The golden cage closes - Sisi and Franz Joseph's relationship
Speaker: Barbara Káli-Rozmis writer, researcher
171 years ago, on 24 April 1854, the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph gave the 16-year-old Princess Elisabeth of Bavaria away. Was it really love at first sight? How much did Sisi want this marriage?
Critical glances accompanied every step and every manifestation of Elizabeth's life at the Viennese court, dominated by rank and role, where everything was made into gossip. The young Empress soon found herself in a golden cage. She had no confidants, and when she did trust someone, she was often disappointed. Moreover, Franz Joseph rarely stood up for her against her mother, Archduchess Sofia. What conflicts and problems did this lead to? Did „the evil mother-in-law” really mean evil?
The Viennese court did not consider Sisi, but the Archduchess as its Empress. Even after her mother-in-law's death, Elizabeth's refusal to „play” the role of Empress was not only an insult to her husband, but also a rebellion against him. Why did she not take the position she deserved? How did the monarch react to this?
At the celebration of their silver wedding anniversary, a Hungarian courtier wrote: „Love ties the knot, life makes it unenjoyably tight”. What was their sometimes turbulent and tragic marriage like, which is still the subject of films and TV series?
Barbara Káli-Rozmis's first book, Queen Elizabeth and the Hungarians - Friendship or Love, was published in 2021 and won the “Book of the Year 2022” award in the historical non-fiction category. Her second book, Passion in the Prison of Rank - Sisi in a Circle of Friends and Family, was published in 2023, also by Helikon Publishing.
Books can be purchased and/or signed at a discount on the spot.
Admission to the event is free of charge.
The programme is supported by the National Cultural Fund