the infant’s care, declaring that the mother was
too young to do it properly herself. Following the
birth of Sisi’s second daughter, Gisela, the arch-
duchess asserted control again—but this time
Sisi stood up to her. Two weeks after Gisela’s
birth, she and little Sophie were moved to Sisi’s
rooms at the Hofburg.
Victory was short-lived, however, and fol-
lowed all too soon by tragedy. In the spring of
1857, little Sophie caught dysentery during a trip
with her parents to Hungary. The two-year-old
died. Her mother, just 19 years old, was con-
sumed with grief. Sisi relinquished responsi-
bility for raising Gisela to her mother-in-law. A
deep depression descended on Sisi that didn’t
lift when she gave birth to a son, Rudolf, the fol-
lowing year.Southern Comfort
Despite her inward misery, Sisi appeared out-
wardly beautiful, owing to her obsession with
her appearance. Famous for her beauty, Sisi de-
voted much time to maintaining it. Records in-
dicate she spent three hours a day taking care of
her long hair. When dressing, it took roughly
an hour to cinch her waist to a punishing 19.5
inches. As Sisi aged, she became morbidly afraidthe rigid rules in Vienna. Sisi turned to poetry to
express her unhappiness, with verses recording
a strong sense of desolation:
But what are the delights of Spring to me,
Here in this distant alien land?
I yearn for the sun of my homeland
I yearn for the beaches of the Isar.Court etiquette left her feeling crushed. Her
ladies-in-waiting were much older than she.
With her husband occupied with matters of
state, she had little in the way of companionship.
Almost immediately, Sisi clashed with her
mother-in-law, Sophie. The formidable arch-
duchess, by then nearly 50, had also grown up
in Bavaria, but fought tooth and nail to impose
her will on the Austrian court. She subjected
Sisi’s habits, clothes, and pastimes to scrutiny
and censure. Franz Josef did not interfere, per-
haps because he was in debt to his mother for
elevating him to the throne through her skillful
maneuvering.
Such was Sophie’s power that less than a year
after the wedding, when Elisabeth gave birth to
her first daughter, the archduchess insisted the
child be named for her. She also took charge of
ERICH LESSING/ALBUM
Her Crowning Glory
THE EMPRESS SISI was greatly—some biographers suggest, obsessively—
attentive to her physical appearance. Her most famous trait was her rich,
flowing chestnut hair, whose handling she entrusted for many years entirely
to her hairdresser, Fanny Angerer. Sources say that if Fanny was unavail-
able to style Sisi’s hair, then the empress would decline to appear at of-
ficial functions. Fanny worked as a styl-
ist at the theater, where Sisi noticed her
talents. She hired her, and Fanny became
the imperial hairdresser, devoting hours
every day to caring for the royal locks.
Wearing white gloves and no rings, she
would spend hours brushing and braid-
ing strands of hair before twisting them
up into an impressive coiffure. Sisi de-
manded that Fanny keep track of all the
“lost hairs” and place any stray strands
in a silver bowl for her to count. Sisi paid
Fanny a salary of 2,000 gulden, roughly
twice the salary of a university professor.
SISI’S FLOWING LOCKS. 1864 PORTRAIT BY FRANZ
WINTERHALTER. KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM, VIENNA
3464 MAY/JUNE 2019