Sisi Museum

Empress Elisabeth, the beautiful and acclaimed Empress, has long been a cult figure. The Sisi Museum, located in the Imperial Apartments of the Imperial Palace, compares myth with reality. Numerous personal belongings originally held by Elisabeth, as well as the most famous photographs of the lovely empress, are among the highlights.

The Sisi Museum in Vienna offers a realistic glimpse into the life of the legendary Austro-Hungarian ruler, away from the typical clichés, in Empress Elisabeth’s actual home setting, known as “Sisi.” The plot is around Elisabeth’s private life, her revolt against court rituals, her flight into beauty, sports brilliance, travel, and lyrical poetry. The museum depicts the renowned empress’s chaotic life, from her carefree days as a young girl in Bavaria through her surprise engagement with the Austrian emperor to her assassination in Geneva in 1898.

Numerous personal belongings of Elisabeth provide visitors to the Sisi Museum with an insight into the life of the lovely and much misunderstood monarch: Original attire, a tiny secretaire with envelopes made in Elisabeth’s own hand, Sisi’s watercolor painting box, a 63-piece first-aid kit, and an accessible reproduction of Sisi’s opulent imperial saloon automobile are among the more than 300 exhibits. The reconstructions of the young bride’s outfit from the evening before her wedding, as well as the Hungarian coronation gown and the 6-piece mourning jewelry in onyx and jet, which she wore following the death of her son Crown Prince Rudolph, are among the highlights. Elisabeth’s childhood harp, which she brought from Bavaria, is also on exhibit.

The Sisi Museum also has the slain empress’s death mask, as well as the black cloak with egret feathers that wrapped Elisabeth after her killing on Lake Geneva and was used to transport her to the Hotel Beau Rivage. The coat’s collar and front corners are adorned with egret feathers, and the silk lining bears the empress’s crowned name stitched on it.