Elisabeth of Bavaria

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This article is about Elisabeth "Sis(s)i" von Wittelsbach, the empress consort of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria:
For other empresses named Elisabeth/Elizabeth, see Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation)
Other Elisabeths "of Austria" can be found at Elisabeth of Austria
Some other Elisabeths "of Bavaria" can be found at Elisabeth von Wittelsbach

Elisabeth of Bavaria
Empress of Austria-Hungary

Titles	HI&RM The Empress of Austria-Hungary (1854-1898) HRH Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria (1837-1854)
Born	December 24, 1837
	Munich, Bavaria
Died	September 10, 1898
	Geneva, Switzerland
Consort	April 24, 1854 - September 10, 1898
Consort to	Franz Joseph I
Issue	Sophie, Gisela, Rudolf, Marie-Valerie
Royal House	House of Wittelsbach
Father	Maximilian, Duke in Bavaria
Mother	Princess Ludovika of Bavaria

Elisabeth in a riding habit, from Vanity Fair, 1884.

Memorial of Elisabeth in Funchal, Madeira.

Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie, Duchess in Bavaria (December 24, 1837 – September 10, 1898), of the House of Wittelsbach, was the Empress consort of Austria and Queen consort of Hungary due to her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph. Her father was Maximilian Joseph, Duke in Bavaria, and her mother was Ludovika, Royal Princess of Bavaria; her family home was Castle Possenhofen. From an early age, she was called Sisi (or Sissi in films and novels) by family and friends.

1 Her life
2 The myth
3 In film and television
4 In music
5 Literature
6 External links

[edit] Her life

She was born in Munich, Bavaria. On Christmas Eve 1853, Elisabeth, aged 16, accompanied her mother and her older sister, Helene, on a trip to the resort of Bad Ischl, Upper Austria [1], where they hoped Helene would attract the attention of their cousin, 23-year-old Franz Joseph, then Emperor of Austria. Instead, Franz Joseph chose Elisabeth, and the couple were married in Vienna on the 24th of April 1854. Elisabeth later wrote that she regretted accepting this marriage for the rest of her life.

Elisabeth had difficulty adapting to the strict etiquette practiced at the Habsburg court. Nevertheless she bore the Emperor three children in quick succession: Archduchess Sophie of Austria (1855–1857), Archduchess Gisela of Austria (1856–1932), and the hoped-for crown prince, Rudolf (1858–1889). A decade later, Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria (1868–1924) followed. Elisabeth was denied any major influence on her own children's upbringing, however — they were raised by her mother-in-law Sophie, and soon after Rudolf's birth the marriage started to deteriorate, undone by Elisabeth's increasingly erratic behavior (her family, the Wittelsbachs, had a history of mental instability).

To ease her pain and illnesses, Elisabeth embarked on a life of travel, seeing very little of her offspring, visiting places such as Madeira, Hungary, England, and Corfu, where she commissioned the building of a castle which she called Achilleion — after her death the building was sold to the German Emperor Wilhelm II. She not only became known for her beauty, but also for her fashion sense, diet and exercise regimens, passion for riding sports, and a series of reputed lovers. Her diet and exercise regimens were strictly enforced to maintain her 20-inch (50 cm) waistline and reduced her to near emaciation at times (it's now speculated if she had anorexia). Some of her reputed lovers included George "Bay" Middleton, a dashing Anglo–Scot who was probably the father of Clementine Ogilvy Hozier (Mrs. Winston Churchill). She also tolerated, to a certain digree, Franz Joseph's affair with actress Katharina Schratt.

Kaiserin Elisabeth, by Franz Xaver Winterhalter

National unrest within the Habsburg monarchy caused by the rebellious Hungarians led, in 1867, to the foundation of the Austro–Hungarian double monarchy, making Elisabeth Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. Elisabeth had always sympathized with the Hungarian cause and, reconciled and reunited with her alienated husband, she joined Franz Joseph in Budapest, where their coronation took place. In due course, their fourth child, Archduchess Marie Valerie was born (1868–1924). Afterwards, however, she again took up her former life of restlessly travelling through Europe, decades of what basically became a walking trance.

The Empress also engaged in writing poetry (such as the "Nordseelieder" and "Winterlieder", both inspirations from her favorite German poet, Heinrich Heine). Shaping her own fantasy world in poetry, she referred to herself as Titania, Shakespeare's Fairy Queen. Most of her poetry refers to her journeys, classical Greek and romantic themes, as well as ironic mockery on the Hapsburg dynasty. In these years, Elisabeth also took up with an intensive study of both ancient and modern Greek, drowning in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Numerous Greek lecturers (such as Marinaky, Christomanos, and Barker) had to accompany the Empress on her hour-long walks while reading Greek to her. Her Greek genealogical roots are presented in Greek pedigree of Empress Sisi. According to contemporary scholars, Empress Elisabeth knew Greek better than each of the Bavarian Greek Queens in the 19th century.

In 1889, Elisabeth's life was shattered by the death of her only son: 31 year-old Crown Prince Rudolf and his young lover Baroness Mary Vetsera were found dead, apparently by suicide. The scandal is known by the name Mayerling, after the name of Rudolf's hunting lodge in Lower Austria.

