Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1837-1898), known as Sisi, is one of the most famous and popular figures in the history of the House of Habsburg. To the delight of her many fans, some of her possessions have stood the test of time and continue to be offered on the auction market, where they attract a great deal of interest. "It's because of Elisabeth's power and also because of her beauty. Without them, she wouldn't be famous," says Dr. Georg Ludwigstorff, a specialist at Dorotheum, where one of Elisabeth's undershirts will be auctioned on 13 June.
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The undershirt, made of silk with side fastening hooks, is similar to today's tank top and dates from around 1850. At the time, Elisabeth, who was around 12 years old, led a rather quiet life as the daughter of Duke Max in Bavaria, coming from an insignificant side line of the Bavarian ruling house of Wittelsbach. Contrary to the image conveyed by the popular films of the 1950s, the marriage of Duke Max and Ludovika, a daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, was anything but harmonious, having only reluctantly married each other to fulfil their parents' wish.
The duke, who was popular with the people of Munich for his democratic views, liked to travel and mostly left the upbringing of the children to Ludovika. Ludovika, absorbed in her role as a mother, would spend the winter in Munich and the warm seasons in the little summer palace in Possenhofen on Lake Starnberg.
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The eight ducal offspring, above all the five daughters, inherited their parents' good looks. As is well known, Sisi, the second eldest daughter, in particular is famous for her beauty to this day, although it is known that even her own mother thought that she didn't have a pretty face. The first to recognise Elisabeth's 'potential' in this regard was Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria in 1853, who then made his 15-year-old cousin his bride, and not her older sister Helene, who was actually intended for him.
Helene, called Néné, had long been chosen as the emperor's bride (a joint plan by Ludovika and her sister Sophie, Franz Joseph's mother). Shortly before the unexpected engagement in the spring of 1853, Sisi had been sent to Dresden to look for a groom, where another sister of Ludovika and Sophie was queen. Sisi returned home without a bridegroom and instead fell in love with a Count Richard, who was in the service of the ducal family. He was sent away as quickly as possible and died a short time later, putting Sisi into what was possibly the first depressive mood of her life.
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Bu the most sought-after bachelor of the time, Franz Joseph, fell under the spell of Sisi's hitherto undiscovered charm and made Sisi Empress of Austria with their marriage on 24 April 1854. After giving birth to three children, she set out towards the end of 1860 to seek treatment for her various illnesses on the distant island of Madeira. She returned home with renewed self-confidence and appointed the theatre hairdresser Fanny Feifalik as her personal hairdresser in 1863.
Daily hair styling took three hours and a hair wash a whole day. She followed a strict diet and exercised daily, which kept her waist excessively slim. The waist of the undershirt worn by 12-year-old Sisi on sale at Dorotheum is around 24 inches. As an adult, the empress had a waist measurement of 20 inches, emphasised by the tight lacing of the corset.
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The empress' shirt is estimated at 5,000-10,000 euros. However, it is not the first time that Empress Elisabeth's lingerie has been auctioned off. In 2021, for example, an underwear set from the 1870-80s, consisting of a shirt, trousers and a pair of stockings, caused a stir when it was offered for sale at the Hermann Historica auction house. The estimated price at the time was 1,000 euros, but the lot was finally sold for 3,800 euros.
