Elisabetta Amalia Eugenia of Bavariacalled Sissiborn in Bavaria In 1837 and murdered in Geneva on 10 September 1898, he was his wife of Franz Joseph and Imperatrice of Austria, Queen of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia. Made famous in the collective imagination by the films of the 1950s, the true story of Sissi is less patinated: the imperator He had to face many difficulties Both in his role of reigning and as his wife and mother. Right away The label of the rigid Austrian court For her she was unsustainable, lost her first daughter at just two years old, tried to get away from Vienna to travel in search of freedom, became the mother of three other children by missing another – Rodolfo, the heir to the throne – and, for all life, It was inclined to melancholy states who made her very difficult to play her role.
Despite this, Sissi has gone down in history Like a fascinating, beautiful woman, with kind ways and with a sincere and long -lived bond with Franz. Sissi, killed in 1898 with a stabbing from the anarchist Luigi Lucheni, He did not succeed during his kingdom to place himself as an unconventional figure in the eyes of Europe.
The youth of Princess Sissi and the wedding with Franz Joseph
Sissi was born a Munich Bavaria On Christmas Eve of 1837, fourth daughter of ten brothers: her parents are the Duke of Bavaria, Massimiliano Giuseppeand the princess Ludovicadaughter of King Massimiliano I of Bavaria and sister of theArchduchess Sofiamother of Franz Joseph (Francesco Giuseppe), future husband of Sissi.
The young Elizabeth – Nicknamed Sisiwith a single ‘S’, as is still known in Austria, unlike the Italian ‘Sissi’ from the films of the 1950s – grows in Possenhofen, on Lake Starnberg, immersed in nature, in a free and uninhibited context, far from life and the court label. When approaching the time to combine the wedding of theEmperor Franz JosephLudovica and Sofia They initially think of Elenasister of Sissi, considered the most suitable because it is very disciplined, very Catholic and discreet.
In the 1853 – When Sissi is 16 years old – A meeting is organized between Francesco Giuseppe and Elena: Sissi also participates in that meeting as his sister of the possible future bride, the mother has decided to bring her with her because the girl is going through a difficult period and thinks that the journey will help her resume. Franz seeing the young Elisabetta – as he will write in a letter to his cousin Alberto – yes “Loorly in love”so much to ask her and not her sister in marriage.
Ludovica and the Archduchess Sofia, displaced by the request, try to dissuade the emperor by defining the young Sissi as a very young girl from indomitable and unpredictable temperamentnot accustomed to life or the label of court, who cannot move in social environments. But Franz does not want to hear reasons, Sissi accepts the proposal and, April 24, 1854the two marry in the church of Sant’Agostino in Vienna.
The difficulty of court life, Sissi’s motherhood and the loss of the first daughter Sofia
Just like imagined, court life Soon it becomes a prison. Despite this, Sissi tries to share with her husband too aspects of political lifeinterested in state issues, quickly understanding that in particular state trips are precious opportunities both to be alone with him and to assert their ideas.
In the 1855 The first daughter of Sissi and Franz was born, Sofia. The Archduchess, with whom the little girl shares the name, is very intrusive in the child’s education process, which makes Sissi suffer. When in the 1856 Gisella was bornSissi imposes himself on the mother -in -law and claims that both girls live with her in the Hofburg building. So it is, but unfortunately a very unpleasant event is outlined on the horizon: the following year the young imperator wants to bring both girls with her and Franz on a trip to Hungary – a country with which Austria is wrapping a long political dialogue – the Archduchess is opposed, but Sissi insists. During the trip Little Sofia gets sick And in May of the same year the girl dies. Sissi is destroyed by guilt and falls into a depressive statewhich will lead her to isolate and delegate Gisella’s education to the mother -in -law.
In August of the 1858a year later, Rodolfo was born: Unfortunately Sissi is a destroyed mother, and the doctors who witness her advise her to try to travel to areas with healthy climbers to recover, but the return to Vienna will be a frozen shower again. His condition aggravate, and he sissi part again, this time for Corfuwhere a great love for Greek culture and the Mediterranean area was born.
The withdrawal from court life and the proximity to the Hungarian question
Is the 1862and Sissi returns to Vienna. He is 25 years old and, thanks also to the period away from court, His health recovered and his beauty begins to become legendary. In fact, the Empress of Austria has gone down in history for her long hair – which weighed up to 5 kg – that we are used to seeing in the portraits that consecrate the girl, the slender figure, the elegance and the sad and at the same time fierce gaze.
In these years Sissi, supported by her husband, He decides to withdraw from the oppressive life of the court And from the label that imposes an unsustainable discipline for her: he plays his role as a ruling next to Franz, continue to take an interest in political issuesappears in official dress following the rules of Vienna only when strictly necessary. In particular, Sissi is very close to the Hungarian rebelsaristocrats who want to regain the privileges that Vienna denied them after the revolt of 1848.
In these years Sissi chooses as her lady of company and person closest to her a Hungarian girl and holds a strong friendship with the Colonel Andrássy: this relationship, from Sissi cultivated with great firmness – the two, are said, were for a long time lovers – will allow the Hungary of remain annexed to Austriadespite his constitutional privileges, and Sissi and Franz Joseph of being crowned emperors of Austria and Hungary, thus giving life to‘Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867.
The years of travel and the death of his son Rodolfo
Sissi He moved to the newborn Budapest And right here the fourth daughter of Sissi and Franz was born in 1868, the little girl Maria Valeria. From the 1874Sissi and his adrata last -born, begin to travel and the empress, to carve out some freedom, It does it under a false name. In the following years, the relationship between Sissi and Franz changes a lot: Next to her husband another woman appearsthe actress Katharina Schrattwhich Sissi accepts with real benevolence.
These are Difficult years for his son Rodolfoheir to the throne, who has problems in his marriage with Stefania del Belgiumand at the same time happy for Maria Valeria, who in 1888 He gets engaged – firmly supported by his mother – with the archiduca Francesco Salvatore of Habsburg-Lorena.
The following year, in 1889Rodolfo dies – apparently suicidal together with his lover – in Mayerling hunting events. The death of the two young people, also indicated as state crime, and the event will be not clear today, and the event will be a source of immense pain for Sissi.
The attack on Sissi and death
Sissi, just over fifty years old, does not recover from the death of the male child, and remains dressed in mourning until the end of his days. He spends his time traveling, he refuses to set foot in Vienna – the Empress considers the court responsible for the death of his son – uses pseudonyms in order not to be noticed.
After another ten years, on 10 September 1898, Sissi is located in Geneva. As he is about to embark on the boat directed to Montreux, he is approached by the anarchist Luigi Lucheni who clearly identifies it, although the imperator tries to go unnoticed, e He hits her to death, stabbing her to the heart. Sissi He wanted to be buried in Corfuor close to the waters of his beloved Mediterranean Sea, but the rules want it in the Carto dei Cappuccini in Vienna, where he still rests today.
