Empress Sissi of Austria Statue — Attraction in Funchal

Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie (24/12/1837-10/9/1898) was Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph I on 24 April. She was ssassinated in 1898. She was considered to be the most beautiful woman in Europe in the 19th century.

Nicknamed Sissi, she married Emperor Franz Joseph I at the age of sixteen. The elder Archduchess Sophie, her mother-in-law, who often referred to Elisabeth as a "silly young mother", not only named Sissi's first child after herself without consulting her, and took complete charge of the baby, refusing to allow Elisabeth to breastfeed or otherwise care for her own child. When a second daughter, was born a year later, the Archduchess took the baby away from Elisabeth as well. Elisabeth was blocked from controlling her son's upbringing and education, she openly rebelled.

In 1860 Empress Elisabeth sailed to Madeira on the Royal Yacht "Osborne", which was lent to her by the English Queen Victoria. Her doctor feared that she might have tuberculosis, and advised a change of air, which advice she happily accepted. She spent 6 months on the island, away from husband Emperor Franz-Joseph and her children.

On 24 December 1893, on her 56 birthday, the empress arrived on Madeira again. Upon arrival, she received an imperial salute by British naval vessels. They would continue doing so every morning for the full duration of her stay. During this stay, Empress Elisabeth was a guest at Reid's Palace for various weeks in 1893–1894. She stayed in a suite on the ground floor of today's historical wing.

She had an adventurous spirit and loved the sea, Elisabeth even had a tattoo of an anchor on her right shoulder.

Despite everything, Elisabeth's life was marked by tragedy, and she spent most of her years struggling with anxiety and eating disorders. Sshe was known for her beauty and taking great care in her appearance but "hated nothing so much as...

Lonely "in" the grass in front of the Casino and a hotel stands the statue of the, I dare say, worldwide most famous person from Austria. The house where she lived during her stay on Madeira is not there anymore, the casino came in its place, so she is lost there, a rather unattractive (she´s always described as a beauty) woman in a beautiful dress. The always blooming nearby hedges (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) provide flowers that people put on her elbows.

BTW, her less famous "family"- member, the last Austrian emperor, Karl I, lived and died on Madeira in exile and lies in a tomb in the...

Etwas mehr als Lebensgroß auf einem Sockel steht sie dort, die Frau die von vielen so geliebt wird, Kaiserin von Österreich und Ungarn, Verfilmt, oft Beschrieben in allerlei Büchern und heute noch begehrt wie eh und je. "SISSI die Kaiserin". Vom Kreuzfahrthafen gar nicht mal weit entfernt (man kann die Aida nach ein paar Schritten wieder sehen) geht man Richtung Innenstadt, hält sich dann aber rechts Richtung "Casino" und kann entweder die Straße hinauf gehen dessen Steigung ca. 20% ist und mit einigen faszinierenden Gebäuden geprägt, oder man geht durch einen schönen öffentlichen Park mit einem hübsch angelegten Teich und Springbrunnen, verschiedenen alten Fahrzeugen, Ausblick zum Hafen und recht Kaiserlich anmutend. Wir sind erst durch den Park und dann die Straße hinunter :-). Sissi steht allerdings direkt vor einem nicht so schön anmutenden Hoteleingang auf einer Wiese. Anmutend und in Broze gefasst kann man erahnen dass es sogar vielleicht auch Romy Schneider statt die tatsächliche Sissi darstellen soll, aber das bleibt dem Betrachter...