Assassination of an Empress Elisabeth von Wittelsbach (Sisi) Even before the death of her son, the Crown Prince Rudolf, in 1889, Empress Elisabeth of Austria had retreated into a life of sport, travel and poetry. But there was a morbidity in her thoughts too. In 1887, she wrote: I flee from the world and all …
Tag: Elisabeth of Austria
Sisi
Looking back, I see that I wrote the following two critiques in 2014. Empress Elisabeth of Austria is a historical figure I very much enjoy reading (and writing) about and, indeed, since penning these articles, I have read a few other works in which she features, regrettably not all as good as Brigitte Hamann's biography. …
The Literary Estate of Elisabeth of Austria
Sisi's Poetic Diaries In 1951, a mysterious package arrived from Bavaria at the office of the President of Switzerland. The sender, Duke Ludwig of Bavaria, had been in possession of its contents since 1909 as part of the estate of his father, the respected occulist and optometrist Karl Theodor von Wittelsbach, younger brother of Elisabeth, …
Continue reading The Literary Estate of Elisabeth of Austria
Sisi
Elisabeth: The Reluctant Empress Brigitte Hamann's 1981 authorised biography of the ill-fated Empress, Elisabeth of Austria, does not subscribe to the cult and mythology of Sisi. Instead, she tries to find the real woman, and to separate her from the rumour, speculation and romantic portrayals that have haunted her memory. If anything, she treats Elisabeth …
