The Empress Of Austria's Motherhood: A Child?

Empress Elisabeth of Austria, also known as Sisi, had four children: Sophie Friederike, Gisela, Rudolf, and Marie Valerie. Tragically, her firstborn, Sophie, passed away at just two years old during a trip to Hungary, which caused a strain on Sisi's marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph. Sisi's second child, Gisela, was born in 1856, followed by her long-awaited son and heir to the throne, Rudolf, in 1858. Her youngest daughter, Marie Valerie, was born in Budapest in 1868 and was nicknamed the 'Hungarian child'.

Empress Elisabeth of Austria's children

Empress Elisabeth of Austria, also known as Sisi, had four children: three daughters and one son.

Sisi gave birth to her first child, Sophie Friederike Dorothea Maria Josepha, in 1855, when she was only 17 years old. Sophie tragically passed away at just two years old during a trip to Hungary, plunging Sisi and her husband, Franz Joseph, into their first marital crisis.

Sisi's second child, Gisela Louise Marie, was born in 1856. However, she was also taken away from Sisi by her mother-in-law, Archduchess Sophie, who believed Sisi was too young and inexperienced to care for her children.

The birth of Crown Prince Rudolf in 1858 improved Sisi's standing at court as he was the long-awaited male heir. However, Sisi's health suffered under the strain, and she often visited Hungary for its more relaxed environment.

Sisi's fourth and final child, Marie Valerie Mathilde Amalie, was born in 1868 in Budapest and was nicknamed the 'Hungarian child'. Sisi was very close to her youngest daughter and raised her with Hungarian traditions. Marie Valerie later married Archduke Franz Salvator and had ten children. She was known for her kindness and was given the title 'Angel of Wallsee'.

Her struggles with motherhood

Empress Elisabeth of Austria, also known as Sisi, had four children: Sophie Friederike, Gisela, Rudolf, and Marie Valerie. However, her struggles with motherhood were numerous and well-documented.

Sisi gave birth to her first child, Sophie, in 1855, when she was only 17 years old. She was unprepared for motherhood and considered too young and inexperienced to take care of her children herself. As a result, her children were largely raised by their strict grandmother, Archduchess Sophie, and grew distant from their mother. Sisi was often absent, spending time at health resorts due to illness and travelling to escape her unhappy marriage.

Sisi's struggles with motherhood were compounded by pressure to produce a male heir. She was already facing criticism for failing to bear a son when, in 1857, her firstborn, Sophie, died of typhoid fever during a trip to Hungary. This plunged the empress into a deep depression and further damaged her relationship with her husband, Franz Joseph.

In 1858, Sisi gave birth to the long-awaited male heir, Rudolf. However, her struggles with motherhood continued, and Rudolf faced significant pressure as the future emperor. He had progressive ideas that he was unable to implement and, in 1889, he died by suicide with his lover, Mary Vetsera. This was a huge blow to Sisi, from which she never fully recovered.

Sisi's other children also faced challenges. Her second child, Gisela, grew up under the care of her grandmother and had little contact with her mother. She was, however, very close to her father, Emperor Franz Joseph, with whom she shared a similar sober character. At age 16, Gisela married Prince Leopold of Bavaria and had four children.

Sisi's youngest child, Marie Valerie, was born in 1868 in Budapest and was considered the 'Hungarian child'. Sisi was very close to her youngest daughter and raised her with Hungarian traditions, speaking only Hungarian to her. Marie Valerie later married Archduke Franz Salvator and had ten children. She was known for her kindness and charity work, earning her the title 'Angel of Wallsee'.

Overall, Sisi's struggles with motherhood were characterised by her young age and inexperience, the absence of her mother-in-law in her children's upbringing, the pressure to produce a male heir, and the tragic deaths of her firstborn and only son.

Her mental health

Empress Elisabeth of Austria, also known as Sisi, had a tumultuous life, marked by mental health struggles, tragedy, and an unhappy marriage.

Sisi was born into the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach and enjoyed an informal and unstructured upbringing. She was shy and introverted by nature, and her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph I at the age of 16 thrust her into the formal and stifling Habsburg court life, for which she was unprepared. She was overwhelmed by the rigid protocols and strict etiquette and suffered from health problems, including nervous attacks, coughing fits, and anxiety.

Sisi's mental health struggles were exacerbated by her difficult relationship with her mother-in-law, Archduchess Sophie, who took control of the rearing of Sisi's children and denied her the opportunity to breastfeed or care for them. The death of her infant daughter, Sophie, in 1857, plunged Sisi into deep depression, and she turned away from her surviving daughter, Gisela.

Sisi's health further deteriorated as she struggled with the pressures of court life and her unhappy marriage. She suffered from frequent coughing fits, insomnia, and weight loss. She developed an eating disorder, surviving on a restricted diet and practising fasting cures to maintain her slim figure. She also exercised excessively, riding horses and walking for hours, using her health as an excuse to avoid official obligations and sexual intimacy.

The birth of her son and heir, Crown Prince Rudolf, in 1858, improved her standing at court, but her health continued to suffer. She often visited Hungary, finding solace in its more relaxed environment and developing a deep kinship with the country. She played a significant role in bringing about the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary in 1867 and was beloved by the Hungarian people.

However, tragedy struck again in 1889 when her only son, Rudolf, died by suicide along with his mistress, Mary Vetsera, in the Mayerling incident. Sisi never fully recovered from this blow, sinking further into melancholy and withdrawing from court duties. She travelled extensively, unaccompanied by her family, and continued to struggle with her mental health, expressing thoughts of suicide to her terrified husband.

