The Sisi Museum in Vienna takes an authentic look at the life of the famous Austro-Hungarian monarch away from the usual clichés, in the original living environment of Empress Elisabeth, known as "Sisi". The show focuses on Elisabeth's private life, her rebellion against the court ceremonial, her flight into beauty, sporting excellence, travel and rapturous poetry. From the carefree time as a young girl in Bavaria to the surprising engagement with the Austrian emperor to her 1898 assassination in Geneva, the museum shows the restless life of the legendary empress.

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Explore the museum

Numerous personal objects of Elisabeth give visitors to the Sisi Museum an insight into the life of the beautiful and often misunderstood monarch: Among the more than 300 exhibits are original items of clothing, a miniature secretaire with envelopes painted in Elisabeth's own hand, Sisi's watercolor painting box, a 63-piece first-aid kit, and an accessible reconstruction of Sisi's luxurious imperial saloon car. The highlights include the reconstructions of the dress the young bride wore on the evening before her wedding as well as the Hungarian coronation attire and the 6-piece mourning jewelry in onyx and jet, which she wore following the death of her son Crown Prince Rudolph. Elisabeth's harp from her childhood, which she brought with her from Bavaria, is also on display.

The death mask of the murdered empress can also be seen in the Sisi Museum, as can the black coat with egret feathers, which covered Elisabeth after her assassination on Lake Geneva and in which she was taken to the Hotel Beau Rivage. The collar and front edges of the coat are trimmed with egret feathers, the silk lining has the crowned name of the empress embroidered on it.

In the footsteps of the monarchy

Especially interested visitors have the possibility to use the ticket for the Sisi Museum to also view the Imperial Apartments in the Imperial Palace as well as the Imperial Silver Collection, and to learn even more about the history of the Habsburgs. Nearby the Sisi Museum, at Café Hofburg, you can also enjoy culinary pampering.

• Website on the imperial family: The World of the Habsburgs
• Imperial Palace Overview
• Sissi in the Movies – Furniture of an Empress