Brigitte Hamann Libri

Sposa a diciassette anni di Francesco Giuseppe, Elisabetta di Wittelsbach ("Sissi") abbandonò le foreste della Baviera per il mondo dorato e soffocante della corte di Vienna. Coraggiosa e fragile, malinconica ed eccentrica, Sissi non volle accettare nessuno dei ruoli che la tradizione e l'ambiente le assegnavano. L'intera sua vita, interrotta nel 1898 dalle pugnalate di un anarchico, fu un tentativo di sottrarsi al destino di "gabbiano prigioniero nel castello", una fuga continua dai rituali e dal formalismo della vita di palazzo. Desiderando essere qualcosa di più della consorte di un imperatore, di affermare in ogni modo la propria individualità, Sissi farà di sé una donna speciale. Amazzone provetta, eccelse nei tornei di caccia; poetessa dilettante, lasciò oltre cinquecento pagine di versi; giovane splendida, riuscì a trasformare la propria bellezza in un mito ineguagliabile. Nell'appassionata biografia della Hamann, che ha dedicato a Sissi anche un volume fotografico, rivive una donna di sensibiltà e intelligenza straordinarie, una sovrana anomala e sognatrice, condannata a un destino di infelicità.

Tracing the life of "Sissi" Empress of Austria, Brigitte Hamann paints a portrait of a highly-gifted, clear-sighted and unconventional personality. The volume contains extracts from Elisabeth's diaries and includes relevant pictures from original pictorial documentation.

Crown Prince Rudolf, the only son of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth, owes his world-wide fame mainly to the mystery at Mayerling, where he sought death with this seventeen-year-old mistress Mary Vetsera. Yet his ignominious death was preceded by a very eventful life spent against the courtly splendour of the imperial city and, conversely, among the intellectuals and supposedly revolutionary minds of late nineteenth-century Vienna. This contradiction may explain why his fascinating personality continues to hold our attention one hundred years after the catastrophe. Rudolf's life, which covered a mere thirty years, is here documented through contemporary illustrations, photos, paintings and records from various family archives. As might be expected, the events centring on Mayerling have received particular emphasis in this representation.

Winifred Wagner's life is a remarkable tale of transformation and influence. Born Winifred Williams in 1897, she was an English orphan adopted by relatives in a utopian settlement near Berlin. In 1915, she married Siegfried Wagner, securing the Wagner legacy and taking charge of the Bayreuth festival after Cosima, the composer's widow. Winifred had four children with Siegfried, who was thirty years her senior and a confirmed bachelor before their marriage. Her connection to Adolf Hitler began in 1923, when he visited Wagner's grave in Bayreuth, leading to a lifelong friendship between Winifred and the Führer. She became a founding member of the Nazi party, and during festival time, Bayreuth became a focal point of German political life. Winifred enjoyed a glamorous lifestyle and significant favor during the Nazi regime, but faced hardships during the war, including bombing and deprivation. After the war, she was tried for her support of Nazi war crimes. Despite these challenges, her loyalty to Hitler remained unwavering, earning her the title of "the last Nazi in Germany." Winifred continued to honor the memory of Hitler until her death in 1980.

Von Rudolf von Habsburg über Kaiserin Leopoldine von Brasilien, Marie Antoinette von Frankreich bis Kaiser Franz Joseph - das vollständige Lexikon des berühmten europäischen Herrschergeschlechts in 400 Lebensbildern ist gleichzeitig ein historisches Lesebuch zu 600 Jahren europäischer und Weltgeschichte.

Brigitte Hamann schildert die beeindruckende Lebensgeschichte des Linzer Arztes Eduard Bloch und seiner Familie, der als Hausarzt der Familie Hitler unter besonderem Schutz des "Führers" stand.