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Elisabeth
Empress of Austria - Queen of Hungary |
Now invariably dressed in black, Sisi spent the last years of her life far from the pomp
and ceremony of the Viennese court traveling widely, especially in Greece. Her decades-long
hunger diets coupled with a need for movement and exercise which compelled her to
undertake lengthy and strenuous hikes, caused malnutrition and depressions and led finally
to suicidal fantasies. The sixty-year old empress was stabbed with a file by a twenty-four
year old anarchist, Luigi Lucheni, shortly after noon on September 10, 1898 on the
promenade of Lake Geneva as she boarded a steamship for Montreux.
After the incident the Empress still walked for a few minutes. Because she was so strictly corsetted, she was unaware how seriously she had been wounded. Her last words were "What happened to me?"
For the assassin
Elisabeth represented the monarchic order which he despised, but she was in fact simply a
survivor, who tired of life looked forward to her own death.
Sisi (nickname for Elisabeth) was already a legend in her lifetime. And especially in Budapest (Hungary) many buildings or
institutions are named after her, and Elisabeth is still the most often given girlname in Hungary.
Even a century after her death, Sisi's hold on the popular imagination remains undiminished.
This can be seen in the popularity of Sisi films and the musical "Elisabeth", which has
run for years in Vienna. The sites where the empress lived continue to draw tourists from
the world over. Among these are her apartments in Schönbrunn Palace, the Hofburg, and the
Hermes Villa in Vienna, her tomb in the imperial burial vault of the capital's Capuchin
Church, and the imperial villa in Bad Ischl, as well as many other places throughout
Austria.
Schönbrunn, the Habsburg's summer residence with 1,441 rooms. This magnificent baroque palace, in typical "Schönbrunn yellow", was given its present-day exterior during the reign of Empress Maria Theresia. Sissi lived in the far-left wing with a wonderful view of the park.
Sissi did not spend much time there due to the strict ceremonial governing this "dream castle".
Great Gallery - Sissi was presented with wedding gifts in Schönbrunn's Great Gallery following her arrival in Vienna. Franz Joseph's gift was a diamond crown. |
Sissi's Salon - Sissi's salon was her central apartment at Schönbrunn. It was where she received personal guests - always
surrounded by her court attendants. |
Sissi's dressing room - To accentuate her 47 cm wasp-waist, Sissi not only wore a corset but also had herself sewn into her clothes! |
Stairs Cabinet - Sissi used the so-called Stairs Cabinet at Schönbrunn Palace as her study. At those times, an iron spiral staircase, Sissi's "escape
route", led directly to the garden and the riding stables. |
Franz Joseph and Sissi's (shared!) bedchamber - From time to time their majesties took breakfast in bed. |
Hermes Villa - Sissi's magnificent bed
The walls in Sissi's bedroom are adorned with frescoes of her favourite play,
"A Midsummer Night's Dream",
painted by Gustav Klimt. |
The Imperial Palace (Hofburg) in Vienna's city centre. The empress described the magnificent palace as her "gilded cage".
Inner courtyard - Sissi's apartments were in the left wing, and the emperor's study and living quarters in the right wing. |
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Sissi's exercise and dressing room - This is where the Empress pursued
an extensive gymnastics programme - highly exceptional for a woman of her standing. |
Sissi's Great Salon - Her most magnificent apartment at the Imperial Palace (Hofburg), where she occasionally took breakfast with the emperor. |
Sissi's drawing room - Franz Joseph's mother, Archduchess Sophie, had had the Imperial Apartments lavishly furnished for the
young couple. |
Sissi's bathroom - Elisabeth had a bathroom built at the Imperial Palace (Hofburg), a rare facility in those days even for the Austrian imperial
family, and was also massaged by a "hydropathic bath attendant". |
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