#wittelsbachs

[emvidal]

[royal-confessions]

“Princess Sophie-Alexandra of Bavaria’s wedding dress was stunning and divine. One of my favorite royal wedding dresses.” - Submitted by Anonymous

[awkward-sultana]

(Almost) Every Costume Per Episode + Sisi's wedding gown in 1x01,2,3

[elsalouisa]

"But of all the followers of the hunt it was the Empres, with her radiant beauty, her fine seat on a horse and her wonderful figure, who was the cynosure of all eyes. Horses and the care of her figure were her two chief interests in life, and she carried her love of equestrianism so far that she even practised circus-riding in her private riding school at Gödöllő. Horses, too, furnished her favourite topic of conversation, and on one occasion my stepmother, who was no respecter of persons, after listening for some time to what the Empress had to say on the subject, dryly remarked "Est-ce que Votre Majesté ne pense qu’ aux chevaux?" History does not record Her Majesty’s answer, but I should imagine that the conversation, was brought to a speedy close!"

Sir George Buchanan "My mission to Russia: And other diplomatic memories"

[obscurehistoricalinterests]

'Sisi' was a terrible empress. Her romanticization needs to STOP.

In more recent decades, Elisabeth has received a growing attention in pop culture: there are several series, films and even a musical paying tribute to her legend. Her beauty is admired, her trials and tribulations are pitied, her struggle to escape the chafing constraints of royal life is celebrated. There's a whiff of feminism surrounding her lately - a strong, intelligent woman, metaphorically, and if we take the film Corsage, even literally flipping off the patriarchy. She's galloping through forests barefoot, she's facing off her tyrannical mother in law, she's fighting for her freedom, for control over her own life. German writer Karen Duve goes as far as to call Elisabeth "an undiscovered feminist icon." 

But... was she? One of her ladies in waiting once said that Elisabeth will "live on in legend, not in history". And right she was. You see, Elisabeth has triumphed. When I look around, it seems as if we see her exactly as she would have wanted us to. A tragic heroine, a beautiful apparition, a nymph who somehow got trapped in the mortal realm, to her immense suffering. And for a modern woman,  there is much to empathize with in Elisabeth: her sublime sensitivity, her iron self-discipline, her headstrong character, her inborn thirst for freedom. But upon lifting the starry veil of this ethereal fairy-tale queen, one will find the face of a much more complex, flawed and ultimately human woman. Self-obsessed and narcissistic, monstrously selfish and possessive, cruelly indifferent to her empire (with one all-consuming exception), incessantly self-victimizing and deeply, deeply unhappy - overwhelmingly through her own fault.  

[archduchessofnowhere]

We all know media loves to paint Elisabeth and her family as humble country people who lived in a modest state and were look down by the rest of their relatives for being "poor". But how did being "poor" looked like for the Ducal Wittelsbach? Well, let's look at their states! Yes, plural.

The most famous residence of the Ducal Wittelsbach was Possenhofen, a humble, small castle at the shore of Lake Starnberg that acted as the family's summer state.

This is said humble castle btw:

Ok, so if "humble" Possenhofen was just a summer residence, what was the main residence of Ducal Wittelsbach? Well, that would be Herzog Max Palais, a neoclassical three-story palace in Munich built for Duke Max between 1828 and 1830. In case you don't know, Elisabeth was born here!

Sadly, the palace was demolished and no longer exists today.

Was this all? Well, no! Because Duke Max also owned a hunting lodge called Unterwittelsbach near Aichach:

This castle acted as a sort of bachelor residence for Duke Max; neither his wife nor children were allowed to visit. Ironically, today Untterwittelsbach is known as the "Sisi Castle" and a museum about the empress works there.

Ok, this is it! Three castles! Pretty impressive for this alleged poor royal fam- KIDDING DID YOU REALLY THOUGHT THAT WAS IT?

You see, when Max bought Possenhofen he also bought another property at the shore of Lake Starnberg: Garatshausen Castle

Today the castle is owned by the Thurn und Taxis, and hosts a hospital and retirement residence.

Ok now we are done for real... with the castles Duke Max owned. Ludovika had her own castles too!

Ludovika inhereted from her parents two properties: Tegernsee Abbey (left) and Biederstein Castle (right) (disclaimer: Biederstein was actually two castles: the Old Castle built in the 18th century - pictured here in the 1890s - and the New Castle, built in the 1820s)

Tegernsee is the only property on this list that is still owned by the Wittelsbachs. Meanwhile Biederstein Castle was bombed during WW2 and no longer exists today.

Ok, so now for real real, that is it! I may be missing some property, but as far as I'm aware, Max and Ludovika owned these six residences (seven if we consider that Biederstein was two castles). Much for Sisi being a humble country girl right?

[dreamconsumer]

Duke Albrecht of Bavaria (1905-1996).

His paternal grandfather was Ludwig III of Bavaria, the last king of Bavaria, who was deposed in 1918.

[ry1o3]

Old pictures from the set of “The empress”.

[foreverinthepagesofhistory]

VERY rare photo of Empress Elisabeth “Sisi” of Austria smiling at the camera, 1870s (?) 🤍✨🥹

Source: Pinterest

[tiaramania]

TIARA ALERT: Sophie Alexandra Evekink wore the Bavarian Sapphire Floral Tiara for her wedding to Prince Ludwig of Bavaria at the Theatine Church in Munich, Germany on 20 May 2023.

[venicepearl]

Countess Palatine Maria Anna of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld-Bischweiler (18 July 1753 – 4 February 1824) was Countess Palatine of Birkenfeld-Gelnhausen and Duchess in Bavaria, through her marriage to Duke Wilhelm in Bavaria. Maria Anna was a great-grandmother of Empress Elisabeth of Austria through her son Duke Pius August in Bavaria.

[roehenstart]

Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, Duchess of Orléans (1652-1722). By Pierre Mignard.

[royal-confessions]

“Princess Sophie-Alexandra of Bavaria’s wedding reception dress was stunning and regal. It was like a dress from a fairytale!” - Submitted by Anonymous

[awkward-sultana]

(Almost) Every Costume Per Episode + Sisi's dark blue gown with silver print and white capelet with gold embellishments in 1x06

[violaobanion]

Devrim Lingnau as Elisabeth ‘Sisi’ von Wittelsbach in DIE KAISERIN (2022-) created by Katharina Eyssen & Lena Stahl

[graceofromanovs]

How the last Russian Dynasty were related to European Monarchies (current and former):

The House of Wittelsbach (Royal Dynasty of Bavaria) and the House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov (Imperial Dynasty of Russia) were distantly related, their common ancestor being Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt.