Empress Elisabeth Of Austria: Her Fame And Legacy

Empress Elisabeth of Austria, also known as Sisi, is famous for her rebellious behaviour, tragic life, and glamorous image. She was known for connecting with common people, her love of Hungary, and her beauty.

Born in 1837, Sisi was thrust into a formal Habsburg court life after marrying her first cousin, Emperor Franz Joseph I, at the age of 16. She was unprepared for the rigid rituals of the Viennese court and suffered from mental illness and disordered eating throughout her life. She rebelled against court expectations and yearned for emancipation, indulging in behaviours such as smoking, getting a tattoo, and doing vigorous exercises like gymnastics and riding.

Sisi was beloved by the Hungarian people for her endeavours in bringing about the Compromise of 1867, which made Hungary an equal partner in the Austro-Hungarian empire. However, her enthusiasm for Hungary affronted German sentiment within Austria. She spent much of her time travelling and writing poetry, and was obsessed with maintaining her youthful figure and beauty.

Her life was marked by tragedy, including the death of her infant daughter, Sophie, and the suicide of her son and heir, Rudolf, in 1889. In 1898, Sisi was assassinated by an Italian anarchist, Luigi Lucheni, who stabbed her with a needle file in Geneva, Switzerland. She died at the age of 60, leaving behind a legacy of beauty and eccentricity.

Empress Elisabeth's tragic death

The day of the attack, Elisabeth and her lady-in-waiting, Countess Irma Sztáray, left the hotel on the shore of Lake Geneva on foot to catch a steamship to Montreux. As the Empress despised processions, she insisted that they walk without the other members of her entourage. As they walked along the promenade, Lucheni approached them, attempting to peer underneath her parasol. Sztáray recalled that as the ship's bell announced its imminent departure, Lucheni seemed to stumble and made a movement with his hand as if to maintain his balance. In reality, he had stabbed Elisabeth with a sharpened needle file that was 4 inches long.

At first, Elisabeth did not notice her injury. She straightened up, apologised to passers-by for the mishap, and hurried with her chambermaid to the ship. It was only on board that she collapsed. Sztáray noticed a small brown stain above the Empress's left breast and, alarmed that Elisabeth had not regained consciousness, informed the captain of her identity, and the boat turned back to Geneva. Elisabeth was carried back to the hotel by six sailors on a stretcher. When they removed her outer clothing, Sztáray noticed a few small drops of blood and a small wound. The Empress's last words were, "What actually happened?" Minutes later, she died of internal bleeding at the age of 60. Only a single drop of blood stained her black dress—the same colour she had worn on the day she first met Franz Joseph.

Lucheni had planned to kill the Duke of Orléans but, when the pretender to France's throne left Geneva early, he selected Elisabeth when a local newspaper revealed that the elegant woman travelling under the pseudonym of "Countess of Hohenembs" was the Empress of Austria. He later stated:

> I am an anarchist by conviction... I came to Geneva to kill a sovereign, with the object of giving an example to those who suffer and those who do nothing to improve their social position; it did not matter to me who the sovereign was whom I should kill... It was not a woman I struck, but an Empress; it was a crown that I had in view.

Elisabeth's autopsy revealed that the weapon had penetrated 3.33 inches into her thorax, fracturing her fourth rib, piercing her lung and pericardium, and penetrating her heart from the top before coming out the base of the left ventricle. The sharpness and thinness of the file meant that the wound was very narrow, and the pressure from her extremely tight corseting slowed the bleeding. Had the weapon not been removed, she would have lived a little longer, as it would have acted as a plug.

Elisabeth's death caused outrage and shock, surpassing even that which followed the death of her son, Rudolf.

Her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph I

Empress Elisabeth of Austria, born Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie in Bavaria, was married to her first cousin, Emperor Franz Joseph I, on 24 April 1854. She was 16 years old, while her husband was 23. The marriage was the result of a meeting arranged by Franz Joseph's domineering mother, Archduchess Sophie, who preferred a niece for her daughter-in-law. The couple had not met before, but Franz Joseph fell in love with Elisabeth at first sight.

Elisabeth's marriage to Franz Joseph I thrust her into the formal Habsburg court life, which she found suffocating. She had enjoyed an informal upbringing, often skipping her lessons to go riding in the countryside. In contrast, the Viennese court was rigid and stifling. She struggled to adapt to the Hofburg and its strict protocols and etiquette. She suffered from health problems, including fits of coughing, and anxiety whenever she had to descend a steep or narrow staircase. She also had a difficult relationship with her mother-in-law, who took over the rearing of her daughters.

Despite the challenges, the marriage improved Elisabeth's standing at court when she gave birth to a son and heir, Crown Prince Rudolf. However, she continued to struggle with the constraints of court life and suffered from poor health. She often visited Hungary, where she found a more relaxed environment and developed a deep kinship with the country. She was also a personal advocate for Hungarian Count Gyula Andrássy, who was rumoured to be her lover.

