Empress Sisi of Austria: The Eccentric Royal with a Tragic Fate
Embark on a journey through an extraordinary life told in 9 compelling facts
Elisabeth of Austria was many things at once: fragile yet strong-willed, free-minded yet obsessed with the preservation of her beauty, prone to melancholy and depression yet an accomplished sportswoman, and, finally, a pitifully lonely woman who was quite ill at ease with her role as an empress, wife, and mother.
As such, she continues to intrigue and enthrall even today, since her life resembled that of a Gothic romance heroine in many aspects — exciting and rich in experience on the one side, yet filled with sorrow and tragedy on the other.
1. She had a rather informal upbringing
Elisabeth, nicknamed Sisi, was the third child of Duke Maximilian Joseph of Bavaria and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria.
Her father was a bit of an odd bird, with a fascination for circuses and Bavarian folk music. At the same time, he was less than fond of his ducal duties and made it his personal mission to avoid them as much as possible.
Her mother was the half-sister of King Ludwig I of Bavaria — known for his rather unconventional passion for building majestic edifices in the manner of Ancient Greece and Renaissance Italy, as well as his notoriously bad poetry. She was also the cousin of Ludwig II of Bavaria, who was sometimes called the Swan King and considered by his contemporaries to be more than a little loony.
So it could be freely said that an eccentric streak definitely ran through Sisi’s family on both sides.
As a result, she and her siblings grew up far from the formalities of the court and enjoyed a lot of freedom in their childhood. Sisi often skipped her lessons to go walking or riding about the countryside. It was precisely that sense of freedom, lack of restraint, and lots of outdoor activities that made a lasting impression on her personality.
2. She was never supposed to be empress
Sisi’s marriage to Franz Joseph, the Emperor of Austria, was entirely unplanned. Franz’s mother Sophie — and Sisi’s maternal aunt — indeed intended to have a niece as a daughter-in-law from the beginning, but she had Sisi’s older sister, Helen, in mind as a perfect match.
When Helen and her mother went on a meeting with the Emperor, in order for the formal proposal to take part, Sisi came along as well. That was a game-changer for all. As soon as Franz had set eyes on Elisabeth, he declared he would have none other but her. That in itself was exceptional, given that Franz was never one to contradict his domineering mother.
In the end, she acquiesced, and 16-year-old Sisi married 23-year-old Franz, going off to live with him in Vienna.
3. She never fit in well with her royal duties and strict court etiquette
Used to enjoying a lot of freedom, as well as being rather shy and introverted by nature, Sisi was not exactly thrilled by the expectations everyone had of her as the new empress.
The formality, the strict rules, the lack of any and all privacy, topped with the overbearing presence of her mother-in-law, drove poor Sisi to the brink of sanity very quickly.
She developed coughing fits, migraines, anxiety attacks, and nausea mere weeks after arriving to Vienna.
These health problems, followed by compulsive vomiting, nervous attacks, frequent fevers, and bouts of anemia became a recurring issue for Sisi. Whenever she’d be forced to spend any given period of time in court, near her husband and children, she’d get very sick, very quickly.
That’s one of the reasons she was always on the run, so to say. She traveled often and stayed abroad for very long intervals, sometimes not returning for a couple of years.
As a result, she grew increasingly fond of Corfu, Greece, and even had a palace, Achilleion built there. In fact, she loved it so much there that she expressed a desire to be buried on the shores of the Mediterranean, as it was the one place where she was at peace. That wish was not to be fulfilled, as her husband had her laid in the Capuchin Crypt in Vienna.
4. She had a strained relationship with her husband and children
Sadly, Elisabeth was not meant to have a happy marriage. Although Franz Joseph had been infatuated with her at first, they were never a good match. He was far too rigid, conservative, and cold for restless, free-spirited, and introverted Sisi.
They drifted apart very quickly, as Sisi showed little to no interest in sexual intimacy whatsoever. She did not mind her husband having affairs, on the contrary. It relieved her of her marital duties, which suited her perfectly.
She was much more at ease when left to her own devices — poetry, horseback riding, exercise, and reading, so all of Franz’s attempts to domesticate her and coax her into a more appropriate marital life fell through.
Even though their union resulted in four children — only two of which would survive them — Elisabeth was not exactly a doting mother, at least as far as her three eldest were concerned. Her mother-in-law insisted on taking care of her children’s upbringing, which meant she literally took them away from Sisi almost as soon as they were born.
After the birth of her second child, she decided to stand up against the obnoxious Archduchess and take matters into her own hands. However, her oldest daughter died at the age of two soon after, and Sisi never completely recovered from that blow.
Tragedy struck again some thirty years later when her only son, Rudolf, committed suicide in what’s known as the Mayerling incident. After the loss of her son, Sisi wore black for the rest of her life.
