Sisi and her sisters all took interesting paths. The five duchesses looked alike, but were nevertheless extremely different. Do you fancy some glitz, glamour, mysteries and a little drama? The eventful life stories of Helene, Elisabeth, Marie Sophie, Mathilde and Sophie Charlotte "in Bavaria" sure provide it and almost seem like a telenovela. So come with us to the Wittelsbach region, where it all began...
The rise of the family to become the future European royal dynasty began in the borderland between Old Bavaria and Swabia, in the castle of Oberwittelsbach west of Augsburg. The Wittelsbachs ruled Bavaria for 738 years. Some of the colourful personalities of the rulers are very well known. Other chapters, such as the first centuries, are all the more exciting to discover. Bavarian rulers, especially the young Wittelsbach dynasty of dukes, consolidated their economic, military and political power by founding and fostering towns and markets. Life in the new towns offered many advantages for its inhabitants, from personal safety to the protection of property and freedom of trade.
Firstly, we will take you to Sisi Castle in Unterwittelsbach. The moated castle, which Duke Max in Bavaria claimed as his property where he liked to go hunting, was not open to the public for many years. Here the family spent carefree summer days together in the park, riding and playing games. It is also said that little Sisi accompanied her father to the nearby village pub. He played the zither, Sisi used to dance and then went round with her hat to collect money.
The arranged and not particularly happy marriage of her parents, Ludovika Wilhelmine, daughter of the Bavarian King Maximilian I Joseph, and Duke Maximilian, produced ten children, including five daughters. In contrast to her portrayal in the popular Austrian film series from the 1950s, which was Romy Schneider's acting breakthrough as Sisi, her mother Ludovika was more of a nature lover and freedom seeker. She loved Possenhofen Castle and spent summers with her children at Lake Starnberg. Her father Duke Max, on the other hand, had less time for the family and a rather distant relationship with the children.
My aunts were very beautiful women, but with very different temperaments, although they looked very similar.
No. 1 Nene - Head of the Thurn and Taxis Family
The eldest daughter Helene, called Nene, was born in Munich in 1834. Pious and reserved, she was predestined for the role of wife to Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria. In 1853, she travelled with her mother and her younger sister Elisabeth to a family celebration in Ischl, where the engagement to the Emperor, who was her cousin, was to be announced. Surprisingly, however, the young emperor fell in love with Sisi - Helene's younger sister - at first sight, which was a heavy blow for Nene. It was not until five years later that she finally married, this time the hereditary prince Maximilian Anton von Thurn und Taxis. She lived in Regensburg in a happy marriage and had four children.
After the death of her husband in 1867, she became the head of the Thurn und Taxis family for several years. When her second son Albert came of age and took over as the head of the family, Helene largely withdrew from public life. She died at the age of 56 and is buried in St Emmeran's Chapel.
No. 2 Sisi, Empress of the Hearts
Elisabeth, the second daughter, is honoured as one of the most beautiful women in Europe. Ever since Ernst Marischka's film series with Romy Schneider in the leading role, everyone in the german-speaking region is familiar with the young, unhappy child empress who felt imprisoned in the golden cage of the Vienna Hofburg. However, the fairytale image from the films does not necessarily correspond to reality...
Sisi was obsessed with her beauty, her physique and her legendary long hair. The empress spared no time or effort and worked hard on herself. She was ambitious and did excessive sport. She had horizontal bars and wall bars set up in the Hofburg, walked for up to eight hours in the countryside and was one of the best horsewomen of her time. She followed a strict diet plan to achieve her slim 51-centimetre waist, had an anchor tattooed on her shoulder and regularly took cocaine to combat her "melancholy", which was considered a harmless drug at the time.
The last official photographs show her at 30 years old, and the last portrait of her was painted for her silver wedding anniversary when she was 40. From then on, she covered her face behind a veil or fan when in public. Paparazzi followed her around trying to take snapshots of her - the last blurry picture shows her in Geneva, just a few days before her death.
She wasn't actually a sweet girl from the country, but a true Munich native. Sisi was born on Christmas Eve 1837, grew up in the Max Palais in Munich and in the family castle on Lake Starnberg in Possenhofen. At the age of 15, an encounter with her cousin "Franzl" changed her life. The emperor fell madly in love with her.
On 24 April 1854, Elisabeth married Franz Joseph and bore him four children: little Sophie, who died at the age of two, Gisela, Crown Prince Rudolf and Marie Valerie. Rudolf, the couple's only son, was sensitive and non-conformist like his mother and took his own life with his lover in Mayerling at the age of 31. The Empress was inconsolable, withdrew completely from the public eye and from then on wore only black.
She was probably never happy at court in Vienna. She took every opportunity to travel and was often away for months at a time: in Italy, Madeira, Great Britain, France, Asia Minor and North Africa. Sisi loved Corfu, where she had a castle built in the Pompeian style, and Hungary, where she spent a lot of time, especially at Gödöllő Castle. She learnt Hungarian and surrounded herself with Hungarian ladies-in-waiting. She also campaigned politically for Austria's equalisation with Hungary which resulted in the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary with two capitals and two parliaments.
The empress regularly visited her family in Bavaria. On the Rose Island in Lake Starnberg, she met with her cousin King Ludwig II. with whom she shared an intimate friendship, some even say a spiritual kinship. The king himself was a free spirit, a visionary and a hopeless romantic, just like her.
