The Empress: Elisabeth / Sisi

Empress in 1865

The Empress married when she was 16. She disliked the rigors of court life, was not close to her husband, and was frequently traveling out of Vienna for her health. Only family members called her "Sisi."

She disliked the rules that were part of court, but she was still expected to take part in them. At the Court Ball, "it was the social effect that was the focus of the event: the climax of the evening was the Cercle, when one exchanged a few words with Their Imperial Majesties. According to eye-witness accounts, conversation with Empress Elisabeth, who harboured deep reservations towards Court society, was rather slow and awkward. But until aristocratic young ladies, known as comtessen, had been presented to the Empress they could not ‘come out’ in society. It was a special honour for high-ranking ladies to be invited to take tea with the Empress, while the buffet was opened for the rest of the ball guests."

"In order to escape boredom, Elisabeth enjoyed exploring her surroundings alone on horse-back, much to the chagrin of her mother-in-law. It was not just that spontaneous horse-back rides without an appropriate chaperone were considered unseemly conduct on the part of an empress, but such adventures also represented a considerable security risk to Elisabeth."

The Empress had more than one room at the palace: "It is thus not surprising that Elisabeth had a private ‘garden apartment’ furnished for her-self on the ground in 1862, accessed via a spi-ral staircase from her official apartments on the first floor. These rooms reveal far more about Elisabeth’s predilections: she had the walls hung in lilac, her favourite colour, and had direct access made to the gardens which she could use unnoticed by palace staff. Near-by was the indoor riding school (today housing the collection of imperial carriages) where Elisabeth practised her dressage. She enjoyed riding in the more secluded parts of the park at Schönbrunn, often accompanied by her dogs: ‘At Schönbrunn, the Gloriette and those parts of the park that do not please the public belong to me’.

http://www.habsburger.net/en/#/en/reading-room/stories/schoenbrunn-2013-habsburgs-imperiales-prunkstueck/schoenbrunn-2013-letzter-glanz-und-finaler-schauplatz-der-monarchie

The Empress also wrote poetry. An early poem:

Fresh spring returns / And trims the trees with new green / And teaches new songs to birds / And makes the flowers bloom more beautifully. / But what is springtime bliss to me / Here I the faraway, strange land? / I long for the sun of home, / I long for the banks of the Isar.

Her favorite play was Midsummer Night's dream and referred to herself as Titania.