MY FAVORITE ROYALby Kathleen Bittner Roth
Never in mywildest dreams had it ever occurred to me that I would one day reside inBudapest. Hungary? A former Communist country? Eastern Europe?
Although I don’tknow how long I might remain here, and even though the circumstances thatbrought me here were downright sad, I felt compelled to commit to a year ofremaining here alone. That one-year date passed October 5th, and hereI am, still waiting for things to sort out in the other country I had lived infor four years—Croatia—another former Communist country.
What a cityBudapest has turned out to be. What a country. What history. I have fallen inlove! And it just so happens that my favorite historical royal fell in lovewith this country as well—and with a passion so great, she chose to have herfourth and last child here. She raised this daughter as a Hungarian, learned thelanguage (the second hardest language in the world), and spent as much time aspossible in her summer palace twenty miles outside the city.
Who was thiswoman? Empress Elizabeth of Austria (1837-1898), nicknamed Sissi (Originalspelling was Sisi) who became a historical icon. Considered the most beautifulwoman in the world during her time, she married Emperor Franz Josef, hercousin, when she was barely sixteen. His domineering mother had arranged ameeting between the young emperor and Sissi’s older sister for the purpose ofmarriage, but one look at fifteen-year-old Sissi and the twenty-three-year-old emperortold his mother if he couldn’t have Sissi, he wouldn’t marry at all. For him,it was love at first sight.
Sissi, one of tenchildren born in Munich to an eccentric duke, was raised in the wilds ofBavaria when her father ran off and bought a castle far enough away from courtprotocol to avoid his duties. He played and ran free, and so did his children.Sissi could out-shoot, out-ride and out-curse any man, much to her father’sdelight. Like him, she eschewed court rules, and even though she was shy, she rebelledat every turn. Wherever she traveled, a portable gym went with her. Everypalace or castle had a gym installed, and Sissi worked out every day. She atesparingly in order to keep her sixteen inch waist and some say she may havebeen anorexic in her later years.
It was herstubborn, controlling mother-in-law who likely was responsible for Sissi’shealth issues. The woman took Sissi’s children away from her to be raised atcourt according to the mother-in-law’s demands, refused to allow Sissi tobreast feed, and except for the last child, the daughter, born in Hungary,Sissi never saw much of her children.
Last August, inthe heat of the summer, I had the privilege of visiting her summer palace. Ican see why she loved her home at Godollo. Even though the temperature was inthe 90’s the day of my visit, I forgot about the heat once inside the building.All the windows and the many doors to various balconies had been flung open anda breeze flowed through an already light and airy structure. I’ve visited manypalaces and castles while living abroad, but Sissi’s summer palace at Godollois my favorite (it’s the second largest baroque palace in the world). The vastgrounds have been left intact (thank God, the Communists didn’t ruin it), andthe palace is in remarkable shape.
Sadly, Sissi wasassassinated in 1898 by an Italian anarchist. You can read all about her onsites like Wikipedia, you can watch the films made about her life, and evenview her summer castle and her home in Corfu on YouTube, but for me, nothingcompares to the impact of walking through the summer palace where her footstepsonce tread, or hiking the streets of beautiful, amazing Budapest, and seeingthe love people had for her in the form of bridges, statues, cafes and parksnamed after her.
While I may havelanded in Budapest under dire circumstances, I have made the most of my stay, andlately, I actually feel blessed to be here, in a land my favorite royal loved.Below are a few sites that may be of interest to you:
Wikipedia historyof Sissi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_in_Bavaria
Godollo Palace: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCQFVGrPFTw&feature=related
Hello Budapest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqwFvU5vBrA
You can visitKathleen’s website at www.kathleenbittnerroth.comwhere she writes about the history of Hungary and her life in Budapest on herblog.
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