Empress Sisi's previously lost medical records have been discovered

Old medical files of the Austrian Empress Sisi have appeared in the Bad Kissingen city archives, which provide a new image of the Empress.

Bad Kissingen – The Austrian Empress Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie, also known as Sisi, still fascinates many people today. It wasn't until 2023 that the 125th anniversary of her death was celebrated in Starnberg. In the film trilogy, the Empress is portrayed by Romy Schneider as a beautiful, elegant and vital ruler. Her medical records now show that this impression is only half true.

In the city archives of Bad Kissingen, where Sisi was treated a total of six times, old medical documents belonging to the Empress were found that provide new insights. These have been processed and are now part of the special exhibition “Imperial & incognito. Sisi in Bad Kissingen” in Upper Saline Museum of the well-known health resort.

Extremely vain: Medical records reveal Sisi's bizarre beauty rituals

The documents found are mainly old doctor's letters and prescriptions from the Empress, which were written by her spa doctor Dr. Alfred Sotier were kept. These reveal a lot about the cult empress. Apparently she was extremely vain. “Sisi couldn’t cope with aging. She stopped allowing herself to be photographed in the 1860s and hid her face behind fans and umbrellas,” explained the historian Cornelia Oelwein, who is responsible for the collection, to the Picture. At that time, Sisi, born in 1837, was just over 30 years old.

And she had some strange beauty rituals: She needed 100 egg yolks every time she washed her hair. The water she needed for washing had to be distilled by pharmacists. If a hair fell out, the lady in waiting had to hide it. The film “Sisi & I” by Frauke Finsterwalder tells of the last years of Empress Elisabeth’s life.

Medical records show: Sissi suffered from headaches, shingles and intestinal problems

In the Bad Kissingen city archives, prescriptions and diagnoses from the spa doctor were also found, which testify to special treatments. According to Oelwein, many of these recipes would now be described as homeopathic. “Some would simply be banned today because of the side effects,” she says. For example, Sisi received a so-called Fowler's solution that contained highly toxic potassium arsenite and pills containing poisonous strychnine. These medicines were intended to help the Empress of Austria against her headaches, constipation and loss of appetite.

The correspondence between Sisi's lady-in-waiting and her spa doctor also shows that she suffered from shingles. “Unfortunately, dear doctor, I can't write anything very positive about our majesty. Arm and left shoulder, as you know, it is very painful with terrible burning and itching,” the staff member wrote in a letter.

On September 10, 1898, Sisi was stabbed to death by an Italian anarchist on a Lake Geneva promenade. The last entry in the medical file is a drawing of the murder weapon, a pointed file with a wooden handle. (jus)