Click on the names in the
Family Tree
to read their individual information.

Ludovica - Daughter of the Bavarian King, Max Joseph I.  She was a very cultured and civilised woman, who gave Sisi a love of poetry and tried to bring her up well.  She had to tolerate her errant husband's many affaires and his lack of responsibility.  She died aged 67.

Duke Max "in" Bavaria - Married his first cousin, Ludovica.  Max was something of a madcap and a philanderer - he had a number of illegitimate children to various local women.  He was very irresponsible and loved to spend his time in equestrian pursuits in which he was an expert.  His favourite instrument was the zither, which he played well and for which he composed many tunes.  He travelled widely and often, e.g. Greece & Egypt.  While in Egypt, he climbed the Great Pyramid and composed his "Nile Waltz", as well as buying, as a gift for Sisi, a negro slave boy to be her companion.  He was held in contempt by his Austrian royal relations.  He lived to be 80 years old!

Franz Joseph - Sisi's first cousin and husband.  He was a "dry" and dour man, who, although loved Sisi very much, found it difficult to show his emotions.  He saw himself as the soldier-emperor, who had a divine mission to rule the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which he had inherited, at the age of 18.  His days were spent chained to his desk, dealing with official papers.  Only during the summer months did he escape to the Kaiservilla in Bad Ischl, to indulge in his passion for shooting wildlife.  The walls of the Kaiservilla are covered in his trophies.  Throughout her life, he indulged Sisi's evry whim; building her homes and subsidising her many expensive travels abroad, as well as paying for her many horses.  He ruled his Empire from 1848 to 1916, dying at the age of 86.

Maximilian - younger brother of Franz Joseph.  he was, unlike his brother, very popular and had a liberal and enquiring mind.  He married Charlotte, Princess of Belgium.  Max was, for a while, Admiral of the Austrian Navy.  He was persuaded by Napoleon III of France, to become Emperor of Mexico, but this enterprise ended tragically, when he was shot by a rebel firing squad at Queretaro in Mexico this event is the subject of the painting by Manet.  After his death, his wife, Charlotte went insane.  Maximilian is buried in the Capuchine Crypt in Vienna - among minor nobility!

Sophie - Sisi's aunt and mother-in-law.  She was the mother of Franz Joseph and Maximilian.  Sophie is often critcised for her attempts to make the young, newly-married Elisabeth conform to the strict Vienna court protocol.  She viewed Sisi as an unfit mother and so brought up all of Elisabeth's children, apart from Marie Valerie, who was Sisi's favourite.  Elisabeth and Sophie were never close, yet Elisabeth was at Sophie's bedside when she died!

Rudolph - Third child and only son of the Emperor and Sisi.  Due to his harsh upbringing and early "military-style" education, he grew up highly strung, but very intelligent.  He had little contact with his mother, as a young boy, yet worshipped her.  During his youth, his father wanted him to be a soldier; but Rudolph was unsuited to this life, preferring to spend his time writing anonymous political articles critcising his father and his regime, as well as womanising and drinking to excess.  In the last years of his life he was afflicted with syphillis and became addicted to drugs.  Late in 1888, he met the young 17 year old Baroness Maria Vetsera, who became his mistress, despite the fact that Rudolph was over 30.  Her infatuation with him led her to agree to a suicide pact with him.  On January 30th 1889, Rudolph shot Maria, then himself at his hunting lodge at Mayerling, outside Vienna.  His reasons for such a terrible act remains a mystery to this day.