3.4k (19 per week)
The Austrian Empress Elizabeth was born into the Wittelsbach family on December 24, 1837, in Munich, in the territory of the Bavarian Kingdom. The future ruler of Austria and Queen of Hungary was given the name Amalia Eugenia Elizabeth of Bavaria, but most often she was affectionately called Sisi.
Sisi's childhood
Elizabeth's father was the Duke of Bavaria - Maximilian Joseph, her mother was Princess Louis Wilhemina. The girl was born on Sunday, Christmas Eve, which was perceived as a joyful omen, in addition, the child had a tooth, which predicted a great future for the baby. The Queen of Prussia became her godmother, in whose honor the future empress received her name - Elizabeth; among the family, the restless and active child began to be called Sisi.
The girl spent her childhood on the family estate of Possenhofen, not far from Munich, where a menagerie was organized to entertain the little duchess. Elizabeth's mother and father were in a dynastic union and therefore did not maintain any relations with each other and each minded their own business. The Duke spent little time at home and the children were completely in the care of Ludovica. Sisi was energetic and active from an early age, and always preferred playing in nature to boring learning. The girl had no desire for music, but drawing and poetry came easily to her. Her attitude to life was influenced more than other family members by Helena, her older sister; her relationship with Karl Theodor, her younger brother, was not so close.
Elizabeth's betrothal
The mother of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria had long thought about choosing a bride for her son. The marriage was supposed to be dynastic, and the most suitable candidate was Sisi's older sister, Helena. They began to prepare the girl for marriage, teach her to ride, and take her out into the world. Sometimes Sisi joined the lessons, and she did much better.
Helena and Franz were supposed to get engaged on the groom's 23rd birthday. A few years earlier, Franz's brother, Karl Ludwig, began to have tender feelings for Sisi, they corresponded with each other and exchanged gifts, which suited the parents on both sides quite well. Having met before the engagement in Ischl, Helena and Franz did not find a common language and the relationship fizzled out. Then the emperor’s attention was attracted by the prettier, perky and cheerful Sisi, whom he, contrary to all the rules, invited to dance after consulting with his mother Sophia. For everyone who was at the ball, such a gesture was confirmation that Elizabeth, and not Helena, would be the future empress.
Franz, fearing refusal, asked to know his cousin’s opinion about marriage with him, but in no way wanted to put pressure on the girl. In a conversation with her mother, Sisi admitted that she was very passionate about the Austrian, but was afraid of a high position and moving to another country. After much deliberation, Elizabeth agreed to the marriage, and the emperor, to celebrate, announced the engagement during the mass. The newlyweds left Ischl and preparations began for the wedding. Franz Joseph ordered three portraits of his beloved to be painted at once, and Sisi diligently studied history, the political situation in Austria and Hungary, and the customs and traditions of her future subjects.
Marriage and life at court
On April 23, 1854, sixteen-year-old Elizabeth arrived, accompanied by her mother, at Theresianum. According to tradition, from here the emperor's betrothed solemnly entered the capital for the wedding ceremony. On the eve of the wedding, Sisi has a nervous breakdown from excessive attention to her person and preparations for the wedding. At the last moment, the girl pulled herself together and went to meet her future husband in a luxurious carriage painted by Rubens himself. Archduchess Sophia introduced her future daughter-in-law to the court ladies, the only ones with whom young Sisi was allowed to communicate. The wedding took place on April 24 in the Augustinerkirche church in Vienna.
Very quickly, Sisi's life began to turn into hell - the mother-in-law was arbitrary at court, fearing to lose influence over her son. The despotic archduchess did not give Elizabeth the slightest independence; all the actions of the emperor’s young wife were strictly controlled. The social circle of the ruling couple narrowed to 23 men and 229 women, who were allowed by Sophia to the court, so Sisi’s entourage consisted of people who were far from her in spirit and completely uninteresting to her. Everything was regulated, even Elizabeth’s personal time and her communication with her husband, who was busy with government affairs and did not notice his wife’s difficult situation. The woman’s only joy was horse riding, which gave, at least for a short time, a feeling of freedom. The longer Sisi lived here, the more she withdrew into herself, became withdrawn, often cried and wrote sad poems. Later she told how the first years of her married life were given to her by superhuman efforts.
Children of Elizabeth of Austria
The situation worsened further after Elizabeth announced her pregnancy. Sofia considered Sisi stupid and too young and doubled the pressure on her daughter-in-law: almost everything was forbidden to the future mother, and the Archduchess could burst into the empress’s chambers at any time of the day or night and pester her with advice, reproaches and instructions. Elizabeth perceived her mother-in-law as more than hostile and each time she experienced a nervous shock from her visits.
