The assassination of the Queen of Austria and Hungary in Territet, Switzerland, in 1898

The alleged last photo of Empress Elizabeth of Austria and Hungary (on the left) in Territet, Switzerland, with her maid Irma Szztary, taken on September 3, 1898.

Elizabeth (born as Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie in Bavaria; December 24, 1837 – September 10, 1898), commonly known as Sisi, was Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph I on April 24, 1854, until her assassination in 1898. Born into the Bavarian royal ducal branch of the House of Wittelsbach, she had an informal upbringing before marrying her first cousin, Emperor Franz Joseph I, at the age of sixteen.

Marriage thrust her into the more formal Habsburg court life, which she was unprepared for and found suffocating. Early in her marriage, she had conflicts with her mother-in-law, who was also her maternal aunt, Archduchess Sophie, who took over the upbringing of Elizabeth’s daughters, one of whom, Sophie, died in childhood. The birth of a son, the heir apparent Rudolf, improved Elizabeth’s standing at court, but her health suffered under the pressure. As a result, she frequently visited Hungary for its more relaxed environment. She developed a deep affinity for Hungary and helped achieve the dual monarchy of Austria and Hungary in 1867.

The Austrian Empress Elizabeth, who was assassinated by an anarchist

The death of Elizabeth’s only son and her lover, Mary Vetsera, in a murder-suicide at his hunting lodge in Mayerling in 1889 was a blow from which the Empress never recovered. She withdrew from court duties and traveled extensively without her family. In 1890, she commissioned the construction of the Achilleion Palace on the Greek island of Corfu. The palace was adorned with elaborate mythical decorations and served as a refuge that Elizabeth visited frequently.

“Luigi Lucheni,” the assassin of the Austrian Empress