Her personality
Unpleasant events
FIRST YEARS
Born 1837 in the house of
Posenhoffen, Bavaria, Germany, she was the second daughter of Archduke
Maximillian of Bavaria and Ludowiga and first cousin of Otto, King of
Greece. Elisabeth had a wonderful childhood being brought up with
affection and plenty of freedom but before reaching maturity, was already
betrothed to her first cousin - Frans-Joseph I of the Hapsburg Dynasty .In
1853 Elisabeth's mother, Ludowiga and her sister, Sofia - mother of
Frans-Joseph, negotiated together on the possible marriage between
Frans-Joseph and Elisabeth's older sister Helena (Nene). An engagement
announcement was proposed to be given at a gala ball to be held in Vienna
that same year The whole family, including Elisabeth, who was a mere 16
years old at the time, went along. Because ofher high spirits and
mischievesnous, Elisabeth was confined to her room in the hopes it would
keep her out of trouble whilst arrangements were going ahead for the
ball.As the story goes. . . . she escaped from he bedroom window one day
to partake in little fishing down by the river (fishing waw one of the
many outdoor activities sheenjoyed) It was whilst
she was casting her line that it became entangled behind her - on turning
she was horrified to realise she had
hooked onto the coat of a young man riding by in his carriage with rider
escort. His guards immediately confronted the young Elisabeth as to why
and what she was doing and she was brought before her captive. Neither had
any idea who the other was and she was freed once it was clear it was an
innocent action. The story takes almost fairytale proportions when the
couple met that evening at the ball. Frans-Joseph had eyes only for
Elisabeth and much to the amazement of both families, spent the entire
evening dancing together without even noticing the young woman to whom he
was supposed to become engaged - Nene. The couple fell instantly in love
and of course there was no question by the end of the night just whose
engagement would be announced -that of Frans-Joseph to Elisabeth Amalia
Eugenia Wittlesbach of Bavaria; Frans-Joseph making the announcement
himself Their wedding followed a year later in 1854.