Elisabeth, Duchess in Bavaria

• Birthday- D

ecember 24, 1

837 in M

unich

• Died- September 1

0, 1898 in

Geneva

• She was 60 years old

Parents

• Father- Maximilian, Duke in Bavaria

• Mother- Princess Ludovika of Bavaria

• On September 10, 1898, in Geneva, Switzerland, Elisabeth, aged 60, was stabbed in the heart with a needle file by a young anarchist named Luigi Lucheni, in an act of propaganda of the dead. She had been walking along the promenade of Lake Geneva about to board a steamship for Montreux with her lady-of-courtesy, Countess Sztaray. Unaware of the severity of her condition she still boarded the ship. Bleeding to death from a puncture wound to the heart, Elisabeth's last words were "What happened to me?". The strong pressure from her corset kept the bleeding back until the corset was removed. Only then did her staff and surrounding onlookers understand the severity of the situation. Reportedly, her assassin had hoped to kill a prince from the House of Orleans and, failing to find him, turned on Elisabeth instead. As Lucheni afterward said, "I wanted to kill a royal. It did not matter which one."

•Th

e Em

pres

s al

so e

ngag

ed in

writ

ing

poet

ry (s

uch

as th

e "N

ords

eelie

der"

and

"Win

terli

eder

", bo

th in

spira

tions

from

her

favo

rite

Germ

an p

oet,

Heinr

ich

Heine

). Sh

apin

g he

r own

fant

asy

wor

ld in

poe

try, s

he re

ferred

to h

erse

lf as

Tita

nia,

Sha

kesp

eare

’s

Fairy

Que

en. M

ost o

f her

poe

try re

fers

to h

er jo

urne

ys, c

lass

ical

Gre

ek a

nd

rom

antic

them

es, a

s wel

l as iro

nic

moc

kery

on

the

Habsb

urg

dyna

sty.

In

thes

e ye

ars, E

lisab

eth

also

took

up

with

an

inte

nsive

stud

y of

bot

h an

cien

t

and

mod

ern

Greek

, dro

wni

ng in

Homer

’s Il

iad

and

Odyss

ey. N

umer

ous

Greek

lect

urer

s (s

uch

as M

arin

aky,

Christ

oman

os, a

nd B

arke

r) ha

d to

acco

mpa

ny th

e Em

pres

s on

her

hou

r-

long

wal

ks w

hile

read

ing

Greek

to h

er.

Her G

reek

gen

ealo

gica

l roo

ts a

re

pres

ente

d in

Gre

ek p

edig

ree

of

Empr

ess Si

si. A

ccor

ding

to

cont

empo

rary

sch

olar

s, E

mpr

ess

Elisa

beth

kne

w G

reek

bet

ter t

han

each

of th

e Bav

aria

n Gre

ek Q

ueen

s in

the

19th

cen

tury

.

•National unrest within the Habsburg

monarchy caused by the rebellious

Hungarians led, in 1867, to the

foundation of the Austro-Hungarian

double monarchy, m

aking Elisabeth

Empress of Austria and Q

ueen 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. In

due course, their fourth child,

Archduchess Marie Valerie was born

(1868–1924). Afterwards, however,

she again took up her former life of

restlessly traveling through Europe,

decades of what basically became a

walking trance.

The SummaryWhile Elisabeth's role

and influence on Austro-Hungarian politics should not be overestimated (she is only marginally mentioned in scholarly books on Austrian history), she has undoubtedly become a 20th century icon , often compared to Diana, Princess of Wales. She was considered to be a free spirit who abhorred conventional court protocol. She has inspired filmmakers and theatrical producers alike.

Sources

• www.germanforspalding.org

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_of_Bavaria#Assassination

• www.google/images.com

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