Empress Elisabeth 'Sisi' of Austria

Enjoying the Netflix romantic drama "The Empress"? Check out the real story of Empress Elisabeth "Sisi" of Austria.
Elisabeth of Austria was a shy woman who’s beauty won the heart of Emperor Franz Joseph. She suffered under heavy expectations and a frankly evil mother in law. She was forced into a limelight she never wanted and into the path of an assassin.
This video is part of my 20 episode series profiling the most fascinating Queens of Europe.

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[edinagaspar]

As a Hungarian, thank you for this video...we still are a big fan of her, she helped our country a lot to get into peace with Austria

[thedukeofskull]

The mother in law...
Is she the first "Karen" ?

[annbsirius]

It's true that many people with eating disorders develop them because it's something they can control when other parts of their lives are very out of their control. Thanks for mentioning that and Sisi's intelligence and charity. Some might just ridicule her for her vanity.

[noraabb]

*A female royal breathes near any man she’s not married to*

“it was rumored that they were lovers”

[xristinapantazi]

I went to her castle in Corfu and it was so beautiful. She really appreciated nature and history

[danielaguiar]

For anyone who is interested, there is a German language musical about her called “Elisabeth” and it is amazing. Well worth checking out.

[ImKevin]

I really felt bad for Elisabeth. And I'm very curious at Franz Joseph. . . why exactly would you have strong devotion to your wife if you did not notice just how horribly your mother was treating your wife?. I believe he simply just fell for Elisabeths beauty then her character and who she was as a person and I think that was his true fault. It's absolutely no wonder why he never got his love and feelings returned from Elisabeth.

[princekrazie]

Small correction: Sissi's hairdresser was a woman named Fanny Feifalik. Of course, an Empress cannot have a male hairdresser back in those days. I know a lot about Sissi, so anybody that wants to know more can ask me.

[essenceoftranquilityandcal]

Her beautiful dress looks like the one Christine Daae wore in the “Phantom of the Opera”. I thought I read somewhere that her dress was the inspiration for that dress

[annikesta]

Sophie is a very interesting character in herself. She was the one who kept the Austrian monarchy running. Her husband was removed from the throne because he was half-mad and incapable and she abdicated so Franz-Joseph could take over. Franz-Joseph wasn't his father but he was far from a good emperor. He constantly lost territories and was over all very bad at politics once his mother was gone. The saying that Sophie was the only man at court stems from her being the only one keeping Austria politically afloat by deciding for Franz-Joseph and then letting him execute things. Which is why, after being surrounded by imbeciles, she realized that she had to raise a strong grandson to succeed Franz-Joseph.

The movies tend to demonize Sophie but if you read actual biographies of her and Sissi, most historians agree that both women did SOMETIMES dislike each other but were nowhere near as bad to each other as the media portrays it. It's a common misconception because all of those movies needed a villain.

Also: Sophie practically had to raise Sissi while running Austria. She was 16 years old and uneducated in court life. Everyone always thought Helene would be empress so she was the only (formally) educated daughter. Elisabeth was too free spirited and of course antagonized everyone telling her (in the middle of puberty) that she couldn't do certain things. It's also suspected that she inherited some of the Wittelbach madness (lots of inbreeding within the family) so it could well be that the children were better off with Sophie while teenage Sissi was struggling with her intense depression as well as becoming a mother when she was still a child herself. If you look at it in modern terms, Sissi was a teen mom (16), first lady of her country, under intense pressure to get pregnant with a son, all while being heavily depressed and possibly bi-polar. Sophie stepped up to raise her grandchildren when Elisabeth was unable to do so. If you read historic accounts of the children, they all had a very complicated relationship with Sissi, who was prone to emotional abuse (calling her daughters fat piglets, completely neglecting Rudolph after she managed to take back control), but adored and heavily grieved for Sophie.

In short: Sophie was a baddie and history still does her dirty

[juliedurby]

As an American student, I had absolutely no idea this woman existed. So when I went to study in Austria for four months, I just kept seeing the same man and woman in all of the gift shops: Mozart, and this beautiful young woman in a while dress with fancy Padme-esque hair. It wasn't until I visited the Schönbrunn palace that I finally learned who "Sissy" was.

[ParisAlexandros]

On her way back from Portugal I'd say that she had a nervous breakdown/ panic attack that inspired the intense migraine

[annabeckman]

It is fascinating to hear but also so tragic. I can’t even imagine my mother in law taking my children away. AND THEN my husband not telling off his mom!! That would be so unbelievably difficult, no wonder she was depressed!!! I would never have forgiven my MIL if she acted that way and then my child died at 2 years old. Oh, it just gets me so angry!! Poor

[sarasanserif]

Whose here after Netflix’s “The Empress” to get the real story of Sisi? Always thought the actress’s portrayal of her was very OOC considering the real Sisi was shy and introverted.

[jadap]

I love empress Sisi she’s like Austria’s princess Diana

[kmuturi]

The little fact that she didn't die in pain pacified me somehow

[jente]

Every Christmas, my family sits down in front of the fire and watches 'Sissi'. It's a tradition in the Netherlands (don't ask me why). This year, it was only broadcast on a German channel, so the subtitles were in German. We didn't mind. Thank you for teaching me some more about this incredible woman.

[ryliel]

As someone who suffers from, and is diagnosed with anorexia, I can confirm that fatphobia, never wanting to be seen (especially by large groups of people), and an obsession with doing anything (no matter the health risks) to stay beautiful/skinny are some of the most unknown but very common symptoms of an ED.

[thyanhnguyen]

"But he would not upset his mother." Oh now I know where all the Mammy's boys in this world came from

[huldrrrr]

Tbf Sisi did eventually get control back from Sophia and access to her children, but she didn't do much with it, being a distant mother and to caught up in her long travels and anxieties, seeing them rarely (he even seemed to have some disdain for them, calling her eldest daughter and gandchildren ugly and comparing them to a sow and her piglets). Sophia was difficult and stern, but she meant well. They were both interesting but complicated characters


And there's no proof that Andrassy was Marie Valeries's father