A century ago, a young and reclusive Austrian beauty captivated a nation. She still does

By NINA PLANCK

he 16-year-old bride was stunningly beautiful, with a shy charm. Her dashing groom, only 24, was head of one of Europe's mightiest empires. The glamorous couple delighted a nation. But the girl was ill-prepared for life at court. She was bullied by a powerful mother-in-law who was determined to influence her husband. She grew to hate imperial life, seeking refuge in such sunny spots as Corfu. The unhappy young woman became obsessive about her appearance, dieting and exercising in her palace gym to the point of weakness. Phobic about publicity, she always traveled incognito. After years of isolation, her murder by stabbing at age 60 confirmed her tragic image.

She was Elisabeth of Bavaria and he was Emperor Franz Joseph, patriarch of the Hapsburg dynasty. Their glittering wedding, in 1854, and the many moments of private sadness that followed, are eloquent testimony to the fact that the pressures of life at court--so painfully evident in the tale of Diana, Princess of Wales--are not modern, but age-old. This month, to mark the centenary of her 1898 death at the hands of an Italian anarchist, Luigi Lucheni, three major exhibitions devoted to Empress Elisabeth open in Vienna. Reverence for Sisi, as the tragic heroine was affectionately known, is almost cult-like. A five-year run at Vienna's Theater an der Wien made Elisabeth the most successful German-language musical ever. Buying stacks of kitsch along the way, visitors will flock to the shows and other commemorations, from readings of her letters to a riding tournament.

The Empress hated the public spotlight because she realized, with great sadness, that her power lay in her beauty, which would only fade with age. Around the age of 30, she permitted no further portraits of herself, and always hid behind a fan or veil. The enigma of her persona only grew. "Elisabeth was a strong individualist. She lived an unusual life far from that of the imperial court," says Elfriede Iby, curator of two of the exhibitions. "But she was unhappy. Her remoteness, along with the images of beauty and youth, laid the foundation for the myth that persists today."

At Schonbrunn, the Hapsburgs' summer palace, the early days of Sisi's marriage are captured in displays of private possessions in her study, dressing room and bedroom. In the Hofburg Palace, famous portraits and other memorabilia tell of Sisi's official role, which she hated. Sorrow abounded. Apparently unable to return the affections of the lonely Franz Joseph, she delicately encouraged his affair with an actress. Her troubled relationship with her son Rudolf ended tragically in his famous Mayerling suicide pact with Marie Vetsera when he was 30. At the Hermes Villa, built for Sisi by Franz Joseph and her favorite refuge in Austria, a collection of her poetry and letters reveals her misery. "Oh, had I but never left the path/That would have led me to Freedom!/Oh, had I never strayed/Onto the broad avenues of Vanity!/I have awakened in a dungeon/With fetters on my wrists," she wrote a fortnight after her wedding.

From the moment Sisi married the Emperor, her face was public property. And it remains so today: in shops, her image is ubiquitous, gracing chocolates, cakes, jams, teas, T shirts and porcelain. It is the last thing she would have wanted.

--By Nina Planck. Reported by Angela Leuker/Vienna

--Reported by Angela Leuker /Vienna