Austria needed an heir, but, contrary to expectations, on March 5, 1855, Franz Joseph and Elizabeth gave birth to a daughter, who was named after her grandmother - Sophia. The Archduchess took custody of the child, and Sisi moved the chambers away from her daughter and allowed her to be seen for several hours a day. The empress's position became unbearable and served as the beginning of a new round of conflict with her mother-in-law. Elizabeth loved the baby very much and tried to be a good mother, but all her efforts were dashed by the icy will of the Archduchess. 
After the birth of her second daughter Gisela, on July 15, 1856, disappointed by the lack of a male heir, Sophia hated Sisi even more and ordered her contact with the children to be almost completely limited. The situation escalated to such an extent that Franz Joseph had to intervene, who, after a long correspondence with his mother, gave Elizabeth the right to decide all issues related to raising her daughters herself. The fight took a lot of strength and nerves from both women, and forever made them irreconcilable enemies.
On August 21, 1858, Austria received its long-awaited heir - the imperial couple gave birth to a healthy boy, who was named Rudolf. Difficult childbirth and nervous tension weakened Sisi, and Sofia, without thinking twice, moved on to real tyranny. The young mother no longer had the strength to resist, and she gave up.
Political activity
The emperor was surprised by the popularity that his young wife gained among the country's subjects in a short time. Franz Joseph decided to use this for his own purposes and to improve relations between Austria and Italy, and invited Sisi to go on a trip with him. Elizabeth was infinitely happy about this - for her it was a real miracle to escape from the home hell in which she had lived all this time. Taking their eldest daughter with them, the couple went on a visit to Italy, but this did not bring the desired results. A series of unpopular political decisions by Franz Joseph turned the Italian aristocracy and middle class against the imperial couple. The second attempt to improve relations was a visit in 1857 to Hungary, where the couple took both daughters. Hungary received the family coolly, but soon developed warm feelings for the kind and charming Sisi, which only benefited the emperor.
During the long journey, both heiresses became seriously ill, Gesela soon recovered, and Sofia, who was in poor health, was doomed. Elizabeth, having arrived in Budapest, did not leave her daughter for 11 hours, who died suddenly. Sisi's grief knew no bounds; she considered herself to be the culprit of what had happened and, interrupting the trip, returned to Austria, where she withdrew into herself for a long time, did not communicate with anyone and only occasionally rode horseback completely alone.
Soon Franz Joseph went to the Italian front, and even in difficult times he continued to write tender letters to his wife. Elizabeth was very worried without her husband, because of which her psyche was completely shaken, the woman practically did not eat, entered into open confrontation with her mother-in-law and became painfully thin.
Sisi's wanderings and pain
Having brought herself to a state of nervous and physical exhaustion, Sisi decides to leave the country. Her husband offered her a choice of several Adriatic resorts, but Elizabeth chose to go even further to hide from the hustle and bustle in a remote place. She travels to Madeira, Corfu, England, France and has since appeared in Vienna for several months a year to see her husband and children. The Empress missed her family madly and always brought them many gifts, but after some time, feeling like a captive, she left the country again. Her son Rudolf grew up without a mother, and constantly suffered about this. Sisi was not allowed to interfere in the upbringing of the heir, and distance and time did not allow mother and child to get closer.
In 1868, in Budapest, the couple had a daughter, Maria Valeria, whom, contrary to Habsburg etiquette, Sisi did not let go of for a minute, turning into a “fanatical parent.” Feeling sincere love for Hungary and its people, Elizabeth convinces Franz Joseph to transform the Austrian monarchy into the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. As a token of gratitude for this, the Hungarians presented Sisi with a truly royal gift - the Gödöllő Palace, and the couple became the king and queen of Hungary. Fate dealt Elizabeth another blow - at the end of January 1889, Rudolph died. The cause of the heir’s death could not be determined; it could have been a political murder or suicide, but Sisi was never able to recover from the shock, believing that her beloved son had been killed. The Empress does not take off her mourning for a long time, and in search of peace she goes on a journey.
One of the most beautiful women of the 19th century was born with one tooth. According to legend, such a deviation promises a happy life, but something went wrong.
The future empress and favorite of the entire Austro-Hungarian monarchy, Elisabeth Amalia Eugenie, was born in the center of Munich on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1837, and was the fourth child in the family of the Bavarian Duke Maximilian and his wife Ludovica Wilhelmina.
Sisi spent her childhood in Munich, where the young duchess had her own menagerie. Of all the children of Duke Maximilian, Sisi developed a close relationship only with the most educated and obedient older sister Helena.
The family belonged to the Wittelsbach family, which ruled Bavaria since the 10th century. The Wittelsbachs were connected by close family and simply friendly ties with the Austrian imperial house of Habsburg. Therefore, it was not surprising that in June 1848, young Sisi, as her family called her, met the Austrian Archdukes Franz Joseph and Karl Ludwig. A correspondence began between the young people.
