SISSI DEEL 3

Queen Maria Sofia of Naples in riding habits. Early 1860s.

Sissi’s sister

Ludowika and grandson Franz Josef, Karl-Theodor’s son. 

Sissi’s mother

Archiduchess Gisela of Habsburg, Empress Sissi’s daughter

Crown Princess Stephanie of Austria and daughter Archduchess Elisabeth

The statue of  Empress Elisabeth in Gödöllö

Kronprinz Rudolf of Austria and sister, Archduchess Gisela. 1860s,

Sissi’s children

Sissi’s husband Emperor Franz Josef

Stephanie of Belgium, Crown Princess of Austria-Hungary

In May 1881, she married Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria, shortly before her 17th birthday.Their marriage was an unhappy one.

Sissi’s husband Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria (1830-1916) with their children, Crown Prince Rudolph  and Princess Gisela.

The only photo of Sissi with her family -in -lawFrom left: Emperor Franz-Josef,his brother Maximilian,Empress Elisabeth(Sissi) with her children Rudolf and Gisela,Archduchess Sophie her mother-in-law , behind her Princess Charlotte (wife of Maximilian),Archduke Louis-Viktor and with the hat Franz-Karl, Sissi’s father-in-law. 

Princess Auguste Marie of Bavaria with fiance, Archduke Josef August of Austria. Early 1890s.

  Auguste was one of Sissi’s grand daughters.

heir Imperial and Royal Highnesses Archduke Franz Salvator and Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria, Prince and Princess of Tuscany. Married July 31, 1890

Marie Valerie was Sissi’s daughter.

They had met in 1886 at a ball, but Valerie waited several years to be sure that her feelings toward Franz Salvator were strong enough to make a successful marriage. Marie Valerie and Franz Salvator had 10 children.

Francis II of the Two Sicilies and Maria Sophie of Bavaria Married 3 February 1859 in Bari

Sissi’s sister

A replica of Empress Sisi’s death mask. 

The Sisi Museum, Vienna, Austria.

Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria. 1890s.

The birth of Elisabeth’s youngest daughter Marie Valerie, who was born in 1868, ten years after Rudolf, was connected with the empress’s enthusiasm for all things Hungarian. Known as the ‘Hungarian child’, Marie Valerie was brought up with Hungarian as her first language, dearly loved and idolized by Elisabeth. The empress was now able to live out her role as mother unopposed.

Sissi (right)with her sister Helene.

Duchess Ludovika in Bavaria mother of Empress Elisabeth of Austria

Katharina Schratt

Emperor Franz Joseph’s Mistress

Three Women with Long Hair By Belle Johnson ,c 1900.

Empress Sissi’s hair was like that!

Empress Elisabeth of Austria(Sissi) 

Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria  was the fourth and last child of Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria and Elisabeth of Bavaria (“Sisi”).

Valerie died in Schloss Wallsee on 6 September 1924  

Of all her children, Marie Valerie was the only one Elisabeth felt close to.

H.R.H. Princess Helene von Thurn und Taxis, née Duchess in Bavaria  (1834-1890)

Empress  Sissi’s sister

Erzsi

Empress Sissi’s grand daughter

Daughter of Crown prince Rudolf of Austria and Stephanie of Belgium

Marie Valerie´s eldest sister, Archduchess Gisella, also in costume.

Look at that waist!!

Empress Sissi’s eldest daughter.

Little Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria, aka Erzsi. Circa 1890.

Sissi’s granddaughter

H.I.R.H. Archduke Rudolph, Crown Prince of Austria and Hungary, with Rustimo

Rustimo had been a gift from Khedive Ismail of Egypt. Crownprince Rudolf was his godfather.

Archduchess Marie Valerie (1868-1924)

She was born several years after the other children and Elizabeth was now more mature. Maria Valerie was Elizabeth’s favorite child.

Empress Elisabeth of Austria (aged 31)  gave birth to a fourth child, Marie-Valerie, born in 1868.

Baroness Marie Vetsera, mistress of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria.

Gisela Sissi’s daughter

Sissi and Gisela never got to form a mother/daughter bond

Elisabeth of Austria in front of her Family House the castle of Possenhofen.

(1854).

Sissi’s nieces

The daughters of Karl Theodor Duke in Bavaria (brother of Empress Sissi of Austria)- Elisabeth,Marie-Gabrielle and Sophie.

Rudolf and Gisela 

Sissi’s children

Archduchess Gisela of Austria

Sissi’s daughter

Karl-Theodor - Brother of Empress Elisabeth of Austria and  father of Queen Elisabeth of Belgium.

THE ARCHDUCHESS

H.I.R.H. Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria, later Princess of Windisch-Gratz  (1883-1963)

Elisabeth or “Ella” ( Sissi’s grand daughter ) was the daughter of Crown prince Rudolf and Stephanie of Belgium.

Elisabeth’s tomb brought to the Church of the Capuchins for the final resting place, 17 September 1898

Luigi Lucheni, stabbed and killed Empress Elisabeth of Austria in 1898

According to wikipedia, “Lucheni attacked the Empress randomly on the street of Geneva in a senseless act of violence. Elisabeth was stabbed in the heart once with a sharp needle file. Due to her extremely tight corset, she had no idea she has been wounded and collapsed suddenly two hours later due to slow internal hemoraging.”

There are some bad assassins out there, but this one seems like it comes straight out of the urban legends my mom tells me about riding public transportation.

The young Emperor of Austria Franz-Josef

Sisi was 15 years old at time of their engagement, which was announced five days after they met.

Kaiserin Elisabeth of Austria and brother, Karl Theodor in Bayern. 1860s.

Empress Sissi’s daughter Archiduchess Gisela

She married  Prince Leopold of Bavaria  and had four children:

- Elisabeth (1874-1957)
- Auguste (1875-1964)
- Georg (1880-1943)
- Konrad (1883-1969)

Sissi and Gisela never got to form a mother/daughter bond, because of the children being raised by the Archduchess Sophie (Sissi’s mother in law).

Katharina Schratt, Kaiser Franz Josef´s mistress. 1880s

Austrian actress who became “the uncrowned Empress of Austria” as confidante of Emperor Franz Joseph.

She was 33 years old and he was 55 when their ralation began.

Franz Joseph’s wife Empress Elisabeth  promoted their relationship !

Archiduchess Gisela,daughter of Empress Sissi of Austria

Kaiser Franz Josef of Austria in civilian clothes. Late 1860s.

Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria (1868-1924), daughter of Emperor Franz Joseph (1830-1916) and Empress Sissi (1837-1898), in ca.1874.

 "Sisi is completely absorbed by her love and care for this irresistible little angel.“

        Sophie,the mother- in -low of Empress Elisabeth

Empress Elisabeth of Austria was a precursor in interior design as she introduced the bathroom inside of her bedroom as we know it today.

 -Sissi’s bathroom in Hofburg(Vienna)

Elisabeth, who has written poetry since her adolescence, turns more and more towards lyrical 

poetry. She loves Homer and writes, inspired by her main idol, Heinrich Heine, numerous 

poems, affected by her frustration, her melancholy and her longings, but also by contempt for 

mankind and increasing isolation.

“I wander lonely in this world,

Delight and life long time averted,

No confidant to share my inner self,

A matching soul never revealed.”

Sisi

Wedding train of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, 1854

Funeral Services of  Elizabeth Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary

Archduchesses Gisela and Marie Valerie

Empress Sissi’s daughters