The free-spirited Empress Sisi of Austria and her life (2023)

What exactly happened to the lady's luggage that day will forever remain a mystery. Anyway, they couldn't find the suitcases containing their colorful summer wardrobe. Duchess Ludovica of Bavaria and her daughters Helene and Elisabeth mourned their recently deceased aunt. Now they had to appear in black before the emperor at their meeting on that fateful August 16, 1853. In Bad Ischl, a beautiful city on Austria's Lake Salzburg, Helene was to be presented to His Majesty Franz Joseph, ruler of the Habsburg Empire. She was a serious seventeen-year-old who looked austere and ascetic in her dark clothes. Franz Joseph greeted her, but his gaze drifted to the young, lively girl beside her. Mother and sister were accompanied on their journey by the 15-year-old Elisabeth or 'Sisi', and as fate would have it, the Emperor fell in love with her at first sight.

Here and there, a fateful moment in history turned beggars into kings, outlaws into heroes and... a girl from a small Bavarian town into a legendary empress. The event in Bad Ischl was such a moment. Two days after their first meeting, Franz Joseph proposed to Elisabeth. Eight months later, the wedding took place in Vienna. Of all the Habsburgs, the longest-reigning Austrian dynasty, none has retained such prominence as Elizabeth of Austria. Even 125 years after her death, the Empress overshadows everyone. However, it is still difficult for historians to determine Sisi's true personality behind all the fanfare.

The Empress' death in 1898 was as unusual as her life. Sisi initially did not notice her injury. On the shores of Lake Geneva, an assassin plunged a sharp file into her heart. Elisabeth thought the man had just knocked her over, so she straightened up, apologized to the passers-by for her misfortune, and hurried with her maid to the boat that would take her across the lake. The Empress just collapsed on the ship.

"What Really Happened?" were her last words. A few minutes later, the woman who would become the most famous of all Habsburgs died at the age of 60. Only one drop of blood stained her dress. It was black, just like the one she wore on that fateful day in Bad Ischl.

The initial romanticism, her desire for self-determination and independence, the eccentricities of her later life and her tragic love for Francis Joseph made Elizabeth of Austria a Habsburg celebrity.

The trilogy with Romy Schneider made Sisi world famous in the fifties. Television films and a musical followed.

In 2022, Netflix launched a new series about Austria's most famous empress: 'Laden,' which takes us to the early years of the marriage of Sisi and Emperor Franz Joseph.

In May 2022, the film drama 'The crosspremiered at the Cannes Film Festival and has since won international awards in several categories, most notably for Vicky Krieps' performance as the aging Empress. The film will premiere on December 23 in the US and December 30, 2022 in the UK.