Sisi's life came to a tragic end in 1898 when she was assassinated by an Italian anarchist, Luigi Lucheni, in Geneva, Switzerland. Her mental health struggles, exacerbated by the pressures of court life and personal tragedies, cast a shadow over her reign and contributed to her untimely death.

Her beauty and style

Empress Elisabeth of Austria, also known as Sisi, was widely acknowledged as one of the most beautiful women of 19th-century Europe. However, in her youth, she was not considered a great beauty, with some biographers even referring to her as "sturdy and boyish" with a "round peasant face".

Sisi's most recognisable attribute was her thick, chestnut hair, which grew all the way down to her feet. She considered her hair her "crowning glory" and was proud of nothing so much as the cascade that enveloped her like a cloak when it was loosened. The care and maintenance of these tresses required a time commitment of no less than three hours per day. Every morning, after a cold bath, massage, light breakfast, and rigorous exercise, she sat down and submitted to the lengthy ministrations of her hairdresser, Fanny Feifalik. Sisi's Greek tutor Konstantin Christomanos described the ritual:

> Behind the Empress’s armchair stood the hairdresser…With her white hands she burrowed in the waves of hair, raised them and ran her fingertips over them as she might over velvet and silk, twisted them around her arms like rivers she wanted to capture because they did not want to run but to fly.

After combing out, braiding, and twisting Sisi's hair into elegant splendour on the crown of her head, Fanny was required to give an account to her mistress of all the hairs that had broken or fallen out during the process. The hairdresser would then bring a silver bowl containing the dead hair for inspection, and the looks of mistress and servant would cross—a slight reproach from the former, and guilt and remorse from the latter.

To save herself from reproach, Fanny would cunningly secret the combed-out hairs under her apron on a piece of adhesive tape, and could therefore often show the Empress a clean comb at the end of the day’s work. Sisi eventually forbade anyone but Fanny from touching her hair, even refusing to appear at official functions if Fanny was unavailable to style it.

Sisi's skincare regimen was similarly involved. Obsessed with keeping wrinkles and other signs of ageing at bay, she applied crushed strawberries to her hands, neck, and face, and slept in "a sort of mask, lined inside with raw veal". She soaked in warm olive oil baths to keep her skin soft and supple, and for everyday bathing, she used distilled water to wash with. She also slept without any pillows, on the advice of someone who had once persuaded her that it would benefit her beauty.

No less important than her skin and haircare ritual was Sisi's diet and fitness regime. Throughout her life, she was fanatical about maintaining a slim figure, wrapping herself in damp cloths above the hips to reduce inches and constantly dieting. Some evening meals consisted of little more than a thin gravy, and at other times, she would eat nothing but eggs, oranges, and raw milk for weeks on end. She offset her meagre caloric intake with vast quantities of rigorous exercise, and as she aged, she only increased the physical demands on her poorly nourished body. When the first signs of ageing appeared, Sisi was determined to hold on to her widely praised beauty by force, torturing her body with hours of physical exercise.

According to one source, Sisi's exercise routine was more in line with "a forced march at great speed over huge distances" than a leisurely stroll about the grounds. However controversial, such drastic diet and exercise did have results. As one biographer states:

> To the nineteenth century, which stamped even thirty-year-old women as matrons, especially when they had borne several children, Empress Elisabeth was an extraordinary phenomenon. For roughly thirty years—and unheard of length of time—the reputation of her beauty persisted.

Despite her efforts to avoid the public eye, Sisi's fame only grew, and she became the subject of intense media scrutiny, including the first paparazzi photograph in the late 1870s. Tragically, her life was cut short in 1898 when she was assassinated by an Italian anarchist named Luigi Lucheni.

Her tragic life and death

Empress Elisabeth of Austria, also known as Sisi or Sissi, had a tragic life and death. She was born into royalty, the daughter of the Bavarian Duke Maximilian Joseph, and enjoyed an informal upbringing. At 16, she married her first cousin, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, and became Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. This marriage, however, thrust her into the formal Habsburg court life, which she found suffocating and for which she was unprepared. She had a difficult relationship with her domineering mother-in-law, Archduchess Sophie, who took over the rearing of Elisabeth's children and was often at odds with her.

Elisabeth's life was marked by personal tragedy and loss. Her daughter, Sophie, died in infancy, plunging her into a period of heavy depression. Her only son and heir to the throne, Rudolf, died by suicide with his mistress, Mary Vetsera, in 1889. This was a blow from which Elisabeth never fully recovered, and she withdrew from court duties, travelling widely without her family. She also lost several close family members within a few years, including her father, her mother, and two sisters.

Elisabeth suffered from mental health issues, including severe depression, and had an eating disorder. She was obsessed with maintaining her youthful figure and beauty, following a restrictive diet and wearing extremely tight-laced corsets. She also had rigorous and disciplined exercise habits and demanding beauty routines. Her eccentricities and progressive political views, such as her support for Hungary's independence, often set her at odds with the Viennese aristocracy.

Elisabeth's tragic life ended in an equally tragic death. In 1898, despite warnings of possible assassination attempts, she travelled incognito to Geneva, Switzerland. There, she was fatally stabbed in the heart by an Italian anarchist named Luigi Lucheni. Her tenure of 44 years was the longest of any Austrian empress.

Frequently asked questions