Brigitte Hamann (1) (1940–2016)
Author of The Reluctant Empress: A Biography of Empress Elisabeth of Austria
For other authors named Brigitte Hamann, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
Brigitte Hamann is a Ph.D. and specialist in nineteenth and twentieth century history, specifically of Austrian history. She is the author of many books in German. (In English: The Reluctant Empress: A Biography of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, and Bertha von Suttner: A Life for Peace.) She lives show more in Vienna. show less
Image credit: SPIEGEL TV
Works by Brigitte Hamann
Das Palais Epstein : Geschichte, Restaurierung, Umbau ; [ein neues Haus an der Wiener Ringstrasse] (2005) — Author — 2 copies
Fast jede Nacht träume ich von Ihnen: Die Briefe Kaiser Franz Josephs an Katharina Schratt (2011) 1 copy
Szlachetny Zyd Hitlera 1 copy
Massimiliano da Trieste al Messico — Contributor — 1 copy
ZeitungsZeugen 51 1 copy
Associated Works
Die Hofküche des Kaisers. Die k.u.k. Hofküche, die Hofzuckerbäckerei und der Hofkeller in der Wiener Hofburg (1985) — Afterword; Contributor — 4 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Hamann, Brigitte
- Legal name
- Hamann, Brigitte (Ehename)
Deitert, Brigitte (Geburtsname) - Other names
- DEITERT, Brigitte
HAMANN, Brigitte - Birthdate
- 1940-07-26
- Date of death
- 2016-10-04
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- Germany (dual)
Austria (dual) - Birthplace
- Essen, Germany
- Place of death
- Wien
- Places of residence
- Essen, Germany
Münster, Germany
Vienna, Austria - Education
- University of Münster, Germany
University of Vienna - Occupations
- historian
author
journalist
biographer - Relationships
- Hamann, Günther (Ehemann)
Hamann, Sibylle (Tochter) - Awards and honors
- Heinrich-Drimmel-Preis (1978) 982
Premio Comisso (1982)
Kreisky-Preis (1998)
Ehrenpreis des Presseclubs Concordia (2002)
Preis der Stadt Wien für Publizistik (2004) - Short biography
- Brigitte Hamann was born in Essen, Germany. She studied history and German literature at the universities of Münster and Vienna, and then worked as a journalist in her native city. In 1965, she married Günther Hamann, an historian and professor, and moved with him to Vienna, where she became an Austrian citizen. The couple had three children, including journalist and feminist Sibylle Hamann. In 1978, Brigitte Hamann earned a Ph.D. in history with a dissertation on the life of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria. It was published in part the same year as a book entitled Rudolf, Crown Prince and Rebel. The success of this first book led to her career as a history writer, and she produced bestselling biographies of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Adolf Hitler, and Winifred Wagner. She won numerous literary prizes for her work, including the Kreisky-Preis and the Ehrenpreis Presseclubs Concordia. She also appeared in the 2004 HBO documentary film Hidden Fuhrer: Debating the Enigma of Hitler's Sexuality.
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Statistics
- Works
- 29
- Also by
- 5
- Members
- 873
- Popularity
- #29,326
- Rating
- 4.2
- Reviews
- 20
- ISBNs
- 131
- Languages
- 9
- Favorited
- 3
From the beginning, readers are introduced to a very sensitive woman. Having grown up in an unorthodox, aristocratic household, Sisi is unpretentious and quite philosophical, even at a young age. When the emperor becomes infatuated with her, her mother - the Duchess Ludovika - worries that the call to duty will be too much for her daughter. However, I suspect that if Sisi had met more compassionate people, she would have risen to the occasion. As it was, the Viennese court repelled her. Much how Marie Antoinette was taken from her relatively carefree upbringing and plunged into a strict and superficial court, the same happens to Sisi, but she rejects it outright. She despises the customs and the formality, the gossip and the banality of her role. Her mother-in-law is like the evolved Jane Fonda from that one movie. She never lets the couple be on their own, and she has a vice-like grip over her son, the emperor. From the beginning, Sisi is treated like an outsider, and she starts to pull away.
Hamann is very sympathetic towards her subject. She insists over and over that the Viennese court alienated Sisi, even when the empress showed obvious talents and intelligence. In her dealings with her husband and the Hungarians, she is an astute and dedicated statesman. Sisi was also gifted with languages when she applied herself, having learned both Greek and Hungarian in her lifetime (two notoriously difficult languages), and she led a very disciplined lifestyle (which was very unhealthy but more on that later). Hamann also reveals that Sisi, despite being an aristocrat and empress, actually didn't support the monarchy but was a republican instead. Clearly, Sisi was no dummy, but she was forced to take a superficial role, which she shunned, hence why she chose to flee the Viennese court at every opportunity.
It is this that causes Hamann to critique her subject. While Sisi is very much to be pitied, she is not a saint nor a fairytale princess. She's a human who makes mistakes. She essentially gives up her first two children to an almost criminal degree and never takes an interest in them while smothering her youngest. She avoids duty like the plague, allowing herself to wallow in self-pity, when a little activity would most likely have brought her out of herself. She wasted money like there was no tomorrow, and she suffered from pretty extreme anorexia nervosa. Eventually, she clawed back the power from her mother-in-law, but she rarely used it for good.
Some people will say Sisi is a "piece of work" and move on, but they would be ignoring that a young woman was put in an impossible situation (as they say, no one says 'no' to the emperor) and given virtually no support (or at least not the kind of support she needed) to thrive in her new position. The Empress Elisabeth was a fascinating person, and Hamann does a fantastic job drawing her out her many layers, chapter by chapter, decade by decade. The biography is never boring, and it feels very approachable. Highly recommend to anyone looking to learn more about this tragic monarch who was probably the most human of all of them.… (more)