sisi museum
sisi museum
AUSTRIA’S BELOVED EMPRESS Sisi
AT THE VIENNA HOFBURG
The Sisi Museum transports you back to the days of empire and gives you a personal insight into the life of the often misunderstood Empress Elisabeth.
My Rating:
The positives:
The museum gives you an excellent overview of the lives of Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Sisi. The information is very accessible, so it’s a good option if you have kids in tow.
The negatives:
The exhibition has no real X-factor! In a museum all about Sisi, you’d expect to uncover some new nuggets of information, but there’s not really anything that you haven’t heard or seen before (especially if you’ve already visited the Schönbrunn Palace).
Top tip:
Buy your ticket online and watch a couple of the Sisi films before you visit to get you in the mood.
Last Modified: 29.07.2024 | Céline & Susi
SISI MUSEUM
Tickets
The details
at a glance
Prices
Single ticket: only Sisi Museum
EUR 17.50 for adults
EUR 16.50 for students with a valid ID
EUR 11 for children from 6 to 18 years
free for children under 6 years
Sisi Ticket Deluxe: (Schönbrunn Palace + Sisi Museum + Imperial Apartments)
EUR 44 for adults
EUR 30 for children from 6 to 18 years
Passes
Free admission to the Sisi Museum.
The Vienna Pass is available for 1, 2, 3 or 6 days.
-> More about the Vienna Pass
Reduced admission to the Sisi Museum.
The Vienna City Card is available for 1, 2 or 3 days.
-> More about the Vienna City Card
SISI MUSEUM
Photo Gallery
WHAT IS THERE
TO SEE?
To get to the Sisi Museum, you first have to walk through the Silberkammer (Silver Collection), a series of rooms with glass cabinets packed full of plates, cutlery, glassware, dishes and tureens. Everywhere you look there’s porcelain, silver, gold and more – I’ve never seen so much tableware in one place, not even in a homeware department! It’s up to you whether to take the long route through the collection or the short-cut straight to the Sisi Museum. (I went for the long option because I just couldn’t believe how many plates and cups the imperial family owned!)
At the end of the Silver Collection you come to the red-carpeted staircase that leads up the Sisi Museum. The exhibition starts with the Empress’ death. You learn about who she was, what clothes she wore, and how, where and when she was assassinated. In each room there’s background music playing to help set the scene, including railway sound effects in the Empress’ reconstructed train compartment, where you learn all about her travels.
The next part of the museum takes you through the magnificent Imperial Apartments – the home of Emperor and Empress. Here you learn how and where the imperial couple lived and what a typical day in their life looked like. Even if you’ve seen all the Sissi films, there are still some interesting nuggets of information. For instance, the Empress spoke many languages, which she learnt while she was having her hair done (that was two hours every day!). She enjoyed sports and ate very little (anorexia perhaps?). Her children’s diaries reveal that she was sad much of the time (possibly depression?). Emperor Franz Joseph and Sisi slept in separate rooms and lived in separate apartments. He loved her very much, but her feelings towards him are much debated.
The exhibition also includes many everyday and personal items used by the imperial couple. In the last room, for instance, you’ll find a table set for dinner. It’s fascinating to see how much cutlery and glassware was used for one dinner, and read all the rules that diners had to follow. Who knew that when invited to dine with the Emperor, all guests had to stop eating when he put his cutlery to one side! Dinner with Franz and Sisi must’ve been quite a stressful experience!
HISTORY OF
THE VIENNA HOFBURG
The Sisi Museum, Imperial Apartments and Silver Collection are all part of the Vienna Hofburg. The Sisi Museum first opened in 2004. Two years later, in 2006, 240 new pieces were purchased for the collection, including Sisi’s travelling medicine chest, christening robe and a milk tooth. In 2009, when the museum was closed for partial remodelling and renovation work, additional clothing pieces were also put on display, including the black coat used to cover Sisi after she was assassinated.
For more than 600 years the Hofburg was the imperial residence of Austria’s ruling Habsburg dynasty. Emperor Franz Joseph gave audiences here and it has been the official residence of the President of Austria since 1946. At the start of the 19th century, the chancellery was converted into residential suites for the imperial family, and a few years later, Emperor Franz Joseph took up residence there.
The Neue Burg wing was added later, at the beginning of the 20th century.
Today it houses a number of museums and cultural institutions, including the Austrian National Library and the Spanish Riding School. In total, the Hofburg comprises 18 wings and 19 courtyards and covers an area of 24 hectares, making it the largest secular building complex in Europe. It is estimated that around 5000 people live or work there.
Official website of the Sisi Museum (EN): www.hofburg-wien.at
Text rights: © Céline Mülich 2021 – 2024
With the support of Susanne Vukan.
With the permission of Schönbrunn Palace.
Image rights: © Schloß Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H., Severin Wurnig
OTHER
IMPERIAL TRACES
Schönbrunn Palace
find out more
SPANISH RIDING SCHOOL
find out more
The Furniture Museum
coming soon