Herausgegeben von Brigitte Haumann — Elisabeth: Bilder einer Kaiserin

Amalthea. 1982, paperback, goed exemplaar. Elisabeth, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, was — apart from her position in society — one of the most interesting women of her time. It was not in her duties at court that she was interested but in realizing her own aim at all costs. She refused to be led astray from these activities and so neglected her obligations as Empress. She spent lots of time (up to three hours a day) looking after herself and keeping her beauty intact — a beauty which had become a legend at the time. However it was with even greater energy that she went about her own education. She was one of the best informed people on the poet Heinrich Heine and attempted herself to copy her master's style. She spoke Hungarian and modern Greek fluently. These very personal facts about the Empress did not appear in any of the works produced about her. Personal ideas she kept successfully hidden from her contemporaries. She lived in self chosen confinement away from court and only allowed herself to be painted and photographed when she was at the height of her beauty. There are almost 300 pictures in this book which come from public and private collections as well as illustrated papers of the time.