Top 10 Facts about Sisi Museum

Photograph of Empress Elizabeth of Austria photo by Emil Rabending – Wikimedia commons

Top 10 Facts about Sisi Museum

The gorgeous and well-known Empress Elisabeth has historically had a mythological appeal. She is honoured in a variety of places, including the Sisi Museum. Her beauty was quite at the helm of it all not even Nefertiti was a formidable match for her.

One stop on the self-guided tour of the Hofburg takes you into the Sisi Museum, dedicated to the reality and myth of perhaps the most enigmatic of all Habsburg Empresses.

In the historic dwelling space of Empress Elisabeth, better known as “Sisi,” the Sisi Museum in Vienna offers a realistic look at the life of the famed Austro-Hungarian monarch free from the usual clichés. It is one of the best Museums in Vienna because of its rich historical displays.

The program mainly concentrates on Elisabeth’s private life, her opposition to court rituals, her flight into beauty, athletic prowess, travel, and fervent poetry.

The museum depicts the erratic life of the renowned empress, from her happy childhood in Bavaria through her unexpected engagement to the Austrian emperor to her death in Geneva in 1898. Here are the top 10 facts about the Museum.

1. The Sisi Museum opened in 2004

The Sisi Museum first opened its doors in 2004. It’s a trendy cult-like museum dedicated to Empress Elisabeth’s ardent supporters.

The exhibit sheds light on the “misunderstood” princess, whose sad life parallels that of modern-day Princess Diana and has inspired novels and films.

2. Sisi Museum is situated in the Imperial Apartments

The Sisi Museum has been situated in the Imperial Apartments of the Imperial Palace, the museum expresses the restless life lived by the legendary queen. Several personal objects once belonging to Elisabeth are used to reveal the genuine characteristics of the sometimes misunderstood Empress.

The exhibitions, lovingly designed by renowned set designer Prof. Rolf Langenfass, are inspired by the monarch’s poetry.

Check out these amazing facts about the Hofburg palace.

3. Sisi Museum is the brainchild of Rolf Langenfass

Vienna Central Cemetery – Group 40: honorary grave of Rolf Langenfass photo by PicturePrince – Wikimedia commons

For art enthusiasts, the Sisi Museum is a must-see in Vienna. Rolf Langenfass, a well-known set designer, came up with the idea. Rolf Langenfass began his career as a costume and stage designer at Wimbledon School of Art in London after studying Theatre Studies in Munich.

He moved to Vienna in 1975 and worked for the State Opera, the Volksoper, Theater a der Wien, the Burgtheater, and the Volkstheater. Rolf Langenfass was instrumental in the design of the Sisi-Museum in Vienna’s Hofburg, which opened in April 2004.

It’s a modest but elegant museum. And the audio guide is fantastic. The museum explores the biographical facts about the empress’ life and personality. To its credit, the museum also examines the accuracy of Sisi mythology.

4. Sisi Museum was renovated in 2009

Rolf Langenfass was instrumental in the creation of the Sisi Museum in Vienna’s Hofburg, which opened in April 2004. He was also a major contributor when the Museum was renovated in June 2009.

5. It features more than 300 items that belonged to the empress

The Sisi Museum displays around 300 artefacts belonging to the empress. Among the 300 pieces on display in the museum are parasols, fans, gloves, apparel, beauty preparations, her milk glass with its travelling case, her travelling medicine cabinet, and even her actual death certificate.

6. Sisi Museum has the death mask of the murdered empress on display

The assassinated empress’s death mask is on display at the Sisi Museum, as is the black coat with egret feathers that covered Elisabeth after her assassination 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 inside is embroidered with the empress’s crowned name.

The black coat with egret feathers, which covered Sisi after her assassination on Lake Geneva and in which she was taken to the Hotel Beau Rivage, reminds one of the tragic incidents as much as the death mask of the murdered empress.

7. It has a complete reconstruction of part of Sisi’s luxurious imperial saloon car

funeral carriage of Sisi, Vienna-Schönbrunn, Museum of Carriages, and Black hearse carriage used in the funerals of Emperor Franz Joseph, his wife Sissi (Empress Elisabeth) and their son, Crown Prince Rudolph. photo by Dennis Jarvis from Halifax, Canada – Wikimedia commons

Visitors may also view objects from Sisi’s trips, such as her 23-piece travel toiletries set, 63-piece medicine box, and her special milk glass for fasting times.

There’s also a full reconstruction of Sisi’s luxury imperial saloon vehicle from her days of train travel. The saloon car was a gift from the Austrian railway companies.

8. The Museum displays Sisi’s mourning wardrobe

Sisi’s 6-piece mourning jewellery in onyz and jet, which she wore on her mourning dress following the death of her son Crown Prince Rudolph, is also on display here in its entirety.

9. The Museum houses the iconic portrait painting by Franz Xaver Winterhalter

Elisabeth of Austria, by Franz Xaver Winterhalter 1865 – Wikimedia commons

The Museum houses the iconic portrait painting by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Franz Xaver Winterhalter was a German painter and lithographer, known for his flattering portraits of royalty and upper-class society in the mid-19th century.

His name has become associated with fashionable court portraiture. Among his best-known works are Empress Eugénie Surrounded by her Ladies in Waiting (1855) and the portraits he made of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1865).

Elisabeth of Bavaria, Empress of Austria (1865) oil canvas portrait romantically presents the empress, enhancing her reputation as one of the great beauties of her time. The empress appears in a sensual pose with naked shoulders and turns her head towards the viewer.

She is wearing a white satin and tulle dress dotted with silver foil stars and with diamond stars in her hair. This portrait is one of Empress Elisabeth’s most iconic representations and one of Winterhalter’s best-known works.

10. The Museum’s entry fee includes an audio guide

The Sisi section is biographical and offers a rather intriguing glimpse into her life. The palace chambers are magnificent and worth seeing on their own. The admission ticket includes a well-designed audio tour with plenty of commentary and guidance on the collection.

The Sisi Museum, the Imperial Apartments and the Imperial Silver Collection are open daily, including on public holidays.