https://www.imperialtickets.com/en/sisi-museum-hofburg-vienna
The Hofburg Palace is one of the most beautiful places to visit in Vienna. It also houses the popular Sisi Museum where you can learn more about this glamorous yet tragic empress.
History
The Hofburg Palace is a sprawling complex of marble buildings in the heart of historical Vienna. The oldest parts date to the 13th century, and it was used as the winter home of the Hapsburgs who ruled over the Austro-Hungarian Empire until it collapsed after WWI.
Famous inhabitants include Queen Maria Theresa who raised her large brood (including a daughter who would become the tragic French Queen Marie-Antoinette) here. Its most famous residents were Emperor Franz Joseph and his iconic wife, Empress Elisabeth “Sisi” often referred to as the 19th century’s Princess Diana. Franz Joseph rose to power in 1848 and remained emperor until his death in 1916. He married his beautiful first cousin, Elisabeth, who became the most famous woman in the world for her fashion, her tiny waist, and her long tresses that took hours to style every day. Their love match turned into an unhappy marriage, but they had four children and some happy times here.
Visit
The Imperial Apartments and Sisi Museum are open to visitors in one part of the complex (see a list below of the additional places you can visit in the complex). The Sisi Museum is extremely popular, so you definitely want to purchase your tickets well in advance here. A single ticket gets you into both the apartments and museum. I recommend going first thing in the morning to cut down on the crowds, particularly in the Sisi Museum.
The entrance is located just off Michaellerplatz. Be sure to note the Roman archeological ruins in the road right before the entrance!
Head into the vast rotunda and take a right to enter the museum at your designated time. The Imperial Porcelain and Silver Collection is located on the ground floor, but it was closed during my visit.
Head upstairs to the cramped yet fascinating Sisi Museum. Be sure to pick up an audioguide before entering the exhibits. The first rooms detail Sisi’s death from an assassination in Geneva when she was 60 years old. You can view her death mask and funeral flowers.
The museum has many of her clothes and personal items displayed in tiny rooms. I could have spent hours reading all of the display descriptions although the crowds make it difficult at times.
Her childhood in Bavaria is described as well as the story of how Franz Joseph was supposed to marry her sister instead of her!
My favorite room had two of her elaborate dresses with her impossibly tiny waist on display.
Just look at the exquisite details!
Seeing her clothes really brought her to life.
I also loved seeing her fabulous jewelry and the diamond stars she wore in her famous tresses. I purchased a replica as a necklace for my souvenir!
The portraits of Sisi throughout the museum are just so beautiful.
After her son died (in a tragic murder-suicide with his mistress), she wore mourning clothes. In truly one of the what-ifs of history, if this son and heir to the throne hadn’t killed himself, would WWI have happened? The next in line to the throne was Archduke Franz Ferdinand whose assassination was the spark that lit the world on fire. If her son was the heir, would this have happened?
There were so many personal items like her journals and letters. Her will and rosary were particularly poignant.
Her train car is also displayed!
After you leave the Sisi Museum, you’ll enter the Imperial Apartments where the crowds spread out. The emperor’s apartments are first. There is plenty of gilt and marble, but as you see in his bedroom, Franz Joseph preferred a simpler style.
I loved seeing his private portraits of Sisi. Even though they had a troubled marriage, he truly loved her.
Sisi’s rooms are a treasure! She is infamous for her hours-long toilette as she styled her flowing locks and squeezed herself into the tiny gowns. Her vanity looks as if she has just been called away.
The most fascinating room is her exercise room which is how she maintained her figure. It was unheard of for a young queen to exert herself in exercise, but Sisi loved being active. She was an exemplary horsewoman and rode for hours daily. She also used these now-rudimentary exercise apparatuses to remain in shape. Note the rings hanging in the doorway!
Her bathroom with its new indoor plumbing features is also on display.
These rooms match her regal style and bearing.
This portrait is my favorite – so glamorous!
The last room houses Sisi’s china and silverware. So pretty!
Your tour ends at the gift shop where you can find all kinds of Sisi-related souvenirs. I loved the book selection as well!
Other parts of the palace complex include: Imperial Treasury, Spanish Riding School (Lipizzaner stallions), State Hall of the Austrian National Library, Augustinian Church, Albertina Museum, Neue Hofburg, House of Austrian History, and Ephesus Museum
Visiting the Imperial Apartments and Sisi Museum is a must-do item on any trip to Vienna! After viewing her rooms, you will become obsessed with Sisi too!
Helpful hints:
- Cost: €20/adults; €12/children (ages 6-12)
- Recommended: ages 10 and up
- Tour time: 1-2 hours
- Gift shop located at exit
- Transportation: Located in the heart of historic Vienna, it’s an easy walk from most tourist hotels. Entrance is off the Michaellerplatz
- Dining options: I had a lovely lunch in the palace greenhouse cafe, Brasserie Palmenhaus Wien. I highly recommend it!
- Nearby hotels: There are dozens of great hotels in the historic center of Vienna. Check out the Vienna Tourism site for details. We stayed at the nearby Steigenberger Hotel Herrenhof, which was nice. I also recommend the Hotel Sacher and Park Hyatt.
- Nearby attractions include: the rest of the Hofburg complex listed above, Volksgarten and Burggarten (palace gardens), and Imperial Crypt
Books to Read:
All links are Amazon affiliate links. You can visit my Bookshop.org shop to support independent bookstores and creators.
Adults/Young Adults:
- Hofburg Palace
- The Habsburg Empire: A New History
- Twilight of the Habsburgs: The Life and Times of Emperor Francis Joseph
- The Reluctant Empress (link is to Blackwells in England)
- Seven Sisters: Captives and Rebels in Revolutionary Europe’s First Family
- The Rebel Empresses: Elisabeth of Austria and Eugénie of France, Power and Glamour in the Struggle for Europe
- The Accidental Empress
- Sisi: Empress on Her Own
- The Empress
Middle Grade:
