Feeling Sisi’s aura as a living experience

Siegel der Schönbrunn Group

Opening times

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Sisi Museum Winter
Sisi Museum
daily | from 9.30 am - 5 pm
last admission | 4.00 pm

Discover our Tours

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Day ticket Sisi Museum

The ticket price includes admission to the Sisi Museum, the Imperial Apartments and the Silver Collection.

Audioguide Audioguide
Duration 1.5 -2 hours

Sisi Ticket

3 imperial attractions on 1 ticket: Schönbrunn Palace + Sisi Museum plus the Imperial Apartments and the Imperial Silver Collection in the Vienna Hofburg + the Vienna Furniture Museum – you save 25%!

Rooms 3 locations
Audioguide Audioguide

About the Museum

Virtual Tour

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Death

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The Sisi Myth

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Girlhood

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At Court

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Flight

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Assassination

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Emperor's Staircase

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Trabant Guards Room

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Audience Waiting Room

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Audience Chamber

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Conference Room

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Study

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Bedroom

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Large Saloon

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Small Saloon

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Living Room & Bedroom

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Dressing & Exercise Room

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Lavatory and Bathroom

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Berglroom

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Large Saloon of Empress Elisabeth

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Small Saloon of Empress Elisabeth

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Large Anteroom

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Alexander Apartments & Red Salon

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Dining Room

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Court Kitchen

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Old Court Silver and Table Rooms

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The Court on the Road

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Milan Centrepiece

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Flower Plates

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Foot-washing ceremony

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Diverse Dinner Service

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Sèvres und Meissner Service

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Old French Centrepiece

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The Minton Dessert Service

Court Kitchen

Here you can see a selection of copper vessels, pans and moulds which convey an idea of the range of different activities carried out in the court kitchens.

Old Court Silver and Table Rooms

In the five rooms of the Old Court Silver and Table Room with its oak display cases dating from the time of the monarchy you will see individual items or pieces from Old Vienna, Hungarian and Bohemian services.

The Court on the Road

The crowning feature of the place setting is the napkin arranged in the elaborate “Imperial Fold”, forming a hollow enclosing a small bread roll.

Milan Centrepiece

Milan Centrepiece commissioned from the firm of Luigi Manfredini to mark the coronation of Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria as King of Lombardy and Venetia in 1838

Flower Plates

These plates, some with a brown and others with a white ground, were used as dessert plates when the imperial dining table was laid with the Grand Vermeil Service.

Foot-washing ceremony

From the beginning of the nineteenth century there was a tradition at the Viennese court according to which the emperor and empress washed the feet of twelve men and twelve women each year on Holy Thursday, in remembrance of the act of humility performed by Christ in washing the feet of his disciples.

Diverse Dinner Service

This white and gold dinner service was acquired in 1851 for Emperor Ferdinand, nicknamed ‘the Good-Natured’ by the people, who abdicated from the throne in favour of his young nephew, Franz Joseph, and subsequently moved to the castle at Prague.

Sèvres und Meissner Service

The ‘Green Bands’ Service was an exquisite gift given by the French king Louis XV to Maria Theresa to mark the renversement des alliances and the beginning rapprochement between the ruling Bourbon and Habsburg dynasties following the devastating Wars of Succession.

Old French Centrepiece

The Old French Centrepiece was commissioned in Paris in 1838 to mark the coronation of Emperor Ferdinand as king of Lombardy and Venetia in Milan.

The Minton Dessert Service

Queen Victoria purchased the service and sent part of it (sixty-nine pieces) as a gift of friendship to Emperor Franz Joseph.

Death

The tour though the Sisi museum starts with Elisabeths tragic death.

The Sisi Myth

Elisabeth has gone down in history as an empress of eternal youthfulness and beauty. For more than three decades she was regarded as the most beautiful queen in Europe.

Girlhood

The tour through the Sisi museum gives an insight into the empresses life, from her birth on Christmas Eve in 1837, her childhood in Bavaria, to her engagement with Franz Joseph in 1853.

At Court

From the start, Elisabeth rejected this life, criticising the structures of the court and refusing to accept the justification for the rigid etiquette that prevailed there.

Flight

Having put immense pressure on the emperor during the negotiations with Hungary for the Compromise, Elisabeth was forbidden by her husband to interfere in politics ever again.

Assassination

"Now it has happened just as she always wished: quickly, painlessly without medical consultations, without long, anxious days of worry for her loved ones."

Emperor's Staircase

The entrance to the Sisi Museum and the Imperial Apartments.

Trabant Guards Room

Coming from the Emperor’s Staircase the visitor entered this room in which the Trabanten lifeguards kept watch night and day.

Audience Waiting Room

Emperor Franz Joseph gave general audiences twice a week, at which any of the subjects of his empire could attend to present a matter of their concern to the emperor.

Audience Chamber

Over the course of his long reign, Franz Joseph gave audiences to around 260,000 individuals.

Conference Room

This room was used for the ministerial conferences which were always chaired by the emperor. It could also be entered from the room occupied by the duty aide-de-camp, who announced the presence of the ministers to the emperor.

Study

‘As soon as the children were capable of eating on their own they were allowed to lunch with him in his study – often as many as eight at a time.’

Bedroom

When the imperial couple moved into separate bedrooms, Franz Joseph had a portable brown-painted iron bedstead set up in this room, an arrangement he also used at Schönbrunn, Budapest, Laxenburg, Bad Ischl and Gödöllö.

Large Saloon

"… he [i.e. Franz Joseph] liked dallying in these small drawing rooms when he was visited by his family, his brother, his grandchildren, nephews etc. There in their company he would take a cup of tea at the twilight hour, chatting with them, and above all, enquiring after their wishes…"

Small Saloon

The Small Salon served as a smoking room and is today a memorial room to Emperor Maximilian of Mexico.

Living Room & Bedroom

Originally this room was the bedroom of the imperial couple. In 1870 Franz Joseph moved into a separate bedroom in the Imperial Chancellery Wing.

Dressing & Exercise Room

The Dressing Room/Exercise Room was where Elisabeth spent most of her time. This was where her day began, in the winter at six o’clock in the morning, starting with her daily hair-dressing ritual.

Lavatory and Bathroom

Facing the Amalia Wing courtyard, behind the Dressing Room, are the empress’s Lavatory and Bathroom, which were refurbished in 1876 during Elisabeth’s occupancy.

Berglroom

This rooms are painted with trompe l’oeil landscape murals commissioned by Empress Maria Theresa and executed by Johann Wenzel Bergl.

Large Saloon of Empress Elisabeth

This room was used by Elisabeth as a reception room. When the empress was resident at the Hofburg, the imperial couple occasionally took breakfast together in this room.

Small Saloon of Empress Elisabeth

During Elisabeth’s time this room was used as an additional reception room.

Large Anteroom

Originally Empress Elisabeth’s apartments were accessed via the Eagle Stairs, which connected the Leopoldine Wing and the Amalia Wing. When the Leopoldine Wing was converted into the offices of the Federal President in 1946 access to the Imperial Apartments was blocked up.

Alexander Apartments & Red Salon

The Alexander Apartments were used by Empress Elisabeth for dinners and receptions.

Dining Room

Once a week on Sunday the imperial family foregathered at a family dinner, which every Habsburg currently in Vienna was obliged to attend.

Sisi Museum Digital

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