The Empress (TV series)

The Empress (Die Kaiserin) is a German historical drama television series based on the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, starring Devrim Lingnau in the title role, and Philip Froissant as Emperor Franz Joseph. It was released on Netflix on 29 September 2022. It was Netflix's second-most watched series worldwide for two weeks and the seventh most popular non-English series of 2022, with over 150 million hours streamed. On 8 November 2022, Netflix renewed it for a second season. Netflix also commissioned a companion novel, The Empress: A Novel, by Gigi Griffis, which was published two days before the series premiered on the streaming service.

Premise
Sixteen-year-old Bavarian Duchess, Elisabeth "Sisi" von Wittelsbach, falls in love with Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, the intended fiancé of her older sister, Duchess Helene, and they marry. Arriving in Vienna, Sisi finds herself navigating the complexity of court politics and her husband's scheming family. Her mother-in-law, Archduchess Sophie, who is also her aunt, antagonizes her almost immediately. Maximilian, Franz Joseph's younger brother, tries to outshine his brother and prove that he is more worthy to rule.

Cast

 * Devrim Lingnau as Elisabeth von Wittelsbach, Duchess in Bavaria turned Empress of Austria
 * Philip Froissant as Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria
 * Melika Foroutan as Sophie, Archduchess of Austria, mother of Emperor Franz Joseph and Elisabeth's aunt turned mother in law.
 * Johannes Nussbaum as Archduke Maximilian, younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph
 * Elisa Schlott as Duchess Helene in Bavaria, Elisabeth's older sister
 * Jördis Triebel as Ludovika, Duchess in Bavaria, Elisabeth's mother
 * Almila Bagriacik as Countess Leontine von Apafi, a revolutionary posing as a countess
 * Hanna Hilsdorf as Countess Amalia von Salm-Reifferscheidt, a countess who's dedicated her own life to the Austrian empire
 * Runa Greiner as Countess Charlotte von Stubenberg, a naive countess
 * Svenja Jung as Countess Louise Gundemann, Franz Joseph's old lover
 * Andreas Döhler as Maximilian, Duke in Bavaria, Elisabeth's father
 * Wiebke Puls as Countess Sophie Esterházy, matron of the empress's maid service and Sophie's confidant
 * Michael Fuith as Franz Karl, Archduke of Austria, Sophie's husband and Franz Joseph's supposed father who becomes Elisabeth's father in law
 * Felix Nölle as Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria, the youngest brother and sibling of Franz Joseph
 * Martin Butzke as Gustav, Prince of Vasa, Sophie's old lover and Franz Joseph's biological father
 * Alexander Finkenwirth as Baron Alexander von Bach, the interior minister and a progressive advisor of Franz Joseph.
 * Leopold Hornung as Count Karl Ferdinand von Buol, the foreign minister and a militaristic advisor.
 * Patrick Rapold as Franz Liszt
 * August Schmölzer as Prince-Archbishop Joseph Othmar von Rauscher
 * Raymond Tarabay as François-Adolphe De Bourqueney, French ambassador
 * Eric Bouwer as Doctor Fritsch, a maternity doctor
 * Irene Della Casa as Baronesse Francesca, Maximilian's lover at the start of the series
 * Rauand Taleb as Theo, Franz Joseph's butler
 * Erol Nowak as Johann Baron Kempen von Fichtenstamm, the Inspector General of the police
 * Merlin Rose as Egon, a revolutionary
 * Noemi Emily Krausz as Margarete
 * Anna Bottcher as Elsa, a housemaid and revolutionary
 * Markus Fennert as Lieutenant Krall
 * Andreas Bongard as Johann Strauss
 * Vladimir Korneev as Alexander Nikolayevich, Grand Duke of Russia, son of Tsar Nicholas I
 * Elzemarieke De Vos as Maria Alexandrovna, Grand Duchess of Russia, Alexander's wife

Development
In December 2020, Netflix announced it would start producing a six-part series with the working title The Empress, based on the life of Austrian Empress Elisabeth of Bavaria (nicknamed Sisi). It would be directed by Katrin Gebbe and Florian Cossen, with Bernd Lange and Janna Maria Nandzik writing. Devrim Lingnau and Philip Froissant were announced in the lead roles.

Filming
Filming began in August 2021 and was completed in January 2022. The series was filmed in German. Netflix subsequently dubbed the series into 14 languages, including English. Subtitles were provided in 32 languages.

The story line takes place primarily in Vienna, though parts of the first episode are set in Bavaria, where the young Elisabeth was living when she met the emperor. Nonetheless, exterior filming was completed in Germany, primarily in Bavaria. For studio work, the production moved to Babelsberg Studio in Potsdam. Location shooting was completed in cities such as Bayreuth, Stein, Bamberg, Dinkelsbühl, Eckersdorf and Aidhausen. Several historical locations were used, including Schloss Weißenstein in Pommersfelden, which stood in for Schönbrunn Palace. Exterior scenes of Sisi's childhood home were filmed at Eyrichshof Castle near Ebern, although the family's summer home was actually the nearby Possenhofen Castle.

Season 2
In November 2022, Netflix renewed the series for a second season. Filming for the second season reportedly took place in Prague, Czech Republic in September 2023.

Reception
The Empress debuted at number one following its release on 29 September 2022, with 47.2 million hours watched in four days (29 September to 2 October 2022), becoming Netflix's most-watched non-English language series for over a week. Within 11 days, it was running in approximately 18.7 million homes and was the second most-watched Netflix series worldwide (behind Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story), with 106.6 million hours streamed. It was in the top ten in 79 countries in its first week, and in 88 countries in its second week. Within 18 days, it was streamed for nearly 135 million hours in around 23.6 million homes worldwide.

The Empress is the most successful German original production on Netflix since the 2020 war drama Barbarians. The series had 59.43 million hours watched worldwide from October 3–9, 2022, and it was the seventh most popular non-English series of 2022, with 5 weeks in the global top 10 and 159,800,000 hours watched from September 25 to October 30.

Historical inaccuracies

 * Elisabeth and Franz Joseph's first meeting at Bad Ischl wasn't outdoors, but during tea (with more relatives present than shown).
 * Sisi and Franz are shown mutually falling in love. In reality, Franz was more in love with Sisi than she was with him.
 * Franz didn't propose publicly, but had Archduchess Sophie request Ludovika's permission. Nor was his proposal "out of the blue". Sophie had written that Franz had professed his love for Sisi shortly after meeting her.
 * Franz Joseph's second younger brother, Karl Ludwig, was in love with Elisabeth and wanted to marry her, not Maximilian as shown. During childhood, Karl Ludwig (who's missing from the series) and Elisabeth exchanged letters and gifts.
 * Sophie was reluctant over Franz and Elisabeth's marriage and often fought with the Empress over the upbringing of her (Elisabeth's) children. However, there is no evidence to support she actually hated Sisi. In reality, Sophie's letters and diaries positively describe her daughter-in-law.
 * Archduchess Sophie had a strong friendship and a rumored love affair with Napoleon II (her husband's nephew) when she was younger, not Swedish Prince Gustav as shown. Maximilian was allegedly the result of said relationship, not Franz Joseph, although these rumors were deemed dubious.
 * Franz Joseph and Maximilian had a sour relationship as adults, but there is no evidence that the latter conspired to overthrow his brother as Emperor.
 * In the waltz scene featuring composer Johann Strauss II, Franz Joseph and Sisi dance to the 'Emperor Waltz'. This waltz was composed by Strauss in 1889, 35 years after the royal couple married.