The exhibition will show Sisi's beauty, kind heart and fondness for Hungarians, following the legends her life has spawned. It will offer visitors information in three languages: Hungarian, English and German.
The exhibition will run from June 7 until September 30, 2007.
Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie, Duchess in Bavaria, was born in Munich on December 24, 1837. From an early age, she was called Sisi by family and friends. She became the Empress consort of Austria and Queen consort of Hungary after her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph on April 24, 1854.
In spite of her difficulties adapting to the strict etiquette practiced at the Habsburg court, Elisabeth bore the Emperor three children in quick succession: Archduchess Sophie of Austria (1855-1857), Archduchess Gisela of Austria (1856-1932) and crown prince, Rudolf (1858-1889). A decade later, Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria (1868-1924) followed. Elisabeth was denied any major influence on her own children's upbringing - they were raised by her mother-in-law Sophie - and soon after Rudolf's birth the marriage started to deteriorate, undone by Elisabeth's increasingly erratic behaviour - her family, the Wittelsbachs, had a history of mental instability.
Elisabeth embarked on a life of travel, seeing very little of her children, but visiting places such as Madeira, Hungary, England, and Corfu, where she commissioned the building of a castle which she called Achilleion. She was well known for her beauty, her fashion sense, diet and exercise regimens, passion for riding sports, and a series of reputed lovers.
National unrest within the Habsburg monarchy led, in 1867, to the foundation of the Austro-Hungarian double monarchy, making Elisabeth Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. Elisabeth had always sympathized with the Hungarian cause and, reconciled and reunited with her alienated husband, she joined Franz Joseph in Budapest, where their coronation took place. Afterwards, however, she again took up her former life of travelling through Europe.
In 1889, Elisabeth's life was shattered by the death of her only son: 31 year-old Crown Prince Rudolf and his young lover Baroness Mary Vetsera were found dead, apparently by suicide.
On September 10, 1898, in Geneva, Switzerland, Elisabeth, aged 60, was stabbed to death with a needle file by a young anarchist named Luigi Lucheni.
Source: Múlt-kor
