Copyright
A. C. McClurg & Co.
1909
Published August 21, 1909
THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.
Translator’s Preface
The story of the life of Elizabeth of Bavaria, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, is one of the saddest in the history of royalty, and in some respects recalls the story of the life of Marie Antoinette. Both their lives were sorrowful, both ended tragically, the one at the hands of an assassin, the other upon the guillotine. Elizabeth will not be remembered in history as a sovereign, for everything connected with the throne and with court life was distasteful to her, but rather as the beautiful, sorrowful daughter of the Wittelsbachs. She was not only one of the most beautiful women of her time, but an accomplished scholar and linguist, a good musician, and well versed in history, science, and art. She was a passionate lover of the woods and mountains, and was happiest when she was walking or riding among them, or associating with the Hungarian people. She was no more at home with the Viennese than was Marie Antoinette with the Parisians. Her domestic life was saddened by estrangement from her husband, by lack of sympathy among her relatives, by the terrible tragedy which ended the life of her son, Prince Rudolph, and by other tragedies which involved the happiness and sometimes the lives of those nearest to her. At last her sufferings were ended by the dagger of a cruel anarchist assassin. As the author of this volume says: “She died as she had often wished to die, swiftly and painlessly and under the open sky. Who can say that her last breath was not a sigh of thankfulness and peace?”
G. P. U.
Chicago, May 10, 1909.
Contents
Chapter Page I [The Diamond Wedding] 11 II [Birth and Childhood of Elizabeth of Bavaria] 19 III [Betrothal of Princess Elizabeth] 25 IV [The Wedding Ceremonies] 32 V [First Troubles] 40 VI [Travels and Sorrows] 46 VII [Birth of Crown Prince Rudolf] 53 VIII [Elizabeth’s Illness and Sojourn in Madeira] 58 IX [The Express’ Flight from Vienna] 63 X [The Coronation in Hungary] 67 XI [The Archduchess Marie Valerie] 72 XII [The Castle of Gödöllö] 77 XIII [The Empress in Vienna] 83 XIV [Marriage of Crown Prince Rudolf] 88 XV [King Ludwig Second of Bavaria] 96 XVI [The Empress’ Travels] 101 XVII [The Empress’ Literary Tastes] 110 XVIII [Daily Life of the Empress] 114 XIX [Death of Crown Prince Rudolf] 119 XX [Death of the Empress] 128 [Appendix] 139
Illustrations
[Elizabeth as the young Empress]Frontispiece [Emperor Franz Joseph in his twenty-eighth year]34 [Crown Prince Rudolf]90 [Empress Elizabeth in later years]122