Empress Elisabeth of Austria

Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie, known as Sisi, became Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary when she married her first cousin, Emperor Franz Joseph I, on 24 April 1854. She was born on 24 December 1837 in Munich, the third child and second daughter of Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria and Princess Ludovika. Her father was an eccentric man who preferred circuses and escaping his duties, and the family split their time between the Herzog-Max-Palais in winter and Possenhofen Castle in summer, far from court protocols. Sisi and her siblings grew up with little structure, often skipping lessons to ride in the countryside.

In 1853, Archduchess Sophie, Franz Joseph’s domineering mother, arranged for her son to meet her sister’s eldest daughter, Duchess Helene, expecting him to propose. The meeting took place at Bad Ischl. Ludovika brought along 15-year-old Sisi, who had been depressed after the death of a young count she loved, hoping the trip would lift her spirits.

The journey was delayed when Ludovika suffered a headache, and the coach carrying their formal dresses got lost. When they arrived, they were dressed in black after visiting a mourning relative. While black did not suit Helene’s dark coloring, it made Sisi’s fairer looks stand out. Franz Joseph felt no connection with Helene but was instantly taken with Sisi.

He defied his mother, saying he would not marry at all if he could not have Elisabeth. Their betrothal was announced five days later, and they married eight months afterward, on 24 April 1854, at the Augustinerkirche in Vienna. The marriage was consummated three days later, and Elisabeth received a dower worth about US$240,000 in 2015.

Empress of Austria

Elisabeth, shy and introverted, struggled with the rigid protocols and strict etiquette of the Habsburg court. Within weeks, she developed health problems, including coughing fits and anxiety around narrow or steep stairs. She became pregnant soon after the wedding and gave birth to her first child, daughter Sophie, just ten months later. Her mother-in-law, Archduchess Sophie, called her "a silly young mother" and took over raising the children.

The couple had four children in total: Sophie, Gisela, Rudolf, and Marie Valerie. The birth of a son, Rudolf, improved Elisabeth’s standing at court, but the strain damaged her health. She began visiting Hungary for its more relaxed atmosphere, developed a deep bond with the country, and helped bring about the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary in 1867.

The death of Crown Prince Rudolf and his mistress, Baroness Mary Vetsera, in a murder–suicide at Mayerling in 1889 devastated Elisabeth. She never fully recovered, withdrew from court duties, and traveled widely without her family. In 1890, she had the Achilleion palace built on the Greek island of Corfu, named after the Greek hero Achilles and decorated with mythological motifs, using it as a refuge. She was obsessively concerned with maintaining her youthful figure, following a restrictive diet and wearing extremely tight-laced corsets to keep her waist small.

Assassination

While traveling in Geneva in 1898, Elisabeth was fatally stabbed in the heart by an Italian anarchist named Luigi Lucheni. Her 44-year tenure as empress was the longest of any Austrian empress.