Archduke Franz Joseph celebrated his coming of age on August 18 of that turbulent year of 1848, when Austria, like other European countries, was covered by a wave of revolutions, in which, as is known, Marx and Engels took an active part. Franz Joseph's uncle abdicated the throne for health reasons, and his father, in turn, renounced his rights of inheritance. So on December 2, 1848, the young Emperor Franz Joseph I ascended to the Austrian throne.
The fact that at the age of 18 he was not yet married is not surprising, but he did not marry by the age of 23. However, his mother, Archduchess Sophie, had her own plans for this, namely, an agreement with her sister Ludovica Wilhelmina about the wedding of Franz Joseph and Helena, Elisabeth's elder sister. The meeting of Helena and Franz Joseph took place on August 15, 1853 at the famous Austrian resort of Ischl. 15-year-old Sissy was also invited there.
But, as sometimes happens, people assume, but God disposes, and less than four days of the young people’s stay together in Ischl, the Austrian emperor, contrary to the plans of his parents, wooed not Helena, but her younger sister. Events after that followed each other quickly, like in a movie.
Just two days after the meeting of Sissi and Franz Joseph, their engagement took place, and in the spring of the following year (April 24), Franz Joseph and Elisabeth were married in the Viennese court church of the Augustinians, and then spent their honeymoon in Laxenburg, in one of the Habsburg summer residences near the Austrian capital Cities. From the very beginning, many people noted the difficult relationship in the imperial family. They even say that Elizabeth did not wear a wedding ring on her finger, although she always had it on a neck chain under her clothes.
When we talk about princes and princesses, emperors and empresses, it never occurs to us that these people, whose life to an outside observer seems like a continuous series of balls, receptions and holidays, have the same problems that we know firsthand for everyone else - jealousy, living together with a mother-in-law or mother-in-law, the influence of a grandmother on raising children.
But it would probably be wrong to say that it was on the issue of raising children that Elizabeth and her mother-in-law had their first disagreements. The future mother-in-law, in fact, was Elizabeth's aunt. And the naive young girl began to address her as “you,” but immediately received a remark from her groom that he himself addressed her mother as “you.”
Immediately after the wedding, Franz Joseph's mother, Archduchess Sophie, proceeding, of course, from the best intentions, gave the young empress a lot of advice and made countless comments to her: she either looked at someone wrong, or did not behave so confidently, or her teeth were not white enough , then spends too much time at the zoo.
After all, there is a sign that the unborn child (and Sisi was just expecting her first child) resembles the one whom the expectant mother will look at most. But signs don't always come true. Left ununderstood, Elizabeth withdrew into herself. She did not like publicity and, of course, she could not like the fact that strangers had been in her apartment since the wedding day. Accustomed to freedom, Sisi neglected the rules of etiquette that governed the life of the court, from demeanor, curtsies and greetings to the length of gloves and the depth of her neckline. Forced, in accordance with her duties as an empress, to appear in public, she walked along the fence of the country palace park.
The court hoped for the birth of an heir, but, to everyone's disappointment, on March 5, 1855, Sisi had a daughter. Without her mother's knowledge, she was given the name Sophia and placed in the Archduchess's apartment. Everything repeated itself after the birth of the second daughter, Gisela, on July 15, 1856. Sisi could see the children only at strictly designated hours. It was only thanks to the intervention of the husband that the babies were moved closer to the mother’s apartment. But soon fate dealt Elizabeth a terrible blow. Eager to be alone with the children, Sisi persuades Franz to take them with him to Hungary, where the imperial couple is going. During the trip, the girls fall ill, Gisela quickly recovers, and sickly two-year-old Sofia dies in front of her mother. Elizabeth blames herself for this, having a hard time experiencing the death of her daughter.
Everyone was looking forward to the birth of a boy. This significant event occurred only on August 21, 1858. The heir to the throne, Crown Prince Rudolf, was born into the family of the Emperor of Austria. But, despite the abundance of family worries, the young empress’s soul was not at peace: already in the winter of 1859, rumors spread throughout Vienna about the emperor’s new hobbies. To put an end to family troubles, in the fall of 1860, Elisabeth, taking her daughter Gisela with her, went to her parents in her homeland, in Bavaria, in the town of Possenhofen.
She was advised to take a break and have a good rest at sea. Therefore, from Bavaria she left for Madeira, and after Madeira followed Seville, Mallorca, Malta and Corfu... Thus was the beginning of Sissi’s new way of life. The Empress not only loved to travel: she began to suffer from a cough, which intensified in Vienna and disappeared immediately as soon as she left for the Greek island of Corfu.
