Sisi in the Bernese Oberland – Imperial Nobility of the Bernese Wei

In 1892, Elisabeth, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, is a European socialite who attracts a lot of attention whenever she appears anywhere. The people of Switzerland also want to catch a glimpse of the blue-blooded lady when she travels to Zurich at the end of August. Soon she will travel on to Lucerne, from there to Rigi-Kaltbad, before finally arriving in Interlaken on 16 September. Always under a false name, namely ash «Madam de Tolna».

Anyone who thinks that the Swiss newspapers follow the monarch every step of the way is wrong. And is probably based too much on current publishing eligibility conditions. So it only concerns individual messages sissyas the Empress is called in the family.

It is not known how long the high-ranking visitor will stay in Interlaken-Matten. The Daily scoreboard for Thun speaks of «a shorter stay», that is Business magazine for the upper part of the canton of Bern reports of a descent “for a few weeks”. Apparently, the Empress made the length of her stay dependent on the weather. The hoteliers think they are already in the autumn blues, because two-thirds of the guests have left due to the nasty rain.

But after the arrival of Elisabeth of Austria, the weather suddenly showed its better side. After gray and cold days in Interlaken, Sisi experiences “wonderfully clear autumn days”, she says New free pressand the hotels fill up again, especially when the Empress’ incognito is revealed.

The Hotel Jungfraulick sits on a ridge and is visible from afar. Conversely, it offers guests one of the best views in the area. In the nearby forest, the hotel has created a panoramic path with a viewing terrace and a pavilion. Tourism in the Jungfrau region is on the rise. At that time, Interlaken was still trying to find its place on the tourist map. Because until 1891 the place was called, not very spectacularly, Aarmühle. It was only then that the renaming took place as a thoroughly effective marketing measure – against the will of the governor.

The Empress doesn’t care, for her personal well-being she always sets even higher standards, which almost drives her lady-in-waiting to despair: “With the best will in the world, you can’t get everything here.” Yet it turns out sissy in Interlaken from a new side, in which she appears social to the outside world. Is she relieved when she learns in the Bernese Oberland that heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand has become engaged to the Belgian princess Clementine?

Absolutely speaking sissy on her walks, and seems to understand their dialect to some extent, “because the conversation never stops,” as the Viennese News World News knows and further reports: The Empress “enchants everyone with her simplicity and affability”. That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it seems clear that her mood has improved.

sissy plans trips to Lauterbrunnen, Mürren and Beatenberg and takes long walks there, bringing her own provisions, namely cold cuts and cream from the hotel. Elisabeth stays in the Bernese Oberland for a week and does a kind of cure in Interlaken: the only thing she drinks are dairy products. Either milk, which needs to be cooled, or whey (then “Shot” called), which she brings to her every day from the Kurschottenanstalt.

The whey accumulates during cheese production and appears as a greenish-yellow residual liquid. Being 94 percent water, it is virtually fat-free, which must have pleased the empress as a weight fanatic. Even then, the watery Scots were fed to the pigs rather than the people – and it has remained that way to this day, by the way.

But the Empress was so taken with the whey from the Bernese Oberland that she paid a visit to the Scottish factory of cheesemaker Jakob Blatter in Oberried on Lake Brienz. sissy everything can be explained and an exact production description can be given for good money. Later she also sends her personal doctor. The Empress does not forget to mention that she has “never drunk such excellent and clear Scots” as this one Information sheet for the city of Bern please report.

Despite the imperial support, the whey and the whey cure subsequently did not prevail. Around 1900 she became, so you know Historical dictionary of Switzerland, considered ‘useless’. The pigs will be happy.