“As a person Sisi, the Austrian Empress Elisabeth, is world famous but the
individual behind the myth is largely unknown. Two new ‘manifestations’ of
her poetic diary are now giving the reader a chance to spend intimate hours
with this famous unknown woman.” >text (c) wieninternational.at 2013
“In most films Empress Elisabeth and Emperor Franz Joseph I are portrayed as a dream couple. If we look a little more closely, however, we find that they were only too human, with their flaws, addictions, compulsions and often capricious preferences.” Text on Habsburg films, books and an exhibition
(c) wieninternational.at 2012
PS. I am not sure if this is really the “dark side of the Habsburgs” (in this context, also see the “Schwarzbuch der Habsburger“, ed. by Leidinger et al., Vienna: Deuticke 2003). However, the “Sisi Myth” about the “Lady Die” of the Austro-Hungarian Empire has at least been shattered and proven to be for sissies; it took a long time…
Quoting Denis Feahy – “An Irishman’s Diary”
From: The Irish Times 20 April, 2010
“Monday, February 24th, 1879, began as a routine day for the 500 or so students at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. They rose at 6.30am, went to the chapel for meditation and Mass, studied for an hour, ate breakfast at 8.30am and settled into a well established schedule of lectures, study, recreation and meal breaks. They could have no expectation that it would become one of the best-remembered days in the college’s history.
In Ashbourne, the members of the Ward Union Stag Hunting Club knew that the same Monday would be a special day. For the first time, they would be riding with Her Imperial Highness, Elizabeth, Empress of Austria, Sisi to her friends and the sporting empress to her admirers, a lady whose equestrian skills were known throughout Europe.
delirium clemens 