Here you should listen to the commentary of a psychologist who would quickly recognize serious psychological problems behind this cough. Be that as it may, since then she was rarely seen in Vienna, and the real life of the empress began as soon as she went on a trip. She visited Trieste and Venice. It was there in 1862 that mother and brother Karl Theodor came to see Sissy. The doctor they took with them on the trip states that Elizabeth has edema and anemia, and recommends her treatment at the resort.
If you describe the life of the empress year after year, the narrative will be similar to a travel schedule: on such and such a date the empress arrived in such and such a city, and on such and such she continued her journey. In her “flight” from the Austrian imperial court, Elizabeth visited many European countries, as well as Asia Minor and North America. In addition, Elizabeth was actively involved in sports, and she was not afraid of the injuries she received.
Only at the end of 1882 Elizabeth finished horse riding, but did not give up the sport. She was 45 years old at the time and became interested in fencing. And this is not to mention daily physical education. Even in the imperial palace of the Hofburg, Sisi regularly did pull-ups on the rings installed in her chambers and practiced on the wall bars.
Poetry played a big role in Sissy's life. She began writing poetry already in 1852, and her favorite poet was the romantic Heine, who then lived in Paris. There, in the mid-forties, he was friends with the famous disturber of public peace Karl Marx, went to visit him and his wife Jenny, and it happened that he even helped in caring for the little daughter of the then young Jenny and Karl. Since the summer of 1884, Sissi's independent studies in poetry became regular. And in July 1887, Elisabeth met in Hamburg with the sister of Heinrich Heine, who died in 1856, and interestedly discussed with her the construction of a monument to the poet.
No less than poetry, Elizabeth was interested in foreign languages: in 1863 she began to study the Hungarian language, and then the history of this country, and established sincere and trusting relationships with the Hungarian nobility. Subsequently, when the dual Austro-Hungarian monarchy was proclaimed, all this made Elisabeth the beloved queen of all Hungarians. From then on, she spent many months in Gödöllö, near Budapest.
In Hungary, in 1868, her daughter Marie Valerie was born, who became a favorite. Elizabeth was then just over thirty, her older children were already growing up, and in 1874, at the age of only 36, Elizabeth became a grandmother. Frequently visiting Greece, in 1888, in her sixties, Elizabeth began to study Greek.
There was another - essentially painful - passion for Empress Elizabeth: caring for herself and preserving her youth. Throughout her life, Elizabeth was strikingly beautiful, had magnificent hair and took great care of her appearance. In this she was helped by a specially hired woman who hid literally every hair that fell out of the empress, who zealously monitored the safety of her curls. Elizabeth did not eat meat; her weight, with a height of 172 cm, was only 50 kg. However, with age, her face gradually lost its former freshness, and to hide this, the empress always carried an umbrella and a fan with her.
They say that there is no better medicine in the fight against your own troubles in life than to help someone who is obviously worse off than you. So, in January 1874, Elizabeth visited clinics for the mentally ill and for cholera patients. But this hardly made her feel any better. She, as before, often thought about death.
Sisi was also ready for her - back in May 1875 she wrote her first will. When depression became almost unbearable, as it was in 1886, she contemplated suicide. Looking ahead, let's say that, despite such thoughts, she was never able to accept the suicide of her eldest son Rudolf, who ended his life with a pistol shot.
What about family life? Was the relationship with her husband really so damaged that it was possible to talk only about formally maintained marriage bonds? If we talk about jealousy, over the years she was jealous of her husband mainly in politics, but otherwise they always treated each other with respect. When the Emperor began dating actress Katharina Schratt, the Empress even seemed to facilitate their dating.
In difficult moments, when Elizabeth herself was in dire need of rest, she sometimes did not leave her husband for the sole reason that, for example, Katharina, who had gone on vacation, was not with him to brighten up the emperor’s everyday life. The actress was considered a friend of Elizabeth, and every time she visited the palace, she always visited the empress, as if showing everyone that there was nothing reprehensible in her visits to the emperor.
Despite the fact that it is believed that the streak of failures in life must end sooner or later, misfortunes did not leave Sisi all her life. A few months after the tragedy in Mayerling, the train in which the imperial couple was traveling through Germany was involved in an accident. Since then, the Empress has withdrawn more and more into herself, and words of concern about her physical and mental health have already been openly expressed in newspapers. Elizabeth herself says that her wings have burned out and that she only wants peace. She is being treated, but the treatment does not help much. In addition, after the death of her sister and mother, Elizabeth suffers from anorexia and faints. In 1897, she even began to experience edema due to starvation. The Empress felt the approach of death and made a new will.
In the spring of 1898, the Empress and the Emperor of Austria see each other for the last time. “I want to die alone,” Elizabeth once said, at 60 years old feeling like an octogenarian. She once admitted to her daughter that in her life there were no longer the words “hope” and “rejoice.” And either our thoughts are material, or, finally, fate heard her no longer secret desires and ordered to bring the death she so desired closer. Elizabeth spent the last months of her life, like many years before, wandering around the world. The final destination of her “pilgrimage” was Switzerland.
