Podcast in English

BNR: 80 years in 80 weeks

2015: Bulgarian National Radio - 80 years on

published on 12/30/15 3:05 PM

2013: Government in isolation

published on 12/19/15 9:00 AM

2012: Alexis Weissenberg – everything is sound

published on 12/12/15 8:25 AM

1952: Saying farewell to Krustyo Sarafov, a legend of Bulgarian theatre

Krustyo Sarafov has played central roles in plays by Shakespeare, Gogol, Chekhov, Molière, Griboyedov, Schiller, Petko Todorov, Yavorov. He is the first actor to have played the role of Golemanov – the wannabe politician that has come to be..

published on 10/4/14 10:05 AM

1951: The Philip Koutev ensemble, the beginning

The Philip Koutev National Folk Song and Dance Ensemble is one of the country’s musical symbols. Thousands are the concerts, dozens are the countries where the singers, instrumentalists and dancers have held audiences in rapture. We..

published on 9/27/14 10:05 AM
Fuse: Vergil Mitev

1950: Blotting out history?

There are more than 500,000 recordings at the Bulgarian National Radio Golden Fund audio archives that have preserved the sound of Bulgarian as well as European history. So, in the 21 st century we are still able to hear the voices of renowned..

published on 9/20/14 9:50 AM

1949: Elin Pelin, the bard of Bulgarian peasantry

"In my time – and I have often told my friends – it was easy to become a writer, because there were no writers. There was only Ivan Vazov and he stood out prominently among all the rest; everybody learned from him and he was the one who..

published on 9/14/14 10:05 AM
The team with Bulgaria's champions cup in 1948

1948: Creation of CSKA

In1948 the merger of several sports clubs changed forever the football life in Bulgaria as it gave the beginning of the successful development of one of the most loved Bulgarian teams – the CSKA. In the winter of 1948 the army football..

published on 9/6/14 10:30 AM
Agrarian leader Nikola Petkov in court

1947: Repressions against opposition

“May the ideas of Stambolyiski and the awareness of the importance of the moment become part of you – now, when Bulgaria and its people stand on the threshold of a new life. Get organized in unified local area unions, into one strong Bulgarian..

published on 8/29/14 12:46 PM
Queen Giovanna with her infant children Simeon II and his sister, Princess Maria Luisa at Rila Monastery

1946: Third Bulgarian Kingdom ends with a referendum

On 15 September, 1946, Queen Giovanna, wife of the late monarch Boris III received a double blow. A referendum abolished the monarchy and Bulgaria was declared a Republic; the government gave Giovanna herself an ultimatum to..

published on 8/23/14 9:10 AM
The sitting of the People's Court, December, 1944

1945: The People’s Court, terror and political violence

The year 1945 began with… death. On 1 February, 3 regents, 8 royal advisors, 22 cabinet ministers, 67 MPs from the 24 th National Assembly, 47 generals and senior army officers were sentenced to death with no right of appeal. The..

published on 8/16/14 10:20 AM
Bombing Sofia - April, 1944

1944: The year that changed the course of Bulgarian history

When, under duress from Hitler, at the end of 1941 Bulgaria declared symbolic war on Great Britain and USA, no one could have known that two years later it would turn into bitter reality. On 10 January, 1944 a formation of some 200..

published on 8/9/14 10:10 AM
Alexander Belev (centre), head of the Commissariat for Jewish Affairs, supervises the expatriation of Jews from the Bulgaria-occupied City of Skopje, Yugoslavia, March 1943

1943: “No one can prevail on Bulgarians to hate Jews”

“No one can prevail on Bulgarians to hate Jews” - these words belong to Germany’s ambassador to Sofia Beckerle at the time the last attempt was made by the German authorities to organize the deportation of Bulgarian Jews to the death..

published on 8/1/14 9:00 AM