Augsburg

Augsburg is the “city of scandal” in Sisi’s life. Her brother, Duke Ludwig, resides in the center of the city, on Maximilianstrasse, as officer of the Royal Bavarian Chevau-légers. Upon meeting Jewish actress Henriette Mendel, he falls hopelessly in love. But the liaison is viewed as a scandal in social circles. Nevertheless, Elisabeth’s brother marries the artist in 1859 in the city of the Fuggers, after the birth of their daughter, Marie Louise. And this daughter later leads a life fitting to a Hollywood film script.

Marie Louise Elisabeth von Larisch-Wallersee is initially Sisi’s favorite niece. But then she plays a decisive and fatal roll in the tragedy of Mayerling by introducing Sisi’s only son, Crown Prince Rudolf, now a married man, to the very young baroness Mary Vetsera who becomes Rudolf’s lover. Together, Rudolf and his mistress commit suicide. Consequently, Marie Louise is permanently banned from court. After many difficult years in America, she returns to Augsburg in 1929 and resides at Arnulfstrasse 17 in the Pfersee district. The niece from Augsburg who was once so close to Sisi dies a pauper in her hometown in 1940.

Another native of Augsburg who bears an intense relationship to Sisi is the actress Magda Schneider. Not only does she play the role of Sisi’s mother in movies, she is also the real mother of Romy Schneider who plays Sisi. Born in the Swabian metropolis in 1909, Magda Schneider celebrates her first successes as an artist in her hometown and advances to one of the most demanded actresses of her time.