It was here that on September 10, 1898, Sisi's tragic meeting with a certain Luigi Lukeni took place - a meeting that ended the life of the empress. How disappointed Lukeni would have been if he had known in advance that it was not his desire to become famous throughout the world, but Elizabeth’s desire to stop living that brought them together on the shores of Lake Geneva. Who was this man who raised his hand against Elizabeth? Luigi Lukeni never saw his mother, who gave birth to him at eighteen and ran away straight from the hospital. He learned that she even existed in the world only at the trial in the case of the attempt on the life of the Empress of Austria. But this news did not make much impression on him.
Little Luigi was raised first in an orphanage and then with foster parents. But already at the age of nine, when he entered the workforce, his independent life began. At first he worked on the railroad, moving from place to place. Growing up, he served in the army. Essentially, he was a cheerful person, an excellent and honest worker, although ambitious and capricious, which prevented him from staying in one place for a long time. But, admit it, how many of us don’t have such qualities?
Offended by the loss of his job and the constant lack of money, Lukeni became interested in anti-state and anarchist ideas, because it is always easier to blame the unjust structure of the world for your misfortunes than to admit your bad character as the cause of failures. Although, as they say, the anarchists he joined did not consider him one of their own either. However, someone instilled in him the idea that every ruler, every rich person who idly travels and lives in luxury hotels must die.
But the young man has no weapon. Lukeni hatches the idea of committing murder with a beautiful dagger, but it costs money, which he also does not have. There is no money to rent a revolver either. Well, you'll have to make do with a sharpened file bought on sale. Having attached a wooden handle to it and sharpened it, Lukeni receives a weapon for future murder. Now all that remains is to choose a victim. Prince Henry of Orleans? King Humbert?
Elizabeth was always no more worried about terrorists than about bad weather, and forbade anyone to accompany her, which drove her ladies-in-waiting and police officers into despair. Fate, in the person of the anarchist Luigi, lay in wait for her on the morning of Saturday, September 10, 1898, when Sisi, accompanied by one of her ladies-in-waiting, walked along the Geneva embankment. The blow of the anarchist's sharpener knocked her off her feet, leaving a tiny puncture wound in the area of her heart. However, Elizabeth did not feel the wound and did not understand the true meaning of what happened. Deciding that the attacker simply wanted to snatch her jewelry, she stood up and tried to continue her walk. Only a few minutes later she felt acute weakness, sank to the ground and lost consciousness.
Later, during an autopsy of the body (it was provided for by Swiss law and was done with the consent of Franz Joseph), doctors stated that the wound was 14 cm below the left collarbone. The file penetrated 85 mm into the body, touched the fourth rib and passed through the lung and left chamber of the heart. Blood oozed from the wound drop by drop. This allowed the Empress to take her last 120 steps after being wounded. Her wish, expressed after the death of her son, came true: “I, too, would like to die from a small wound in my heart through which my soul will fly away, but I want this to happen far from those I love.”
Lukeni's desire to attract the attention of the whole world was satisfied. Entering the courtroom, he smiled artistically. But things there did not turn out at all as he had imagined. He wanted to be solemnly executed, but he was sentenced to life imprisonment, and, moreover, after some time he was placed in solitary confinement, depriving the ambitious man of human contact. This completely drove him crazy, and one fine day (although what’s so beautiful about him?) he was found dead - hanging from a leather belt. Luigi Lukeni is believed to have committed suicide
Elizabeth was buried next to her son according to the Spanish ceremony customary in Austria. As the funeral cortege approached the crypt in the Capuchin monastery, the Obergoffmeister knocked on the door three times, answering the gatekeeper's question, “Who is there?” with the words “The Empress and Queen Elizabeth wishes to enter,” after which the door to her last abode opened.
After the death of his wife, Emperor Franz Joseph remained silent for several months, not talking to anyone, then life went on as usual. But the “first citizen of the state” (as Franz Joseph called himself) never again visited theaters, concerts and entertainment venues. He outlived all his relatives and died at the age of 98, leaving the throne to his nephew Franz Ferdinand. A full-length portrait of his wife always hung above the fireplace in his office, and every few years the faded colors on it were renewed by a court artist...
http://tfilm.tv/8143-sissi.html film "Sissi", starring Romy Schneider. 1955
1955
Join the group and you will be able to view images in full size
The fate of the most beautiful queen in Europe | Elizabeth of Bavaria (part 1.)Duchess
Amalia Eugenia Elizabeth of Bavaria (German: Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie) (1837-1898)
Bavarian princess, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I.Empress of Austria since April 24, 1854 (the day of marriage), Queen Consort of Hungary since June 8, 1867 (the day of the formation of the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary).
