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Hofburg Vienna
Schloß Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H.
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Vesper mantle with the silver embroidery from the bridal gown of Empress Elisabeth

April 24^th marks the 153^rd anniversary of the wedding of Empress Elisabeth and Emperor Franz Joseph. One of the aspects of this ceremony that frequently gives rise to speculation is the question of what Sisi's bridal gown looked like, to which no satisfactory answer has yet been found. As the wedding ceremony was privately celebrated in the Augustinerkirche in the presence of the family and court household, and since the imperial couple neither entered nor left the church via the Josefsplatz, using instead a passage which led directly from the state rooms of the Hofburg into the church, the general public had no opportunity to catch sight of the imperial bride. Journalists were thus thrown back on their imagination, which explains why Elisabeth is wearing different gowns in the small number of images published of the wedding. Moreover, as no eye-witness accounts of the gown are known to exist, it has until now only been possible to speculate about its appearance. The sole surviving source is a liturgical vestment known as a pluvial or cope worn for the service of Vespers from the basilica of Maria Taferl which is now being exhibited at the Sisi Museum for the first time. It is made of ecru-coloured moiré silk with embroidered appliqué work in silver tinsel and delicate silver braid on orphrey and cappa. The embroidery displays a densely-worked design of foliage and flowers, from which develop sprigs of foliage with appliquéd flowers, fruits and tightly-furled spirals. According to a tradition this silver embroidery derives from the wedding dress of the empress which was donated to the pilgrimage church. The empress's bridal jewellery was donated to the church at Altötting in Bavaria, the traditional pilgrimage church of her family, the Wittelsbachs. It would thus seem that the same tradition was followed in the case of her bridal gown, as the basilica at Maria Taferl is the traditional pilgrimage church of the Habsburgs. It is not known when the silver embroidery was removed from the bridal gown and applied to this Vesper mantle, but the latter is listed in an inventory dating from 1882.

On display from 30 March, the cope gives us for the first time at least an idea of what the empress's bridal gown looked like.

Another unique exhibit now going on display at the Sisi Museum is the travelling toilet set of Empress Elisabeth, which was made by the famous Parisian goldsmith Charles Odiot in 1854. Comprising nine items, this chased and partially gilded silver set consists of an upright mirror with stand, a hand mirror, washbasin, water jug with cover, a pair of soap dishes with removable drainers, a powder box and a pair of two-light candelabra. All items display a finely engraved crowned initial E, and the lids of the carrying cases, which still have their original silk linings, are engraved with the imperial arms of alliance.

In addition, the empress's bathrobe with red embroidered trimming and a crowned dolphin also embroidered in red, together with her embroidered silk slippers, will be on display for the first time, as will a pair of black shoes worn by the empress in childhood together with a document confirming their authenticity signed by her daughter, Archduchess Marie Valerie: "A pair of children's shoes [worn by] the young Sisi, later Empress Elisabeth of Austria."