The first weekend I was in Vienna, the first thing I did was to purchase the ticket bundle on Sisi Museum, as the most famous royalty of Austria, she has an immortal fame and mystique about her. Until 1918 the extensive palatial complex at the heart of Vienna was the political centre of the monarchy. Today it fulfils the same role for the democratic Republic of Austria. The rooms where once Emperor Joseph II drew up his revolutionary program of reforms, where the Congress of Vienna met and danced and where Emperor Franz Joseph held audiences, now house the offices of the Federal President, the ministers of the chancellor’s office and the secretaries of state.

In the Silver Collection magnificent dining services, centerpieces measuring up to 30 meters in length and exquisite napery give an impression of the lavish pomp of imperial banquets.

The Sisi Museum conveys a complex picture of Empress Elisabeth with numerous, partly very personal objects on display which afford fascinating insights into the official and private worlds of this unique woman. Here as in no other place the legend of Sisi becomes tangible, with this imaginatively designed display shedding light in the mystery surrounding the personality of this fascinating woman.