She is known by the diminutive name Sisi (German: Sissi), which her family and friends called her.
The name of this woman became a legend already during her lifetime, and after her tragic death it truly acquired an aura of holiness. What is the secret of her popularity?
Most likely, her beauty and manner of behaving independently and unusually, which is so not typical for members of the imperial families. Elizabeth of Bavaria, Empress of Austria, was an unusual woman: she carefully protected her beauty and was afraid of old age and fading. Already at the age of 42, she forbade herself to draw and photograph herself, put on a veil and covered her face with an umbrella.
Her life in many ways remained a mystery, which caused an avalanche of literary research with speculation and fantasies after her death.
According to legend, she, like Napoleon, had a “lucky tooth” in her mouth, and this promised her a bright and happy life. She was her father's favorite daughter, Duke Maximilian of Bavaria, because... was his copy, not only in appearance, but also in character.
The girl's godmother was Queen Elizabeth of Prussia, whose name is given to the future empress.
The story of her marriage was romantic. Emperor Franz Joseph was destined to marry Sissi's sister, Princess Helena, and the entire Bavarian family was invited to Austria, to the summer residence of the Habsburgs - Ischl.
Die Kaiservilla in Bad Ischl
At the end of a boring dinner, little Sissy, sitting separately with the governess, fluttered into the room. Seeing her, Franz Joseph, who was already 23 years old, lost his head. He approached not the older sister, but the younger one and invited her to look at the horses. Returning from a walk, he announced to his mother that he would marry, but not Elena, but Princess Elizabeth.
“It’s either her or no one!” he categorically declared to his mother. A few months later, on a ship strewn with flowers, the emperor took his young bride from Bavaria to Vienna along the Danube. "I'm in love like a lieutenant and happy like God!" - Franz Joseph wrote in a letter to a friend. Elizabeth experienced a similar love then.
The wedding took place in the Augustinian Church in Vienna. Wearing a pink dress embroidered with silver and a diamond tiara on her head, Sissy rode through Vienna in a carriage with gold-encrusted wheels and doors painted by Rubens.
Soon after the wedding, life at court began to weigh heavily on Sissy. Archduchess Sophia sought to make her niece a real empress and controlled her despotically. The etiquette of the court of Charles V, introduced in Vienna, strictly regulated both the life of the courtiers and the life of Elizabeth herself; a rigid daily routine deprived Sissi of any freedom.
She tried to complain to her husband, but in vain - her husband had too many government concerns...
Franz Joseph, who had deep respect for his mother and boundless love for his wife, was soft in character and could not achieve reconciliation between the two ladies. Elizabeth, often left alone, wrote sad poems and read a lot, but her real passion was horse riding, which gave the illusion of freedom.
Left ununderstood, Elizabeth withdrew into herself...
Parents, sisters and brothers
Max Herzog in Bayern and Ludovika Herzogin in Bayern at Schloss Tegernsee
- mother - Maria Ludovika Wilhelmine Prinzessin von Bayern, 1808-1892- Princess of Bavaria.
- father - Maximilian Joseph (Max Joseph in Bayern; 1808-1888)- Duke of Bavaria from the Wittelsbach family.
The Wittelsbach family ruled in Bavaria (today part of Germany) for more than seven centuries. In 1828, the Bavarian Duke Maximilian entered into a legal marriage and, although it was concluded without any special feelings, it produced numerous offspring.
The couple had 8 children:
The children of Max Joseph in Bayern
Seven of the eight children, from left to right: Sophie, Maximilian Emanuel, Karl Theodor, Elena Caroline Teresa, Ludwig Wilhelm, Matilda Ludovika and Maria Sophia Amalia (Sieben von acht Kindern des Max Joseph in Bayern, von links nach rechts, : Sophie, Maximilian Emanuel, Carl Theodor, Helene Karoline Therese, Ludwig Wilhelm, Mathilde Ludovika und Maria Sophie Amalie)
to be continued...
Original post and comments at
Here is a rare photograph depicting the Austrian Empress Elizabeth(Sissi), wife of Emperor Franz Joseph (right) in her palace chamber. This is the only photograph of her in which she is photographed in old age. The photo was taken on Christmas Eve 1897, her birthday, the Empress turned 60 years old. This is her last Christmas and her last birthday. A few months later she would die tragically.
And after her death, journalists, who were not particularly interested in the empress during her life, will elevate Elizabeth almost to the rank of a martyr who suffered from the order at the imperial court.
There are still legends about her, her portraits are circulated, and the Austrian film trilogy “Sissi” with Romy Schneider in the title role continues to delight viewers with her fabulous life-affirming story. But it must still be said that much of the film is fiction. The main truth is that Elizabeth, or simply Sissy, as her loved ones called her, was one of the most beautiful women of that time.
