April 1890 — An Empress recluse — Elisabeth of Austria in the care of Dr Metzger at Wiesbaden

AN EMPRESS RECLUSE

Elisabeth of Austria in the Care of Physicians at Weisbaden [sic]

Has Almost Unbalanced a Royal Mind and Destroyed her Beauty

THE ROMANCE OF A SISTER'S LIFE

[Corrrespondence of the dispatch]

in Pittsburg dispatch., May 04, 1890, 2d part, page 9

Weisbaden [sic, for Wiesbaden], April 23.

Ever since the unfortunate death of her only son, Prince Rudolph, the Empress of Austria has been a comparative recluse, and society at Vienna and elsewhere sees very little of the once famous and beautiful woman. Lately she has aged rapidly, and although she still retains traces of her former loveliness, few would recognize in the sad and faded woman of 53 the once graceful and agile equestrienne whose beanty and prowess delighted the courts of Europe and were the especial pride of the Viennese.

Weisbaden, always gay, has experienced something of a flatter over the arrival of this distinguished invalid, who comes to be treated for rheumatism and gout by the most famous of European masseurs, Dr. Metzger, of Amsterdam. Dr. Metzger has had under his care at different times the Prince of Wales, who visited him here, the Emperor of Russia, whom he treated at St. Petersburg, and almost every crowned head in Europe, with the exception of the young Emperor of Germany. His latest royal patient has, with her household, taken possession of the lovely villa Langenbeck, in the suburbs. The villa is situated on a romantic-looking height which overlooks the town and affords a superb view of the surrounding country for many miles. Here the life of the Empress is very simple and secluded. She rides a great deal ; but, as at Vienna, she is rarely to be seen and is denied to visitors. Her constant companions are the Fraulein von Ferenczi and another lady of honor, her youngest daughter, the Archduchess Valerie and the Countess Korniss.

She rises very early and with Valerie strolls in the great rose gardens attached to the villa for an hour or more, till the time for mass, which she attends in the private chapel attached to the villa. Then she takes her massage for an hour, after which comes a mineral bath for the gout, the whole treatment occupying the time until 1 o'clock, when dinner is served in absolute privacy. She eats very lightly and, in the evening, a little tea with sandwiches is all the ladies of this modest court take before retiring. Indeed, the daily routine at the villa is more like the life of a convent than anything else.

But despite rheumatic pains and the feebleness of age, the Empress yet retains her old love of adventure. Frequently during the afternoon she takes long excursions in the mountains, and climbs to heights that would be fatiguing even to a younger person. On these trips her companions, besides such of the ladies of the court as have the endurance needed for the task, are the Oberhofmeisterein Grafin Goess and Oberhofmeister Baron Nopsea.Her ailment has compelled her to abandon forever her horseback rides, as that form of exercise was largely the cause of her illness. It was not an uncommon thing for the Empress to be in the saddle six or eight hours a day for a week at a time, either following the hunt or for the mere love of the exercise. Now Dr. Metzger has forbidden it absolutely, and although she looks with longing eyes at her stables and pats the glossy necks of her favorites, she is an obedient patient.

I had the pleasure of a visit to the Langenbeck villa a few days ago. Elizabeth has unquestionably improved much under the treatment of the great masseur. While there I met Dr. Metzger. He is a tall, fine looking, ruddy-cheekedman of about 50. His treatment embraces a system of thorough rubbings and movements of the limbs, and he is a great advocate of the mineral baths. The Villa Langenheck is historic. Its owner, one of the wealthiest and best known surgeons in Europe, is now dead. For many years he was chief of the Prussian surgical staff in the army and afterward served in the same capacity in the German army during the campaigns of 1864, 1866 and 1870. He had the rank of a general and the grand quoi of the Iron Cross and many other decorations. During my visit the inmates of the villa had a pleasant surprise. The Emperor William of Germany, who had just arrived in Wiesbaden, came to the villa and paid his respects to the royal Invalid. He was in the uniform of a Colonel of Austrian Hussars, and the compliment paid was both a gallant and delicate one. He stayed to dinner, and while that meal was in progress an alarm was heard ontside, and soon there were sounds of a military attack on the villa

which was being stormed by cavalry, the Emperor himself directing the operations. It was a fine show of military tactics gotten up expressly for the diversion ot the Empress and her ladies, and was highly appreciased. 

The Empress, who is really very clever and well-intormed and who speaks and reads nearly all the modern languages, has lately taken up the study of modern Greek, which she has contrived to acquire at Corfu, where she spends a few months every season. Much of the light of her life went out when the Crown Prince Rudolph died after his unfortunate liaison with the beautiful Baroness Vestura [sic, for Vetsera]. Since that event no court balls have been given at Vienna, nor has she even gone to the theater, although she was formerly a devoted worshiper of the drama and a liberal patron. Her daughter, Valerie, is engaged to be married to the Archduke Salvator, her cousin, but because of the family mourning the wedding has been postponed until the month of May, when it will probably take place at Ischl.

Although Elizabeth has improved under the new treatment, little hopes are entertained that she will fully recover her health and spirits. There is in some quarters a suggestion of mental malady, and this finds color in the fact that every year increases her desire for solitude. Indeed, there are thousands of her Austrian subjects who would not know her even by sight. She is exceeding pious, too, and her obedience to her spiritual advisers, who are appointed by the Archbishop of Vienna and the Franciscan Brotherhood is almost slavish.

The Empress is the daughter of Prince Max, of Bavaria, and belongs to a family noted for intermarriages. Prince Max is the brother of Louis I., of Bavaria, who was the father of King Louis II. [sic, for the granfather], who committed suicide. Louis I. was a monarch with a picturesque and architectural turn of mind, and during his reign many of the finest public buildings and monuments in Munich were designed and erected. One of Elizabeth's sisters is the ex-Queen of Naples. Another sister was to have became the wife of Louis II., but, for a reason that written history does not explain, the match was suddenly broken-off. She afterward wedded one of the Orleans Princes and is now a Duchess. I was told that the real secret of the disruption of the proposed royal alliance came about in this wise:

A few days belore the wedding was to have taken place a friend of the King waited on him and remarked, with seeming indifference: 

— How funny, Your Majesty, that your bride, the Princess, should be so fond of being photographed.

— So! ejaculated Louis.

— Yes, continued the tale-bearer. She goes nearly every day to the handsome Franz Hanfstaengel and sits for her picture.

— Ah! observed the monarch, dryly.

Franz Hanfstaengel, it should be explained, is the principal photographer, not only in Munich but in Europe, and is patronized by the royalties very liberally. He is a fine looking fellow, and is an especial favorite with the ladies of the different courts.

— Is it so? continued the King. Well, then, I will have this photographer of yours take my picture also. A day or two later (monarchs have means of learning things that are not accessible to other mortals) be went to Hanfstaengel's studio and happened to enter at a moment when the pretty but indiscreet Princess was with the artist. Both were in a very loving attitude, and the King was more that satisfied that he had a formidable rival in the man of lenses. The match was broken off immediately. 

Baron von M.