The mourning dress of the empress – Bavaria

A black dress worn by Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1837-1898) made from extremely thin silk taffeta and lace can now be seen in the Museum of Bavarian History in Regensburg. The museum announced on Wednesday that the house had managed to acquire the textile at the right time and on acceptable terms. An exact amount of money was not mentioned. However, it was said that devotional items from “Sisi” are currently fetching almost “astronomical prices”. According to the announcement, the presentation of the dress is embedded in a “spectacular presentation”. A scene from the funeral procession for Bavaria’s King Ludwig II (1845-1886) was arranged for this. Artfully crafted metal figurines wear rare uniforms worn by the royal household. At the same time, the funeral march is the appropriate image for the fall of the monarchy that was already looming at the end of the 19th century. By marrying her cousin Franz Joseph I, the Bavarian Princess Elisabeth became Empress of Austria in 1854. She was not only the great cousin of Ludwig II, but also his closest friend. Both shared their aversion to the strict courtly ceremonies, from which they fled again and again, but also their tragic end. After the death of Ludwig II in 1886 in Lake Starnberg, Elisabeth was one of the first to be there. The grieving empress said goodbye with a bouquet of jasmine, which she placed in the hands of her deceased soulmate. When her son Rudolf committed suicide in 1889, Elisabeth almost exclusively wore black in the years that followed. On September 10, 1898, “Sisi” was murdered by an Italian anarchist on Lake Geneva.

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