Love
Young Franz Joseph, seeing fifteen-year-old Elizabeth, fell madly in love with her and rejected all the other potential brides with whom his mother constantly introduced her. Elizabeth was also in love with the emperor. It must be said that such a happy marriage for love happened quite rarely in imperial families. Elizabeth later told her daughter Maria Valeria that she would marry only for love, even if he were a chimney sweep. And this really could have happened just like that; prejudices associated with origin and court etiquette were always alien to Elizabeth. She was a strange empress and a strange woman in general.
Perhaps over the years she began to show symptoms of mental disorders, not uncommon among her Bavarian relatives.
Youth and beauty
Elizabeth's self-esteem, self-confidence and mood were associated solely with her own appearance. Over the years, she became absolutely obsessed with maintaining her own beauty. She slept without a pillow, at night she wrapped her thighs in cloths soaked in apple cider vinegar, and made masks from fresh veal and strawberries. Creams were specially made for her according to special recipes, lotions... She constantly did gymnastics, walked many kilometers every day and weighed herself three times a day. With a height of 172 cm, her weight ranged from 45 to 52 kg, and her waist was 51 cm. To maintain this shape, she was always on a diet. Moreover, she often ate only veal juice (the meat was lightly cooked, spices were added, and then the juice was squeezed out under a special press).
But over the years, maintaining beauty and youth became more and more difficult; from the age of 35 she stopped posing for photographic portraits; an umbrella, a veil and a fan became her constant companions. Elizabeth began to fall into depression, increasingly left Vienna and traveled for several months. The palace joked that “the most welcome guest in the palace is the empress.”
Those photographs that Elizabeth took in adulthood were taken spontaneously and therefore of poor quality. In others, she is photographed from afar or from the back, or covered with a fan, umbrella or thick veil.
And only for some unknown reason did Elizabeth allow herself to be photographed on her sixtieth birthday.
The second lady in the photograph is the Empress’s favorite lady-in-waiting Ida Ferenczi. She did not have the right to bear the title of maid of honor, since she came from a family of minor nobles. She was, rather, listed as a servant, but in fact, Ida was the only woman with whom Elizabeth was connected with something like friendship. According to Elizabeth's will, Ida received the largest sum of money of all the ladies-in-waiting.
Death
Empress Elizabeth died on September 10, 1898, just 3 and a half months short of her birthday. On September 9, Elizabeth arrived in Geneva with her maid of honor Irma Starai. She was in a good mood, and, contrary to custom, the Empress ate ice cream for breakfast or drank some champagne. By evening, however, signs of depression appeared again, and Elizabeth decided to leave Geneva. On the morning of September 10, the Empress and her maid of honor went to the ship that was supposed to transport them to the other side of Lake Geneva. The empress always traveled without security.
At this time, an Italian anarchist was in Geneva Luigi Lukeni, who dreamed of killing some “idler aristocrat” and thus making the world a little better. He was waiting for Prince Henry of Orleans, but the prince's plans changed and he did not come to Geneva. But the newspapers wrote about the arrival of Empress Elizabeth of Austria in Geneva. "It is even better!" – thought Lukeni. It was not difficult to track down the Empress, since the newspapers reported that she was staying at the Beau Rivage Hotel.
On the street, Lukeni ran up to the empress and punched her in the chest. From a strong blow, Elizabeth fell on her back, but soon stood up and declared that she had to hurry, since there were only a few minutes left before the ship departed.
Already ascending the ladder, Elizabeth lost consciousness. Her last words were: “What even happened?”
When the corset was unfastened, a small red spot on the Empress's chest became visible. Lukeni didn't just punch Elizabeth in the chest, he had a shiv in his hand. The wound inflicted on the empress turned out to be fatal; her lung and right atrium were pierced, and internal bleeding began.
Elizabeth wanted to be buried in Corfu, but her wish was impossible to fulfill; the traditions of the House of Habsburg were and are still observed.
And Lukeni was caught and sentenced to life imprisonment. According to the official version, in 1910 he hanged himself in prison.
Elizabeth of Austria, Princess Sissi, is one of the most romantic figures of the last century. Amazing beauty, crowned marriage, adoring husband. It seemed that her life should be a charming fairy tale. The Empress is outside the Empire. A woman of amazing beauty. Loving and loved, but lonely and sad.
the most famous portrait of Elizabeth. Franz Russa 1863 The Empress wears a dress by Charles Worth and the famous diamond stars in her hair
Nature gifted Elizabeth beyond measure. Amazing face, slender figure, long thick hair, almost to the toes, waist 51 centimeters, height 170 cm, weight about 50 kg.. But the gifts of nature must be protected, because they are fleeting.
