*** European royalty Austria : Emperor Franz Josef and Emperess Elizabeth Sisi children







Emperor Franz Josef and Emperess Elizabeth: Children

Franz Josef and children
Figure 1.--This portrait of Franz Josef shows him with is daughter Gissela and his only son Rudolf. It was taken about 1861. Gissela wears a white dress and Rudolf a kind of kilt outfit. Although the whiteness of their tops make it difficult to make about it difficult to see detail, they look to be identical.

Emperor Franz Josef and Emperess Elisabeth had four children. The Emperess gave birth to four children, three in quick order after marriage. She was not, however, a very engaged mother. She has been criticized, however, for her lack of warmth as a mother. This is not just a family matter. Her son Rudolfis a man, who if he had become emperor, night have been able to stop World War I. The Empresses' motherly role may have been affected by her treatment at Court. She was only 16 when she was married and very innocent. Her initail intinmate realtions with her husband appear to have been unpleasant. When the children arrived, Franz Josef's mother the Archduchess Sophia constantly interfered. She prohibited Elizabeth, for example, from breast feeding the children. She ccame to dislike, she used the term "loath" the idea of having children. [Haslip, p. 87.] After the first three children, even though her health was excellent, she insisted to her husband that they have no more children. This proved to be decission if enormous political consequence when their only son, Rudolf committed suiside. This showed a very strong turn of mind for a young woman in the mid-19th century. She in fact encouraged Franz Josef to find a mistress so as not to have further intimate relations with him. This rejection was a considerable scandal in court circles and very painful to Franz Josef as he was so attached to his wife.

Parenthood

Neither the Emperor or the Emperess appear to have been very engaged parents. In the Emperess' case, her innosence, youth, and insecurity at court must have affected her ability to mother the younger children.

Mother

Emperor Franz Josef and Emperess Elisabeth had four children. The Emperess gave birth to four children, three in quick order after marriage. She was not, however, a very engaged mother. She has been criticized for her lack of warmth as a mother. This is not just a family matter. Her son Rudolf is a man, who if he had become emperor, night have been able to stop World War I. The Empresses' motherly role may have been affected by her treatment at Court. She was only 16 years old when she was married and very innocent. Her initial intinmate realtions with her husband appear to have been unpleasant. When the children arrived, Franz Josef's mother the Archduchess Sophia constantly interfered. She prohibited Elizabeth, for example, from breast feeding the children. The Emperess came to dislike, she used the term 'loath', the idea of having children. [Haslip, p. 87.] After the first three children, even though her health was excellent, she insisted to her husband that they have no more children. This proved to be decission of enormous political consequence when their only son, Rudolf committed suiside. This showed a very strong turn of mind for a young woman in the mid-19th century. She in fact encouraged Franz Josef to find a mistress so as not to have further intimate relations with him. This rejection was a considerable scandal in court circles and very painful to Franz Josef as he was so attached to his wife.

Father

We do not have much information about Franz Jodesef as a father. He was still a relatively young man when the first three children came. He does not appear, however, like his wife to have been a very engaged parent. He seems to have primarily concerned himself with state maters and found little time for the children. The Austro-Hungarian monarchy was not a figure-head monarchy as was evolving in Britain. As a result, the Emperor was the major force in the government of a large, diverse empire.

The Children

Emperor Franz Josef ans Sissi had four children. The first child died as an infant. Gissella and Rudolf were about the same age and grew up together. Rudolf's fate was one of the great tragedies of the Hapsburg dynasty. Maria Valerie was much younger and arrived when her parents were older.

Sofie (1855-57)

Sophie died as an infant in 1857.

Gissela (1856-1932 )

We have little information about Princess Gissela. We do note several photographs taken with her and Prince Rudolf when they were quite young. A good example is the image where the two were photographed with their father (figure 1). Their mother was clearly not ready for motherhood when she and Rudolf were born early in the marriage. Giesela, like her mother, also married young at only 15 years of age to Prince Leopold of Bavaria, a son of Prince Regent Leopold of Bavaria. This meant that Gissela's mother, Emperess Elizabeth, at the age of only 36 years became a grandmother for the first time--long before she wished to be.

Crown Prince Rudolf (1858-89)

Crown Prince Rudolf was the only son of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth, one of Europe's most beautiful princesses. Rudolf was born on August 21, 1858. I'm ot sure how he was dressed as a boy. He was a patron of literature and the arts. He was constantly frustrated by his reactionary father. He colaborated with noted with prominent Austrian scholars in writing the definitive history Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Sissi's relationship with her eldest son, Crown Prince Rudolf was distant and strained. He wanted his mother's affection but by adulthood realized she was incabale of giving it to him. In 1881 their only son and the Crown Prince married Princess Stephanie of Belguim. For her part, Sissi hated Stephanie and made her life miserable. She did not see her faults or that they were exactly the same as those she critized. Rudolf's suiside in 1889 is one of the most storied romances of 19th century European royalty. The suiside at the Mayerling hunting lodge not only meant the death of two love struck people, it also robbed the Habsburgs of the one person who seemed most capable of keeping the tattered multinational monarchy from its eventual disintegration and collapse.

Maria Valerie (1868-1924)

Maria Valerie was born at Ofen in Hungary (1868). The Emperess Elizabeth (Sisi) was especially attached to their third surviving child Maria Valerie. She was born several years after the other children and Emperess Elizabeth was now more mature. Maria Valerie was Elizabeth's favorite child. She married a close cousin, Franz Salvator, from the Tuscan branch of the family. Marie Valerie was a determined young lady. When it came time to marriage, she chose love over a dynastic marraige. The family hoped she would marry some one like the Prince of Saxony or Prince Of Braganza. She flatly refused and Sissi supported her favorite daughter. Her choice apparently caused a rift between her and her brother--Crown Prince Rudolf. This seems strange because the Prince had marital problems because of a loveless marriage. Maria Valerie finally married Franz Salvador (Habsburg) a year after her brother's tragic suicide (1890). It proved to be a successful marriage. They had 10 children. Maria Valerie died in 1924 at Schloss Wallsee.

Raising the Children

We do not have a lot of information on how the royal children were raised.

Palace Staff

A HBRC reader writes, "My grandfather Martin Svrcek (1877-1959) was assigned to be "Prince Karol's" guardian while in the king's service. When he heard that the prince was killed he cried. He mentioned that the prince would plead to be put on Grandpa's horse and that one day he put him on the horse and was reprimanded." [Lann] We thought at first that the Prince Carol referred to here was Emperor Franz Josef's nephew Karl I who succeeded him in 1916, but the chronology is not right, so we are not sure just which Austrian royal is mebtioned here..

Relations among the Children

We have little information about the interelationships among the children. Gissela and Rudolf were close in age and were essentially raised together. Many photographic images show them together. We assume they were thus very close. Marie Valerie was born much later, 10 years after Rudolf. Thus the relationship with her would have been very different. We know Rudolf as an afdult quarreled with Marie Valerie over her marriage.

Sources

Haslip, Joan. The Lonely Empress: Elizabeth of Austria.

Lann, Carol. E-mail message, September 23, 2004.







HBRC








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Created: January 28, 2003
Last updated: 8:42 PM 5/19/2011