Elisabeth of Bavaria (called Sisi by her family) was the third
of eight children of Duke Maximilian in Bayern, who had married
his niece Ludovica, a daughter of king Maximilian I. She grew
up in Munich and at Possenhofen, the family's country residence.
Ludovica's
sister Sophia was the mother of the young Austrian emperor Francis
Joseph and the sisters tried to arrange a marriage between the
emperor and Ludovica's oldest daughter Hélčne (known as Néné).
But when Francis Joseph met the sisters he immediately decided
that he wanted to marry Elisabeth.
The wedding took
place in 1854 and Sisi had a hard time getting used to the strict
rules of the Viennese court. In 1855 she bore her husband a
daughter, Sophia, and in 1856 another one, Gisela. Young Sophia
died in 1857 in Budapest. In 1858 a son was born, crown prince
Rudolph.
Around 1860 the marriage detoriated. There
were rumours in Vienna of the emperor's love affairs and she
had arguments with her mother in law. In 1859 she left for Possenhofen
with her daughter Gisela and in 1860 she travelled to Madeira.
She visited other cities in Spain and went to Mallorca, Malta
and Corfu.
After she returned to Vienna in 1861 there
were further problems over the education of the children. She
left the court again. In 1862 she was visited in Venice by her
mother in and the physician Dr. Fischer, whom she had known
as a child. Fischer observed she was ill and adviced her to
take a cure in Bad Kissingen.
She went to Bad Kissingen
several times. In February 1863 she visited a ball in Vienna
for the first time in three years. Around this time she started
to study the Hungarian language. She kept on travelling and
resided as little in Vienna as possible. It is thought that
she had several lovers, but there is little information about
her affairs.
In 1864 she visited her nephew Ludwig
II of Bavaria. He was homosexual and didn't like women, but
somehow he adored Elisabeth. In 1864 her beauty was legendary
and she was painted twice by Xaver Winterhalter.
After
the Austrian army was defeated by the Prussians in 1866 she
went to Budapest to find support for the Habsburg monarchy.
She spoke the language, loved the country and was very popular
among both common people and noblemen. She played an important
part in the negotiations that resulted in the creation of the
Austrian-Hungarian double monarchy. On 2 Aug 1866 she visited
Gödöllö castle (near Budapest) for the first time.
On
8 Jun 1867 Francis Joseph and Elisabeth were crowned king and
queen of Hungary. Elisabeth was clearly grateful to her husband
that he had permitted autonomy to Hungary in many areas (instead
of sending his army) and a reconciliation of husband and wife
followed. In 1868 at Gödöllö another daughter was born, Maria
Valeria. After that it seems she left his bed for good and even
took care of a mistress for him, Anna Nahowski. But this daughter
she loved dearly and she was in the position now to raise her
herself. Elisabeth would often stay at Gödöllö during the rest
of her life.
Apart from the Hungarian case she had
no active part in her husband's politics. She detested the authoritarian
Austrian system. She read Heine, translated a book into Greek
and wrote poetry. She was famous for her beauty, but scared
to death of gaining weight. Fasting, hours of marching and gymnastics
were among the means she employed to stay thin. Nowadays her
condition would be called anorexia nervosa.
In 1874
she met Friedrich List Pacher von Theinburg at a masked ball
and she exchanged secret letters with him. Ten years later she
referred to him in a poem. In 1875 she fell from her horse in
Normandy and severely injured herself. In March 1876 she visited
England and was received by Queen Victoria. Elisabeth was still
restless and year by year she kept on travelling all over Europe.
In
1889 disaster struck. Crown prince Rudolph died under mysterious
circumstances at Mayerling, near Vienna. His mother went down
alone into the Kapuzinergruft to visit his tomb and her cry
"Rufolf! Rudolf!" could be heard. She was calm when she came
outside and she never visited the Kapuzinergruft again until
her own remains were taken there.
In 1898 she travelled
incognito to Geneva. Incognito meant that she used another name,
but wherever they went, she and her ladies in waiting were recognized
by everybody. In Geneva she was stabbed to death by the anarchist
Lucheni on 10 September. He wanted to kill a member of the Orleans
family, but when he couldn't find one he decided to kill the
empress instead.
It was a heavy blow for the emperor,
who despite all their problems had always loved his wife. Her
body was returned to Vienna and her coffin was placed near that
of her son. Francis Joseph would live for another 18 years until
he died during the First World War in 1918.
Family
• Son: Rudolf von Habsburg, Crown Prince of Austria and Hungary
• Daughter: Gisela, archduchess of Austria, princess of Bavaria
• Husband: Franz Joseph von Habsburg, Emperor of Austria (1854-1898, Wien: Augustinerkirche)
Related persons
• knew Baltazzi, Hector
• supported Chavanne, Irene von
• was written about by Corti, Egon Caesar, Conte
• employed Friedrich-Materna, Amalie
• was written about by Hamann, Brigitte
• was photographed by Hanfstaengl, Franz Seraph von
• admired Heine, Heinrich
• employed Herter, Ernst
• translated work by Heyse, Paul
• is uncle/aunt of Larisch, Marie, baronin von Wallersee
• was painted by Romako, Anton
• was painted by Winterhalter, Franz Xaver
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