Here, Where It Hurts

sung by Carol I

Carol I

Karl von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen

When & where

Ruled Romania for 48 years, from 1866 to 1914 - first as prince, then as its first king from 1881. A German prince from Sigmaringen, in southern Germany, called in to lead a young country on the edge of the Ottoman world.

Known for

Romania's first king and a central figure in its independence. He commanded Romanian and Russian troops at Plevna during the 1877-78 war; Romania's independence received international recognition in 1878. He also commissioned Peleș Castle in the Carpathians.

The coolest thing they did

For his 1881 coronation he rejected costly precious-metal regalia and requested a crown made from an Ottoman cannon captured by Romanian soldiers at Plevna. His coronation speech linked its steel to their sacrifice. Ferdinand wore the same crown at his coronation in 1922.

Fun fact

He travelled to Romania incognito in 1866 with a Swiss passport in the name Carl Hettingen. The passport survives in Romania's National Archives: a royal journey recorded under a false identity.

The human behind the legend

Known for punctuality and a strong sense of duty, he married Elisabeth of Wied, the writer Carmen Sylva. Their only child, Maria, died at three in 1874. His letters describe profound grief and a decision to live near her grave at Cotroceni.

References in this song

♦"We chose to live beside her grave" - After their only child Maria died in 1874, Carol wrote that he and Elisabeth would reside at Cotroceni to be near her burial place. His letter also remembered the child's homesickness for Romania when abroad, behind "she once missed you". Source: historian Diana Mandache, https://lostinthemythsofhistory.blogspot.com/2011/11/maria-of-hohenzollern-romanian-daughter.html
♦"In eighteen sixty-six you sent for me" - Romanian political leaders invited the German prince to take the throne in 1866. Romania is the personified addressee, not a claim of unanimous lifelong popular support. Source: Peleș National Museum, https://peles.ro/en/personalitati/regele-carol-i/
♦"When anger filled your streets, I nearly left" - Anti-German hostility during the Franco-Prussian War brought Carol close to abdication. The following lines interpret the personal stakes of continuing his reign; they are not a recorded private speech. Source: Daniel Cain, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/carol-i-king-of-romania/
♦"At Plevna I led your men and Russia's" - Carol commanded Russian and Romanian troops at Plevna in the 1877 war against the Ottoman Empire. The war secured Romania's independence. The line concerns the Plevna command, not the entire Russian army. Source: Peleș National Museum, https://peles.ro/en/personalitati/regele-carol-i/
♦"Of steel from one of the guns your soldiers captured" - His 1881 royal crown was made from an Ottoman cannon captured by Romanian troops at Plevna. His coronation address associated its metal with the nation's fallen soldiers. The men on his brow are symbolic remembrance. Source: National History Museum of Romania, https://www.mnir.ro/coroana-de-otel/
♦"Let it one day hold me too" - Carol's 1899 will requested burial at Curtea de Argeș, with a possible later transfer to a Bucharest mausoleum. He was buried at Curtea de Argeș in 1914. The lyric addresses Romania as a country, not the exact plot where Maria was first buried. Sources: his testament, https://historia.ro/sectiune/general/testamentul-regelui-carol-i-577625.html; Daniel Cain, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/carol-i-king-of-romania/

Lyrics

I'm Carol. I came here a stranger.
Now my only child lies here.
No road can take me back
To the man who first arrived.
We chose to live beside her grave;
I needed her nearby.

Here, where it hurts,
Here, where I belong.
I cannot bring my daughter back;
I cannot leave her far behind.
Romania, hold her gently.
Let me make my home in you.
Here, where it hurts,
There is living left to do.

In eighteen sixty-six you sent for me,
A German prince with everything to learn.
When anger filled your streets, I nearly left;
I knew the road that led away from you.
But leaving would have ended more than trouble:
The life I'd pledged to build would end there too.

Here, where it hurts,
Here, where I belong.
A home can ask you more
Than you knew you had to give.
Romania, she once missed you
When we took her far from home.
Here, where it hurts,
I will give you all my years.

At Plevna I led your men and Russia's
To break the Ottoman hold on you.
I would not ask those men to fight for freedom,
Then wear a crown that left their courage out.
When I became your king, I took a crown
Of steel from one of the guns your soldiers captured.
The men who earned it have a place upon my brow.

Here, where it hurts,
Here, where I belong.
I cannot bring my daughter back;
I can keep her country strong.
Romania, hold her gently.
Your earth has held my daughter.
Here, where it hurts,
Let it one day hold me too.

A stranger when I came.
My home when I am gone.