“No, how beautiful she is, fresh, like a newly blossoming almond: wonderful braids crown her head, and her gaze is incredibly tender and full of love. And your lips are like freshly picked strawberries!”- wrote the future emperor, who fell in love with Sissi at first sight.
Preserving youth and beauty is a passion to which the Empress devoted herself. Rituals of skin care, hair care, physical exercise, all this was elevated to a cult, sometimes reaching the point of madness.
Sissy's special pride and concern was her hair. The braids reached almost to the toes. Once every two weeks they were washed with a special mixture of eggs, cognac and a decoction of special herbs. This procedure took almost the entire day. But at this time Elizabeth did not sit idle. During these hours she studied Greek and Hungarian, as well as philosophy. Her teacher Konstantin Christomanos described the hours spent in the hairdressing room: “The hairdressing takes almost three hours,” said the Empress, “And while my hair is busy, my mind is inactive. I'm afraid that my mind goes through my hair and ends up on my hairdresser's fingers. That’s why I have a headache after this.” The Empress was sitting at a table that had been moved to the middle of the room and covered with a white cloth. She was shrouded in a white lace peignoir and her hair covered her entire body to the floor.”
After each combing, Sissi demanded that her personal hairdresser, the Empress Francisca Farfalik, count all the fallen hairs and show her. At court they joked that all the hairs on Elizabeth’s head were numbered. Sometimes the hairdresser, so as not to upset the lady, hid some hairs in a special pocket of her apron. When Sissy noticed this, scandals broke out. The empress, in a rage, could hit her friend, and she would take revenge on her in her own special way. Francisca called in sick the next day, and Elizabeth had to persuade her and apologize. Frau Farfalik had enormous influence on her crowned client. Her salary was equal to that of a university professor, and her husband was appointed marshal and knighted.
"I am a slave to my hair"- Elizabeth spoke about herself. Long hair and weighed quite a bit. Sissy often suffered from headaches due to their heavy weight. The braids had to be hung higher on ribbons so that the empress could sleep.
Her loving husband, Franz Joseph, even commissioned a portrait in which Sissy is depicted with her hair down.
Elizabeth practically did not use decorative cosmetics, but paid special attention to skin care. Special creams, lotions, floral waters from chamomile, lavender, roses were made for her... The formula of one cream was recently restored: “cold cream” from almond oil, cocoa butter, beeswax and rose water. Another cream was called Cream Cleste, it was made from white wax, sweet almond oil, spermaceti and rose water.
The empress practically did not use perfume; they only sprayed it on her hair.
Every day, Elizabeth devoted many hours to physical activity. Horse riding, walks, training, gymnastic equipment in the office and fencing. In each residence, a “gym” was equipped for her where she did gymnastics. Truly, Sissy was the queen of fitness.
Over the years, an obsessive fear took root in her. Fear of losing your former beauty, fear of growing old, fear of imperfection. Sissy wrote to her niece: " Getting old... What despair this is... Feeling how merciless time is increasingly taking power over you, seeing more and more wrinkles appear... Afraid of daylight in the morning and knowing that you are no longer desired..."
She slept without a pillow and wrapped her thighs at night in handkerchiefs soaked in violet and apple cider vinegar. To maintain skin elasticity, I made masks from red meat and strawberries. She took warm baths with olive oil every day.
I endlessly exhausted myself with diets. She measured her weight three times a day and wrote it down in a special notebook. With a height of 172, the weight fluctuated between 45 and 52 kg.
It is a known fact that she drank “freshly squeezed juice” from veal. The drink was boiled and special spices were added to it. I could go days without eating anything, spending the day on only orange juice or meat broth.
After 35 years, the Empress stopped posing for photographic portraits, and if they tried to film her, she covered her face with a fan, veil, or umbrella. All photographs that appeared were subject to strict censorship and retouching. It seemed that in this way she was trying to remain forever young, at least in portraits.
Her beloved niece Marie Lariche admitted with poorly concealed sarcasm: “She was on her knees praying to her beauty, like a pagan idol. The external perfection of her body was her only aesthetic pleasure. Her life’s work was to remain young and her thoughts were occupied only with the best means to preserve her beauty.”
I specifically do not say anything about the biography of this amazing woman; it can be found in publicly available sources. I am also silent about the original character of the glorified beauty. I wanted to talk specifically about an approach to self-care that was non-standard for the nineteenth century. Some things still seem wild, but gymnastic exercises, mobility, reasonable restrictions on food, now we strive to observe these simple truths, which seem banal, but amazing for women of that time.
And today there are women who manically take care of themselves, only they have more opportunities: plastic surgery, cosmetology, dietetics. How to understand where the line is when a reasonable desire to preserve beauty and youth turns into a manic passion...