Sisi's restless life ended tragically: on 10 September 1898, during a stay at Lake Geneva, Sisi was assassinated at the age of 61. An Italian anarchist ambushed her on the promenade and stabbed her in the heart with a sharp file. She bled to death from the hole, which was only eight millimetres in size. The empress is buried in the Capuchin Crypt in Vienna together with the most important representatives of the House of Habsburg.
No. 3 Marie Sophie - "Heroine of Gaeta"
Together with her sister Elisabeth and Joséphine, the Empress of France, she was one of the three most idolised ladies of nobility in Europe: Marie Sophie, the third daughter of Ludovika and Duke Maximilian in Bavaria, was born in 1841. She had an intimate relationship with Sisi and looked very much like her when she was young.
Through her marriage to Hereditary Prince Franz II of Naples-Sicily, she became Duchess of Calabria and Crown Princess of Naples at the age of seventeen. During the "Sicilian Uprisings" of 1860, the young queen tried her best to help the fighting soldiers in the fortress of Gaeta. Her bravery earned her much sympathy and respect in Europe. Even after the capitulation, she continuously tried to regain the kingdom.
She travelled Europe together with her sister Mathilde and caused quite a stir. It was rumoured that she bathed naked in the sea in Ostia and had many love affairs. It is said that she had retired to the Ursuline convent in Augsburg during a stay in Bavaria and secretly gave birth to a child out of wedlock, which was given to foster parents.
After her return to Rome, Marie lived with her husband again. They had a daughter that died after a few weeks. When Rome became the capital of a united Italy, Franz and Marie moved to Paris. Later, as a widow, Marie devoted herself to horse breeding in Neuilly. During the First World War, she lived in Munich in the Palais an der Ludwigstraße. She died in 1925 and was first buried in the family crypt at Tegernsee, then in Rome next to her husband and daughter. It was not until 1984 that she found her final resting place in Naples in the Basilica of Santa Chiara of the Bourbons.
No. 4 Mathilde - "The Sparrow"
The fourth of the sisters, Mathilde, was born in Possenhofen Palace in 1843. She was closest to her older sister Marie. She was a pretty and very delicate woman with a high-pitched voice, which earned her the nickname "The Sparrow". At the age of 18, she married Count Ludwig von Trani, the younger brother of the King of Sicily, in Munich. The couple first lived in Rome and later in Switzerland. Their only daughter Maria Theresa was born there in 1867. After 25 years of marriage, which were not particularly happy, Mathilde became a widow.
She spent most of her time travelling, often together with her sisters Marie and Elisabeth. The countess enjoyed visiting Paris, Baden-Baden and her family in Feldafing. During the First World War, she lived partly in Switzerland and later with her sister Marie in Munich. In 1925, she died at the age of 82 in Munich as the last of the sisters. Her grave in Munich's Waldfriedhof cemetery was dissolved in 1977.
No. 5 Sophie Charlotte - Bride of the Fairytale King
Sophie Charlotte, who was born in Munich in 1847 as the youngest of the five sisters. She was close friends with her cousin, who was two years older and later became King Ludwig II of Bavaria. The two were united by their love of Richard Wagner's music and nature. The pretty Sophie Charlotte, who could play the piano and sing well, was an inspiration for the young Ludwig. On 22 January 1867, their engagement was announced during a performance at the court theatre.
Afterwards, however, the king began to have serious doubts about his decision, so that the wedding was postponed further and further. After about eight months, Ludwig decided to finally break off the engagement, which the bride's family did not accept so easily. At the time, Sophie Charlotte was in love with a handsome authorised signatory from Munich, Edgar Hanfstaengl, who was the son of the famous photographer Franz Hanfstaengl. However, as her chosen one was not befitting her rank, the couple were eventually forced to separate for good.
Sophie Charlotte married Duke Ferdinand von Alencon a year later. After the wedding, the couple lived in England, where their daughter Louise Victoire was born. Three years later she was followed by their son Philippe Emanuel. Shortly afterwards, the family moved into a new home in France.
Sophie Charlotte suffered from severe depression. For this reason, she liked to spend the summer months with her family in Bavaria, where she felt most at home. The death of her former fiancé, King Ludwig II of Bavaria, hit her hard. Her condition increasingly deteriorated, making medical treatment in Munich necessary. There, Sophie Charlotte fell in love with a doctor and even planned a divorce. She was then admitted by her family to a private clinic in Maria Grün, where they specialised in the treatment of "sexual aberrations". After her release, the Duchess became very religious and even joined the Third Order of the Dominicans.
Sophie Charlotte's life ended tragically on 4 May 1897. When the Dominican Sisters' charity bazaar in Paris caught fire, she refused to leave the building before the others. She was killed when the burning roof collapsed. Her coffin was transferred to the Chapelle Royale Saint-Louis, which was the burial chapel of the Bourbons at Dreux Castle about 80 kilometres west of Paris.
Fancy a Sisi excursion? The Sisi Castle Unterwittelsbach is a stop on the Sisi Road (external link, opens in a new window), a European cultural route that follows the stages of Empress Elisabeth's life - from Bavaria to Hungary and Italy.
The Empress Elisabeth Museum in the royal railway station in Possenhofen is worth a visit! On the route Elisabethweg (external link, opens in a new window) you can walk from the Sisi Museum via Possenhofen Palace to the Rose Island and back.
Ania Hillenbrandt & Nathalie Schwaiger