Elisabeth of Bavaria (24 December 1837 –عشرة September 1898) was Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, and many others (see Grand title of the Empress of Austria) by marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph I.

Born into the royal Bavarian house of Wittelsbach, Elisabeth (also called "Sisi") enjoyed an informal upbringing before marrying Emperor Franz Joseph I at the age of sixteen. The marriage thrust her into the much more formal Habsburg court life, for which she was unprepared and which she found uncongenial. Early in the marriage she was at odds with her mother-in-law, Archduchess Sophie, who took over the rearing of Elisabeth's daughters, one of whom, Sophie, died in infancy. The birth of a male heir, Rudolf, improved her standing at court considerably, but her health suffered under the strain, and she would often visit Hungary for its more relaxed environment. She came to develop a deep kinship with Hungary, and helped to bring about the dual monarchy of Austria–Hungary in 1867.

The death of her only son Rudolf, and his mistress Mary Vetsera, in a murder–suicide at his hunting lodge at Mayerling in 1889 was a blow from which Elisabeth never recovered. She withdrew from court duties and travelled widely, unaccompanied by her family. She was obsessively concerned with maintaining her youthful figure and beauty, which were already legendary during her life. While travelling in Geneva in 1898, she was stabbed to death by an Italian anarchist named Luigi Lucheni. Elisabeth was the longest serving Empress of Austria, at 44 years.

Biography

Duchess in Bavaria

Born Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie on 24 December 1837 in Munich, Bavaria, she was the fourth child of Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria, the half-sister of King Ludwig I of Bavaria.

Empress of Austria

Physical regimen

At 172 cm (5 feet 8 inches), Elisabeth was unusually tall. Even after four pregnancies she maintained her weight at approximately 50 kg (110 pounds, 7 st 12 lbs) for the rest of her life. She achieved this through fasting and exercise.

Beauty

Marriage

Birth of a son

On 21 August 1858, Elisabeth finally gave birth to an heir, Rudolf (1858–1889). The 101-gun salute announcing the welcome news to Vienna also signaled an increase in her influence at court. This, combined with her sympathy toward Hungary, made Elisabeth an ideal mediator between the Magyars and the emperor. Her interest in politics had developed as she matured; she was liberal-minded, and placed herself decisively on the Hungarian side in the increasing conflict of nationalities within the empire.

Hungarian coronation

Travels

Mayerling incident

Assassination

In 1898, despite warnings of possible assassination attempts, the sixty-year-old Elisabeth traveled incognito to Geneva, Switzerland, although someone from the Hôtel Beau-Rivage revealed that the Empress of Austria was their guest.

At 1:35 p.m. on Saturdayعشرة September 1898, Elisabeth and Countess Irma Sztáray de Sztára et Nagymihály, her lady-in-waiting, left the hotel on the shore of Lake Geneva on foot to catch the steamship for Montreux. Since the empress despised processions, she insisted that they walk without the other members of her entourage.

They were walking along the promenade when the 25-year-old Italian anarchist Luigi Lucheni approached them, attempting to peer underneath the empress's parasol. According to Sztáray, as the ship's bell announced the departure, Lucheni seemed to stumble and made a movement with his hand as if he wanted to maintain his balance. In reality, in an act of "propaganda of the deed", he had stabbed Elisabeth with a sharpened needle file that was أربعة بوصة (100 mم) long (used to file the eyes of industrial needles) that he had inserted into a wooden handle.

Aftermath

Legacy

A large number of chapels were named in her honour, connecting her to Saint Elisabeth. Various parks were named after her, such as the Empress Elisabeth Park in Meran, South Tyrol.

Genealogy

Ancestors

Issue

Notes

== المراجع ==* Nicole Avril: L'impératrice, Paris, 1993

• Jennifer Bowers Bahney: "Stealing Sisi's Star: How a master thief nearly got away with Austria's most famous jewel," (McFarland & Co., 2015) (ISBN 078649722X)
• Philippe Collas: Louis II de Bavière et Elisabeth d'Autriche, âmes sœurs, Éditions du Rocher, Paris/Monaco 2001 (ISBN 978 2 268 03884 1)
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Elizabeth of Austria" . دائرة المعارف البريطانية (eleventh ed.). Cambridge University Press.
• Konstantin Christomanos: Diaries (Tagebuchblätter, several editions in Modern Greek, German, French)
• Barry Denenburg: The Royal Diaries: Elisabeth, The Princess Bride
• Stefan Haderer: Where an Empress used to lodge: Imperial Residences of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Royalty Digest Quarterly, Vol. 01/2009, Rosvall Royal Books, Falköping 2009
• Brigitte Hamann: The Reluctant Empress: A Biography of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Knopf: 1986) (ISBN 0-394-53717-3) (410pp.).
• Brigitte Hamann: Sissi, Elisabeth, Empress of Austria (Taschen America: 1997) (ISBN 3-8228-7865-0) (short, illustrated).
• Ann Nibbs: The Elusive Empress (Youwriteon.com: 2008) (ISBN 978-1849231305) (372pp).
• Matt Pavelich: Our Savage (Shoemaker & Hoard: 2004) (ISBN 1-59376-023-X) (270pp.).
• Matteo Tuveri: Elizabeth of Austria: A Beauvoirian perspective, Simone de Beauvoir Studies, Volume 24, 2007 – 2008, Published by the Simone de Beauvoir Society (CA – U.S.A.)
• Matteo Tuveri: Sissi: Myth and history, Journal Eco delle Dolomiti, Pinzolo (TN), Italy.
• Matteo Tuveri: Sissi becomes Lissy, L'Unione Sarda,ستة gennaio 2009, p. 40, Cagliari
• Matteo Tuveri: Specchi ad angoli obliqui. Diario poetico di Elisabetta d’Austria, Aracne, Rome, 2006 (ISBN 88-548-0741-9)
• Matteo Tuveri: Tabularium. Considerazioni su Elisabetta d'Austria, Aracne, Rome, 2007 (ISBN 978-88-548-1148-5)

وصلات خارجية

مشاع الفهم فيه ميديا متعلقة بموضوع Empress Elisabeth of Austria.

• Empress Elisabeth – Sisi
• Elisabeth gallery^[]
• Web site of the Italian biographer Matteo Tuveri: www.matteotuveri.it
• Sisi Museum of Vienna
• YouTube:Inner visit to Sisi Museum in Hofburg Palace, Vienna (min.- 3:30)
• Empress Elisabeth at Tripod
• نطقب:IMDB character
• Sissi: myth and history – by Matteo Tuveri
• Elisabeth as a Young Mother and Wife
• The Empress was Assassinated
• What Happened to the Young Elisabeth at the Wedding night?
• The Land of Queen Elisabeth – The Royal Palace of Gödöllő

نطقب:Duchesses in Bavaria نطقب:Empresses of Austria نطقب:Hungarian consorts