Elisabeth's marriage to Franz Joseph I lasted 44 years, until her assassination in 1898. Their relationship was complex. While Franz Joseph was passionately in love with his wife, Elisabeth was emotionally distant and fled her duties at the Vienna court, embarking on a life of endless travel. She had a deep love for the sea and sailed through storms. She was also a skilled horsewoman, possibly the best-known of her time.

Despite their differences, the couple's correspondence increased in their later years, and their relationship evolved into a warm friendship.

Her life at the Viennese court

Empress Elisabeth's life at the Viennese court was marked by tragedy and unhappiness. From the very first day, the young and free-spirited empress felt trapped by the rigid rituals of the Viennese court. Her honeymoon at Laxenburg Palace was disastrous, with Elisabeth crying her heart out in the park while her new husband, Franz Joseph, worked at his desk.

Over the following years, the couple moved between various courts and homes, including the Imperial Palace, Schönbrunn in Vienna, the Innsbruck Hofburg, Leopoldskron Castle in Salzburg, and the Imperial Villa in Bad Ischl. For Elisabeth, weeks of monotonous protocol turned into months, then years. She saw only restrictions and suffered under the control of the imperial court. Even the birth of their first daughter, Sophie Friederike, didn't change that. Tragically, Sophie died at the age of two. Later, Gisela was born, and soon after, the couple's son and heir, Rudolf. By the age of 21, Elisabeth was a mother of three, but her children grew up largely without her presence.

Elisabeth rebelled against the court's expectations and yearned for emancipation. She had no desire to be a devoted wife, a doting mother, or a representative figure of the empire. Franz Joseph accommodated her desires as much as his position and sense of tradition allowed, but it wasn't enough. Elisabeth fell ill, feeling trapped in a golden cage, and eventually, she broke free. Her hasty departure from Vienna to Corfu marked the beginning of a lifelong odyssey. She wandered restlessly from spa town to spa town, never staying more than a few weeks.

Her mental health struggles

Empress Elisabeth of Austria, also known as Sisi, was born into the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach and enjoyed an informal upbringing. At 16, she married her first cousin, Emperor Franz Joseph I, which thrust her into the much more formal Habsburg court life. This transition was difficult for Sisi, who was shy and introverted by nature, and she soon began to suffer from various health problems, including fits of coughing and anxiety attacks. She also experienced homesickness and was often horribly lonely, with her husband frequently absent.

The birth of her first child, Sophie, in 1855, was followed by two more children in quick succession: Gisela, born in 1856, and Rudolf, born in 1858. The pregnancies exhausted Sisi, and she showed signs of postpartum depression and nervous exhaustion. The death of her eldest daughter, Sophie, in 1857, only added to her misery, and she withdrew from the world, weeping for weeks and refusing all food.

Sisi's health continued to deteriorate, and she was diagnosed with pulmonary disease in 1860, though this was met with scepticism in court. She travelled to Madeira to recover, and her health improved almost immediately. However, her ailments returned soon after she returned to Vienna, and she was diagnosed with galloping consumption and sent to Corfu to recuperate. While there, she ate and drank heartily and enjoyed outings by water and land, but she still experienced some health issues, including swollen feet, possibly due to acute oedema from undernourishment.

Back in Vienna, Sisi's eccentricities became more pronounced. She became obsessed with her beauty and youthfulness, practising demanding beauty routines and engaging in extreme physical exercise. She also developed an eating disorder, and her weight never exceeded 50 kg (110 pounds) for most of her life. She was unusually tall for her time, at 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in), and her extreme slenderness was emphasised by the practice of tightlacing. She reduced her waist to 40 cm (16 inches) at one point, and her clothing from this time until her death measured only 47–49.5 cm (18 ½–19 ½ inches) around the waist.

Sisi's mental health struggles continued throughout her life, and she suffered further blows with the loss of her only son, Rudolf, to a murder-suicide in 1889, and the deaths of several family members in the following years. She never fully recovered from these tragedies and withdrew from court duties, travelling widely without her family. She was also obsessed with maintaining her youthful figure and beauty, developing a restrictive diet and wearing extremely tight-laced corsets.

Her interest in Hungary

Empress Elisabeth of Austria, also known as Sisi, was born into the Ducal royal branch of the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach and enjoyed an informal upbringing. Her marriage to her cousin, Emperor Franz Joseph I, at the age of 16, however, thrust her into the formal Habsburg court life, which she found suffocating.

Elisabeth's first visit to Hungary in 1857 left a deep and lasting impression on her. Historians attribute this to the respite she found there from the constraints of Austrian court life. She was also struck by the aristocratic independence of the Hungarians, who, in turn, reciprocated in their adoration of her. This affinity led her to learn Hungarian, and she became an advocate for the Hungarian Count Gyula Andrássy, who was also rumoured to be her lover.

Elisabeth's sympathy towards Hungary made her an ideal mediator between the Hungarians and the Emperor. She played a crucial role in bringing about the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary in 1867, after which she was crowned Queen of Hungary. She spent much time at Gödöllő, north of Budapest, and her enthusiasm for Hungary was such that she considered naming her fourth child Stephen, after the patron saint and first king of Hungary.

Elisabeth's interest in Hungary was so profound that she was often seen wearing a white parasol made of leather, adorned with the country's coat of arms.

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