comfortable family mansion on the banks of
Lake Starnberg south of Munich. Her childhood
was unusually informal for the time and for her
status. Her father, the duke, was a music-loving
bon viveur with notably liberal views that fil-
tered down to his children.
As Sisi and her sisters grew, her mother
Ludovika’s thoughts turned to their marriage.
Sisi’s maternal aunt, Sophie, was married to the
Archduke of Austria, Franz Karl. In 1848 their
unmarried son, Franz Josef, became Austrian
emperor at age 18. He looked to be a promising
catch, and Ludovika set her sights on him.
At age 15, Sisi was too young to be considered
a potential mate for the emperor, and the fam-
ily focused on her eldest sister, Helene, whose
elegance, piety, and reserve would be essential
qualities for an emperor’s consort. Following
discussions between her mother and Sophie,
Helene was invited to Bad Ischl, the town where
the imperial family summered, with a view to
securing an engagement in 1853.A Surprise Engagement
At first, only Helene and Ludovika were to make
the journey that summer, but Sisi joined them.
Shy and introverted, Sisi showed no interest inBorn Free
Elisabeth grew up in Bavaria, a wealthy Catholic
kingdom that is now the largest state in Ger-
many. She was the fourth of 10 children born to
Duke Maximilian Joseph of Bavaria and Princess
Ludovika, daughter of King Maximilian I of Ba-
varia. At the time of Elisabeth’s birth in 1837,
Bavaria was redefining itself as its neighbors,
Austria and Prussia, grew more powerful.
Nicknamed Sisi from a young age, Elisabeth
loved nature and spent her summers in the
A DECORATED FAN BELONGING TO THE EMPRESS ELISABETH, WITH A
SCENE OF PASTORAL MERRYMAKING BRIDGEMAN/ACIAKG/ALBUM
In the Shadow
of Sophie
EXECUTING A SERIES OF remarkable maneuvers, the Archduchess Sophie—
Elisabeth’s aunt and mother-in-law—placed her own son on the imperial
throne. Born in Munich, Bavaria, in 1805, Sophie married the Archduke
of Austria, Franz Karl, when she was 19. A decade later, her husband’s
mentally deficient brother, Ferdinand, became emperor, with day-to-day
rule overseen by the diplomat Klemens von Metternich. Overturning con-
ventions as to how women should behave,
Sophie frequently challenged Metternich,
helping engineer his downfall in 1848. On
Ferdinand’s abdication that same year, So-
phie persuaded her husband to renounce
his claim to the throne and let their 18-year-
old son, Franz Josef, accede. Sophie knew
she could control her son, but not so her
niece and daughter-in-law. On her arrival in
Vienna in 1854, Elisabeth resented what she
saw as Sophie’s controlling nature.
ARCHDUCHESS SOPHIE OF AUSTRIA WITH HER SON
FRANZ JOSEF, AGE TWO. HOFBURG, VIENNA
60 MAY/JUNE 2019