Elizabeth´s and Franz Jozeph´s engagement

Elizabeth and Franz Joseph

In 1853, Elizabeth“s  mother Ludovika and  her aunt Sophie decided that Sisi's elder sister Helene would marry Emperor Franz Joseph. It was a great honest to marry Emperor.

    Helene

    Helene, Sissi and their mother joined Sophie and her sons in Bad Ischl in order to get acquainted.  What did happen after. You probably know.

    It was not her sister Helene who took  Franz Joseph“ heart. He fell in love at first sight with only fifteen-year-old Sissi.

  On 23rd birthday of Franz Joseph (it  was only two days later), he asked Elisabeth if she could marry him. Less than a year Sissi became Empress of Austria, Qeen of Hungary and Bohemia.

Their ten-month engagement was filled with lengthy lessons in court protocol and instructions to learn quickly and behave by her ambitious mother, but even these methods did not adequately prepare Sissi for the rigors of the Habsburg court. Elisabeth  had a carefree and happy childhood in Castle Possenhofen in Bavaria. Franz Joseph had a severe childhood. He had been educated with military discipline.

The engagement with Sissi was a sensation. Everyone wanted to know who she was. She quickly became a rising star. The Papparazzi of the day, court painters and engravers were quickly producing pictures of this beautiful young duchess “Sissi“.

Sissi in the wedding dress ....

  Short, before the wedding, duchess Elizabeth got 50 000 guilders for her garderobe. Preparating of her garderobe of her garderobe took a lot of time and effort.

As first, were ecquired 168 pairs of tides, 20 pairs of different gloves, 6 pairs of the leather boots and 113 pairs of shoes or gloves only few times. If they had some celebration or ceremony she had to alter it several times of day. She had to learn, that she had to look perfectly even she was on the countryside. She had to learn, that she can wear her shoes most 6 times and then, she had to give these shoes to abigail. And she had to learn, that she can’t still have wear gloves.

Her garderobe had to be plain, practicular and elegant. It was not her personal wish, that she had so many gloves and shoes. It was only part of cout etiquette. Her Glacé gloves was from fine, lustrous kidskin leather. Elizabeth had burifier in Hofburg and they always packed her Glacé gloves into to white boxes. Elizabeth had a special cause, and she had 120 pairs of gloves there, which was colour coordinated. When si rode on horse, she wore gloves, which was from stronger splint, and sometime she wears 3 pair at once, because she didn’t want be hurt. Elizabeth worn narrow, handmade usually black shoes on the small heel. The shoes was decorated with the black lace. When the weather was bad, she wore gloves.

In her privacy garderobe, she loved ridding clothes.

She spent a lot of time with her sewer. Empress Elizabeth has usually wore only a few jewellery She worn her wedding ring and necklace under the dress.

When her son Rudolf died she started to wear black hat, black shoes and black bag.They married on 24th April 1854 in the Vienna Augustine Church. The festivities lasted for over a week.

Elizabeth after her son Rudolfs death