Vienna’s Hofburg Palace is huge. Much of consists of Austrian government offices, but there’s one wing of the palace that Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth – Empress Sisi – called their own. We met Empress Sisi last time, but we just scratched the surface of her difficult life. Let’s get to know her better.
Elisabeth was dragged from her childhood home in a Bavarian castle to be the wife of Emperor Franz-Joseph. Her mother-in-law, Sophia, was beyond mean. Court life in Hofburg palace was rigid and stifling.
Royal Court Life – No Thank You
Sisi was miserable. It started to manifest itself in poor health and odd behaviors. There were a few eccentrics, to put it nicely, in Sisi’s family. So when Sisi started acted strangely on occasion, the Homburg Palace gossip mill was in high gear.
By all accounts, Empress Sisi was a knockout, and a lot of her eccentricities were geared toward keeping it that way. She was no stranger to starvation diets. She’d eat unusual foods to avoid gaining weight.
She had special corsets made that made her waist so thin she was referred to as being “wasp-like.” Now that is a very thin waist line.
Fifty Push-ups? No Problem!
Sisi was one of the first exercise nuts. Her bedroom in Homburg Palace was equipped with floor mats for exercising, olympic rings, and a balance beam. When traveling, she made sure to have a private gym installed wherever she was staying.
Sisi was reported to be an excellent horsewoman. When not riding, she’d go on marathon hikes – rain or shine. The entourage of people tasked with looking after her had a hard time keeping up.
Sisi was tall, and she had hair that went all the way to the floor. Her servants spent two hours a day fixing it up, and that wasn’t even on a wash day. On wash days, no other activities were planned for the whole day.
While her helpers were fixing her hair, her language tutors worked with her to teach her Hungarian and Greek. There were all kinds of other things she tried to keep up her young appearance. I guess it worked, because she became one of the first fashionistas. She was the Jackie Kennedy/Onassis of her day.
So life eventually improved for Sisi. Mother-in-Law Sophie eventually faded out of the picture. Sisi and Franz Joseph had some marital difficulties, but they managed to work things out. Sisi still traveled a lot, and Franz Joseph would write her a letter every day. Then something really bad happened.
And Then…
One day in September, 1898, while on one of her trips to Lake Geneva, Sisi and her entourage were to board a steamer to visit Montreux, on the other end of the lake. Not liking to create a spectacle, she sent everyone ahead except for her lady in waiting.
Meanwhile, a madman had arrived in town. He had made the trip with the intention of assassinating the Duke of Orleans, who was supposed to be in Geneva at the time. But unknown to the assassin, the Duke of Orleans had left a few days earlier.
The assassin wasn’t too particular. He’d settle for any killing anyone with royal blood who happened to be in the vicinity. Unfortunately, that someone happened to be Sisi.
As she and her lady in waiting made their way to the boat, the madman came from out of nowhere and stabbed her with a home-made knife. Efforts to save her were for naught. Sisi died a few hours later.
There was a gigantic funeral for Sisi, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. People all over Europe mourned her death.
Inside Homburg Palace, the Imperial Apartments where Empress Sisi lived are open to the public. Her exercise equipment is still there, including olympic rings installed in a doorway. She was something!
To be continued…
