MUNICH – The undergarments of Austrian Empress Elisabeth, popularly known as ‘Sisi’, is going under the hammer at a Munich auction house on Tuesday (June 1).
Hermann Historica set the starting price for the “three pieces of underwear from the summer wardrobe” at 1,000 euros (about US$ 1,220).
The auction house said the underwear dates back to around 1870 to 1880 and consists of a “matching undergarment and wrap-around leg dress made of fine white linen and a pair of long cotton stockings”
The pictures show a sleeveless camisole with lace trim and the stockings are embroidered with a small crown in red and the letters ‘ES’.
The empress was born as Elisabeth of Bavaria in 1837 and became the wife of Habsburg Emperor Franz Joseph I, who reigned from 1848 to 1916. She died in 1898.
Elisabeth became a cult figure, especially in the German-speaking world, after a series of films depicting a romanticized version of her life were made in the 1950s.
Dresses, a travel suitcase filled with laundry and a gold sofa are among the other items that once belonged to Elisabeth being auctioned off.
The auction house’s website lists an “elegant salon dress” with a starting bid of 4,500 euros and a “black mourning cloak” from 1889 starting at 2,000 euros.
Elisabeth’s son Rudolf took his own life in 1889, and she is said to have worn only black from then on.
Hermann Historica has previously drawn criticism for auctioning off Nazi memorabilia.
Sisi is not the first historical figure whose undergarments have gone under the hammer there. Nazi military leader Hermann Goering’s silk underpants were sold there for 3,000 euros a few years ago.
-dpa