On September 10, 1898, in Geneva, Switzerland, Elisabeth, aged 60, was stabbed to death with a needle file by a young anarchist named Luigi Lucheni, in an act of propaganda of the deed. Bleeding to death from a puncture wound to the heart, Elisabeth's last words were "What happened to me?" Reportedly, her assassin had hoped to kill a prince from the House of Orléans and, failing to find him, turned on Elisabeth instead as she was walking along the promenade of Lake Geneva about to board a steamship for Montreux with her lady-of-courtesy, Countess Sztaray. As Lucheni afterward said, "I wanted to kill a royal. It did not matter which one."

Arms of Empress Elisabeth of Bavaria

The empress was buried in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna's city centre which for centuries served as the imperial burial place.

Elisabeth loved horses and was an extremely skilled horsewoman, possibly considered one of the best of her time. She would take up riding a month after she gave birth. Her mother-in-law (who was also her aunt), Archduchess Sophie criticized her at every fault. She often wore black gowns (at the time considered more elegant), especially after the death of her son.

One of Elisabeth's most striking features, which complemented her beauty, was her well-tressed hair. It took three hours each day to have it done. If her hairdresser fell sick, you could count on her not coming out of her chambers for that day. Her hairdresser knew that the Empress had fits if she lost even one strand of hair from the rigors of tressing, so she would hide them in the hem of her apron rather than risk the ire of her matron.

Elisabeth was once considered the most beautiful woman in the world, with features such as her almost five-foot-eight-inch (1.72 m) height and 20-inch waist.

[edit] The myth

Monument of Elisabeth of Bavaria (Sisi) in Szeged, Hungary.

Romy Schneider and Karlheinz Böhm.

While Elisabeth's role and influence on Austro-Hungarian politics should not be overestimated (she is only marginally mentioned in scholarly books on Austrian history), she has undoubtedly become a 20th century icon, often compared to Diana, Princess of Wales. She was considered to be a free yet sexy spirit who abhorred conventional court protocol. She has inspired filmmakers and theatrical producers alike.

In the 1980s, Brigitte Hamann, a historian renowned for her book on Hitler's early years in Vienna (see bibliography), wrote a biography of Elisabeth, again fuelling interest in Franz Joseph's consort.

Tourism has profited enormously from the renewed interest in Elisabeth and vice versa, both in Austria and abroad. Apart from the usual souvenirs such as T-shirts and coffee mugs, visitors are eager to see the various residences frequented by Elisabeth at different points in her life. These include her apartments in the Hofburg and the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, the imperial villa in Ischl, the Achilleion in Corfu, Greece that she built in 1890, soon after her son's tragic death, and her summer residence in Gödöllő, Hungary.

[edit] In film and television

In the German-speaking world, her name will forever be associated with a trilogy of romantic films about her life directed by Ernst Marischka starring a young and still unknown Romy Schneider in the title role:

Sissi (1955)
Sissi — die junge Kaiserin (1956) (Sissi — The Young Empress)
Sissi — Schicksalsjahre einer Kaiserin (1957) (Sissi — Fateful Years of an Empress)

The three films, now newly restored, are shown every few years on Austrian and German TV and have done much to create the myth surrounding Elisabeth. It may be assumed that for the average Austrian these films are the only source of knowledge as far as Elisabeth's life is concerned. A condensed version dubbed in English was published under the title Forever My Love.

There is also a 1991 movie titled Sisi/Last Minute.

In 1974 Elisabeth was portrayed in the British television series Fall of Eagles by Diane Keen (as the young Elisabeth) and Rachel Gurney (as Elisabeth at the time of Prince Rudolf's death).

[edit] In music

Main article: Elisabeth (Musical)

Fritz Kreisler composed a comic opera 'Sissi', which premiered in Vienna in 1932. The libretto was written by Ernst and Hubert Marischka.

In 1992, the musical Elisabeth premièred at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna. Written by Michael Kunze (libretto, lyrics) and Sylvester Levay (music) it has also been produced successfully in Austria, Hungary, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and in Japan.

In the film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera" , the character Christine is wearing a gown inspired by a portrait of Elizabeth of Bavaria during an early scene when she performs an Aria.

[edit] Literature

Sisi's desk at the Achilleion

Brigitte Hamann: The Reluctant Empress: A Biography of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Knopf: 1986) (ISBN 0-394-53717-3) (410pp.).
Brigitte Hamann: Sissi, Elisabeth, Empress of Austria (Taschen America: 1997) (ISBN 3-8228-7865-0) (short, illustrated).
Barry Denenburg: The Royal Diaries Elisabeth, The Princess Bride
Konstantin Christomanos: Diaries (Tagebuchblaetter, several editions in Modern Greek, German, French)
Matt Pavelich: Our Savage (Shoemaker & Hoard: 2004) (ISBN 1-59376-023-X) (270pp.).
Nicole Avril: L'impèratrice, Parìs, 1993
Matteo Tuveri: Specchi ad angoli obliqui. Diario poetico di Elisabetta d’Austria, Aracne Editrice, Roma, 2006 (ISBN 88-548-0741-9)