Empress Elisabeth Statue

The sculpture was created by hotel entrepreneur Leopold Petter (1850 – 1917), owner of the Rudolfshöhe hotel complex in Kaltenbach, who dabbled in sculpting. He probably sculpted it around 1905/10. It is a larger-than-life statue of the Empress in a long dress on a thick, unstructured pedestal.

Petter created numerous busts of Empress Elisabeth “Sissi”, who was a guest in his establishments several times. His first statue (made of plaster) of her was erected in an iron pavilion in 1903. However, the statue at Lärchenwaldstrasse 16 is probably lucky to survive because it was originally located in the park of the Petter’s hotel complex; the complex -- jokingly called “Leopold Town” because it included several hotels and villas in Kaltenbach -- was smashed by executive auction in 1929. The statue in that complex was very likely acquired by the then owner of the former villa at Lärchenwaldstrasse 16, the Ischl bandmaster Andre Hummer, because the statue was placed in his garden.

For another piece sculpted by Petter, see the Brahms monument in the garden of the Museum of the Township of Bad Ischl.

Fun fact: Petter was the role model for the character Leopold, the waiter in the "White Horse Inn" (Im Weißen Rössl) operetta.

Interesting fact about Andre Hummer: his gravestone in the garden of the Museum of the Township of Bad Ischl). He died in 1949.