Inspired by our founder Margarete Steiff, we are celebrating Famous Women of the World. This new array of tributes debuts with Empress Elisabeth of Austria and Queen of Hungary – Austria’s free-spirited Empress. The life of Elisabeth of Austria reads like a romantic novel: A vivacious Bavarian princess known as one of the most beautiful and famous women of 19th century Europe, nicknamed “Sisi”. Emperor Franz Joseph’s gaze was captured by the stunning young Elisabeth. Two days after their first meeting, Franz Joseph asked Elisabeth to marry him. Eight months later, the wedding took place in Vienna. Of all the Habsburgs, Austria’s longest-reigning dynasty, no one has retained as much fame as Elisabeth of Austria. Even 125 years after her death, the empress outshines all. Who could have known that trying to defend her spirit and independence became her destiny?