passed streets lined with soldiers of the Line and the National Guard until it halted before a one-storeyed house with a guard of honour. What house is that, asked the prince. That is the Palace, answered General Golescu with embarrassment.

At the Metropolie, the cathedral of Bucharest, the Metropolitan tendered him the Cross and the Bible to kiss, and after the Te Deum the prince crossed to the Chamber opposite and took the oath. His memoirs print the formula in Romanian; historians note that he did not yet speak the language and addressed the Chamber in French. Then he repaired to the Palace, whose small rooms had been tastefully furnished by Parisian upholsterers under Prince Cuza, while outside the window stood a guardhouse and a gypsy encampment with its herd of swine wallowing in the main road.

> I swear to protect the laws of Roumania, to maintain her rights and the integrity of her soil.
> – The oath formula as printed in the 1899 memoirs (their own English rendering)

**Meanwhile,** three days later, on 25 May, the Paris Conference would merely acknowledge the Ottoman protest without taking any further action.

## Cross Austria undetected

Five decisions from the real journey. Every correct answer is what the memoirs say actually worked.

1. **The forgotten name.** Salzburg customs, 16 May. The officer gruffly demands your name, and to your horror you have forgotten your own alias. *Von Werner insisted on paying the cigar duty, and the prince refreshed his memory with a glimpse at his passport. [M1]*
2. **The compartment.** You are choosing the compartment for a week across Austria. A prince rides first; a merchant does not. *Second class all the way: a merchant bound for Odessa does not ride first. [M1]*
3. **The old comrades.** Salzburg waiting room. Officers of the King of Belgium's Regiment, with whom you served in Denmark in 1864, walk in. *He absorbed himself in a newspaper and concealed his face; all passed off well. [M1][W2]*
4. **The spectacles.** St. Gallen, 14 May. The clerk is writing the passport. One extra detail could make Karl Hettingen real. *At the prince's own request the passport noted that Herr Hettingen wore spectacles. [M1]*
5. **The captain's question.** Severin quay, 20 May, 16:00. The captain blocks your way: your ticket is stamped for Odessa, so why land here? *The prince said a few minutes on shore and hurried to Bratianu's carriage; the captain realized only as it drove off. [M1]*

## The journey in figures

Every figure below is recomputed against the sources at build time.

- **685,969** – votes for in the April plebiscite
- **224** – votes against in the April plebiscite
- **9** – days from Düsseldorf to Turnu Severin
- **17** – checkpoints from Düsseldorf to Bucharest
- **8** – horses on the night carriage to Craiova
- **48** – years of reign that began with the oath

## Three stories to examine

### Nobody knew he was coming

The memoirs themselves deny the perfect secret: the short route through Vienna and Bazias had to be abandoned because an indiscretion made the itinerary public. He crossed safely not because he was invisible, but because Vienna was crowded with mobilized troops and nobody was looking for a merchant in a dirty second-class carriage.

### He had never heard of Romania

It is said, writes the biography, that he had never heard of the country before his nomination. The documented fact points the other way: on 25 April Bratianu brought him extensive written and photographic documentation on the principalities. An unattributed anecdote against a documented briefing: the page keeps the anecdote and labels it.

### He swore the oath in Romanian on arrival

The memoirs print the oath formula in Romanian and the reply to the Chamber in French; the histories say he pronounced his vows in French, since he did not yet speak Romanian. Both agree on the words and on the French address; only the language of the spoken formula is genuinely uncertain.

## Sources and method

The journey narrative follows the King's own dictated memoirs in the authorized 1899 English edition [M1]; the political frame, dates and figures follow the two election histories [W1][W2], used only where they agree with each other or with [M1]. Bucharest details are confirmed by the National Museum journal [W3].

All journey dates are New Style; Romania still used the Julian calendar, 12 days behind, so the landing is 8 May in Romanian chronicles and 20 May in the memoirs. The page gives both where they meet.

What the sources do not prove is marked disputed on this page and in SOURCES.md: the language of the oath formula (D1), the never-heard-of-Romania anecdote (D2), rail timings and the names of the inn and the steamer (D3), and anything about what Vienna knew (D4). Nothing is invented to fill these gaps.

### The empty throne

- [Election to the Romanian throne, 1866 - abdication, plebiscite figures, Iași putsch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_to_the_Romanian_throne,_1866)

### The papers

- [Reminiscences of the King of Roumania (1899) - the Hettingen passport, Salzburg](https://archive.org/stream/reminiscencesofk00caro/reminiscencesofk00caro_djvu.txt)

### The crossing

- [Reminiscences of the King of Roumania (1899) - Vienna, Baziaș, the two-day delay](https://archive.org/stream/reminiscencesofk00caro/reminiscencesofk00caro_djvu.txt)

### The oath

- [Reminiscences of the King of Roumania (1899) - Severin landing, night ride, oath](https://archive.org/stream/reminiscencesofk00caro/reminiscencesofk00caro_djvu.txt)
- [Carol I of Romania - Bucharest entry, Băneasa keys, rain, oath](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_I_of_Romania)
- [Maria Ioniță, Muzeul Național XVIII (2006) - mayor Dimitrie Brătianu and the keys](https://biblioteca-digitala.ro/reviste/muzeulnationaljournal/18-Muzeul-National-XVIII-2006-16_Maria_Ionita.pdf)

### The game

- [Reminiscences of the King of Roumania (1899) - every game answer is his account](https://archive.org/stream/reminiscencesofk00caro/reminiscencesofk00caro_djvu.txt)

### The route

- [Election to the Romanian throne, 1866 - journey dates cross-check](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_to_the_Romanian_throne,_1866)

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Sources, method and build by [Marius Comper](https://mariuscomper.uk/en/) · https://mariuscomper.uk/carol-i-1866/en/