Is it spelled Sisi or Sissi?
Updated September 18, 2026
Quick answer
Sisi, with one s. The museum's operator states it on its own FAQ: "Elisabeth was called 'Sisi' within the family, and she herself always spelled her name with one 's'. Thus, the correct spelling is 'Sisi'."
The double-s version is not a mistake anyone made by accident. It comes from the titles of Ernst Marischka's 1950s films starring Romy Schneider, and those films were popular enough to change how a real historical person's name is written seventy years later. Both spellings will find what you are looking for online.
How she signed it
One s. She was called Sisi within her family — it is a childhood nickname for Elisabeth, in a Bavarian household that was informal by court standards — and she wrote it that way herself. That is the whole of the historical answer. The operator of the museum that bears the name has put it in writing on its own FAQ, which is about as settled as this kind of question gets.
Where the second s came from
Ernst Marischka's film trilogy, starting in 1955, starring the teenage Romy Schneider. The films were titled with the double s and they were enormous — a Technicolor romance about a spirited Bavarian girl and a young emperor, released ten years after the war into an Austria that wanted one. The spelling travelled with the films, and in Austria the double-s version is still how most people abbreviate the name in ordinary conversation. It is a rare case of a film changing the orthography of a real person's name in the public record. The same films are responsible for most of the rest of the popular picture of her, which is why the Sisi Museum was built the way it was — our page on [Sisi on screen](/guides/sisi-on-screen) sets the films against the record.
What the museum uses
Sisi, consistently. The museum in her apartments at the Hofburg is the Sisi Museum; the combined ticket is the Sisi Pass; the operator's own domain uses the single s. So does everything on this site, for the same reason.
Searching for either
In practice it does not matter much. Search engines treat the two as the same query and will return the Hofburg, the museum and the films whichever you type, and both spellings appear across Austrian tourism material. Where it does matter is in a library catalogue, an archive or an academic database, where an exact-match search will split the results. There, use Elisabeth — her actual name, and the one the scholarship is filed under. Brigitte Hamann's biography, the standard life, is indexed that way. And if you are buying a ticket, note that neither spelling is a brand you need to match: the operator's own FAQ states that original tickets are sold exclusively at imperialtickets.com. Our page on [where to buy](/qa/where-to-buy-hofburg-tickets) covers the channels.
Frequently asked questions
Is it Sisi or Sissi?
Sisi. The museum's operator states that she was called Sisi within the family and always spelled it with one s.
Why do so many people write Sissi?
Because of Ernst Marischka's 1950s film trilogy starring Romy Schneider, which used the double s in its titles and was hugely popular.
What was her real name?
Elisabeth. She was Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria before her marriage in 1854 and Empress Elisabeth of Austria afterwards.
Does the spelling affect searching for tickets?
No. Search engines treat the two as the same query. In library and archive catalogues, search for Elisabeth instead.
Sources