You will find this statue beside lac Léman. Who is this mysterious looking lady?

Elisabeth of Bavaria was called Sisi by her family. When she married Emperor Franz Josef of Austria she became Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary.

Sisi was very beautiful. She was famous for her elegant clothes and her very long hair.

Sisi loved to ride and people said she was the best horse rider of any woman in Europe..

Sisi lived in beautiful palaces. But she did not like the life of an empress and she became very sad.

After her grown-up son died, Sisi decided to travel to forget her sad life in Vienna. She always dressed in black and she became even thinner than before.

She visited Switzerland and stayed in Geneva at a hotel next to the lake.

One day she was walking near the pont du Mont Blanc. She was going to take a boat to Montreux. A deranged man stabbed her with a sharp knife. He was later caught and punished.

She was badly hurt and they took Sisi back to her hotel room where she died. Her body was taken back to Vienna to be buried with her family. b

People did not forget Sisi. In modern times many films were made about her life and beautiful actresses played the part of Sisi.

Today you can visit the palaces where Sisi lived in Vienna.

You can even buy a Sisi t-shirt at the gift shop. Do you think Sisi is like a Disney princess ?

Or is she the Mystery Lady of Geneva?