The only child she was ever really close with, was her youngest daughter, Maria Valerie, known as the “Hungarian child”, not only because she was born in Hungary, but more so owing to the fact that this final pregnancy was the result of a political concession: by promising her husband another child, she ensured that Hungary would get an equal footing with Austria.
5. She was obsessed with her beauty
Judging from the records we have of her, Empress Sisi was a slave to her good looks. And she was indeed beautiful. Standing at 173 cm, with an impossibly tiny waist ranging from a mere 40 to 50 cm, and chestnut locks that almost reached the floor, she was quite a sight for sore eyes.
Sisi was determined to stay that way, no matter the cost. As a result, she had a beauty routine that was strict to the point of ludicrous.
Her hair demanded at least three hours of care daily, and when she had to wash it, she canceled all of her other obligations and duties for the day. As she disliked sitting idle while her hair was being taken care of, she made the most of that time by taking up languages — she learned Hungarian and modern Greek, while she was already fluent in English and French.
She had a freakishly rigorous exercise and dieting regimen, as she was dead-set on not allowing her weight to surpass 50 kg. Each of her residencies was equipped with a private gym, in which she’d spend several hours a day. She also wore tight-laced corsets made of leather to cinch in her waist most effectively.
She avoided meat almost completely and tended to eat very little, but it seems her strict diet was interspersed with periods of binge eating. Whenever she suspected she was getting heavier than she desired, she’d begin fasts and purging periods, sometimes starving herself to the point of emaciation. In her final years, she began compulsively scaling her weight up to three times a day.
Sisi used little to no makeup and perfumes, as she wanted to emphasize her natural beauty. However, she used many facial tonics, creams, and waters in order to preserve her beauty. One of the stranger skincare products she applied was a mask of raw veal placed on her face overnight, and she often slept in vinegar-soaked garments so her waist would stay awe-inspiringly small.
Her vanity went so far that she prohibited any pictures or portraits of herself made after the age of 32. She wanted the public to remember her at her finest.
6. She was very athletic
Another consequence of Sisi’s obsession with her physical appearance was her fanatic engagement in various physical activities.
Apart from exercising vigorously in her custom-made gyms, she was also a passionate equestrian. In fact, she was so good at horseback riding, that she’s considered to be the best female equestrian of that day and age.
When she had to give horseback riding up due to health problems, she took up walking, and not just any old walking. She insisted on brisk, fast-paced walks for several hours a day. Her walks resembled forced marches more than anything else, as she never allowed even bad weather to prevent her from going out. She chose her company accordingly, based on one crucial criterion — whether they could keep up with her or would drop off in exhaustion after a couple of miles.
In her fifties, she began training fencing with equal fervor and discipline she had shown in all of her other endeavors and became quite good at it. She’d train for hours without end, as she needed an outlet for her abundant energy — a trait she’d possess to the very end of her life.
7. She had an active mind as well
Sisi did not solely pay attention to her body, but to her intellect as well.
Apart from learning languages, she enjoyed reading, especially history, philosophy, and poetry, and even wrote some poems herself. She was greatly influenced by Heinrich Heine, a German romanticist poet.
She also developed a profound interest in medical innovations, especially those concerning mental illness and the treatment thereof.
It’s reported that on one occasion when Franz Joseph asked her what she’d like to be given for her Saint’s Day, she promptly answered that nothing would please her as much as a “fully equipped lunatic asylum”.
8. She was very fond of Hungarians
In fact, the biggest chunk of credits for Hungary gaining equal footing with Austria goes to Sisi, since she was fascinated with the country and its inhabitants.
As such, she was the perfect mediator between the Emperor and Hungarians and helped resolve any problem that would arise between them.
The birth of her fourth and last child was also a result of her passion for the Hungarian cause, as she had agreed to become pregnant once again on one condition: that Hungary becomes equal to Austria, thus creating the dual monarchy of Austro-Hungary.
As a result, she was adored by the Hungarian people and considered to be a heroine of a sort, although her Austrian subjects were not as thrilled by her affection for Hungary.
9. She met a violent end
At the age of 60, Sisi was assassinated by an Italian anarchist, Luigi Lucheni.
She was in Geneva at the time, on one of her many travels, and Lucheni was determined he was going to kill a royal — whomever he could get a hold of.
As she was on her way to catch a steamship, Lucheni intercepted the Empress and seemingly bumped into her by accident. At first, Sisi thought she was punched in the chest; in fact, she had been stabbed by a homemade knife which was no more than a long, sharpened needle stuck in a wooden handle.
The empress bled to death less than an hour later.
The act of violence, meaningless in and of itself, was rendered even more so by the fact that Sisi was known for charity, preferring commoners to nobility and being more than able to understand and sympathize with a people’s need for freedom, equality, and basic rights.
Thus ended the turbulent life of a woman who defied all boundaries and stepped well out of the ordinary norms of 19th-century society and court etiquette.
