Today I'm in Vienna.

Tracing the footsteps of one particularly beloved 19th century royal empress.

Empress Elisabeth, or Sisi is famous for her eccentricities.

She had a tattoo, worked out and drank wine for breakfast every day.

She was a woman who went against the grain.

There is something enticing about this empress who wanted more than just to produce heirs.

But what is it, exactly?

The drama, the tragic events in her life.

A love affair.

She was assassinated when she was 61 years old.

All this is a mixture for fascination.

My first stop of the day is the Hofburg Imperial Palace.

This was the political center of the monarchy, and today it fulfills the same role for the democratic republic.

Every former Austrian Empress and Emperor lived here, including Sisi, of course.

Her old rooms have been turned into a museum, and since I admittedly had never heard of Sisi before I moved to Germany, I think I better start here.

First of all, who actually was Empress Elisabeth or Sisi?

She was the Empress, the wife of Emperor Franz Josef.

So she was a member of the Habsburg dynasty, a European royal dynasty which actually was one of the leading families of Europe, the Habsburg Empire of her time.

In Germany and Austria Sisi is an icon.

Her life has inspired several films.

I'm getting the feeling that people have this kind of obsession with her.

Why do you think that it.

The more we get distant from her actually lifetime, the more she becomes a pop cultural phenomenon, because during her lifetime she more or less withdrew from public life.

She abhorred all the conservative traditions of Habsburg court, whereas nowadays she's more or less a symbol of this Habsburg dynasty.

She is like the iconic Habsburg of our time, although she actually was a complete misfit during her lifetime.

In the palace turned museum, you can see the gymnastics apparatus that she used every morning, as well as her bathtub.

Sisi apparently took warm bath in olive oil.

She spent much of her time in her private rooms here.

My next stop is Vienna's Empress Elisabeth Memorial in the Volksgarten.

Here I'm meeting author and tourist guide Renate Hofbauer.

I think she was looking for a real love and real personal happiness.

But everything she could find at the court was stiffness, rules.

And she had to present that and to produce children, of course, male children.

So she was reduced to that.

And she was criticized all the time for everything, how she behaved.

She was anorexic.

Nowadays, we know it is rooted in unhappiness, in not being understood in psychological problems.

Renate takes me to Schönbrunn palace.

It was the summer residence of the Habsburg family.

Sisi spent a lot of time here.

So did Sisi actually want to be an empress?

I don't think so.

She loved.

She fell in love with Francis.

Joseph.

And I think she wanted to have a good marriage, a loving marriage.

And she told her mother, oh, I wish he was a tailor.

So can you tell me about the assassination of Sisi?

Yeah.

She was assassinated by an anarchist while she was traveling to Switzerland.

He didn't really have anything against her personally.

He just wanted to strike the monarchy or the to hit the feudal system.

A tragic end to a tragic life.

Now that I've learned so much about the Empress, her life, her history, I want to see if I can get a taste of what her life was like here in Vienna.

For that, I'm visiting one of Vienna's oldest and most renowned confectioneries.

Cafe Demel has been a Viennese institution since 1786.

Sisi was very fond of their delicacies.

Candied violet blossom leaves.

Sisi's favorite sweets.

My next and final stop of the day is a very special one.

This jeweler has been here for over 200 years, and in 1858, they created a set of diamond stars for Sisi's hair.

The Sisi stars.

Christoph Köchert's family designed many pieces for the Empress.

She had a love for jewelry, and we were lucky enough to provide these jewelry.

But these diamond stars.

They also became iconic because there was a very famous painting by Winterhalter where she's painted with a wonderful long hair, and her hair was adorned with these diamond stars.

I also want to ask, do you think it might be possible for me to try the stars myself?

Of course.

The pleasure.

So here you have with the diamond stars.

Here you see, the copies of the original 27 and Sisi had a case exactly like this.

And they looked exactly like her 27 stars.

Dare I ask how much something like this cost?

This tiara, like it is here, it's about 77,000.

Okay, so I just sit here very carefully.

Hasn't it been fun to dip our toes into the world of this Austrian empress?

Honestly, it seems like Sisi was pretty iconic.

I can totally see why people are so fascinated by her.

And it seems like her legend will live on for a long time to come.

The Viennese Kaiserschmarrn.

Under the fine layer of powdered sugar, you'll find a tiny piece of Austrian identity.

The very name gives it away.

There is hardly any other dish as closely associated with the Austrian imperial and royal past.

Right next to Vienna's Saint Stephen's Cathedral, hidden in a small alley you'll find Heindl's Schmarren und Palatschinkenkuchl, where one chef has devoted nearly 30 years to the perfection of the culinary classic.

♪♪♪ My name is Fritz Schubert.

I'm the head chef here.

Like my grandfather before me, I make Kaiserschmarm.

It's a part of Austrian history.

And one of the best dishes there is.

♪♪♪ The main ingredients are fresh eggs, flour, milk from an Austrian cow, and a bit of vanilla sugar.

The ingredients are stirred together in a pot nearly in perfect waltz time.

In Fritz Schubert's case, the dish was created in 1854, when the chef at the Schönbrunn residence of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Sisi tried out a new recipe.

The colleague of mine at Schönbrunn made the dessert for Empress Sisi.

but since she was very athletic and preoccupied with keeping a slim figure, she passed the dish on to the emperor.

He is reported to have asked, “Hmmm, what is this schmarm ---or nonsense?” But he liked the dish, and after that Kaiserschmarm was on the menu.

That's how the Schmarm went from being called nonsense to becoming an Austrian staple.

The beaten egg whites are essential.

They're separated from the yolk, refined with pinches of salt and sugar, and whipped to a perfect consistency.

Now it's ready when it stays in the bowl.

The egg whites are then gently folded into the Kaiserschmarm batter.

♪♪♪ Like with every other thing, you have to do this with love and passion.

Otherwise nothing will come of it.

This one is a success.

You can see that there are no lumps, and it has those little air bubbles from the beaten egg whites.

That's the perfect dough.

Light and fluffy.

Clarified butter goes into the pans that spin around in the oven.

Custom made for Kaiserschmarm production.

It allows us to observe how the two centimeters high layer of dough starts rising at 300°C.

If it's liquid inside, you still can't turn it.

You can feel how it bounces back when you touch it.

This one looks very good already.

Just perfect.

And this is ready to be cut into pieces.

So this is the color and rise we're looking for.

The emperor would be thrilled with this one.

A Viennese Kaiserschmarm must be served with stewed plums.

First we take the pitted plums, and then we add some sugar, cloves and cinnamon sticks.

Finally, a bit of rum and lemon zest.

With some added water, that plum stew becomes more like a compote.

After simmering for 20 minutes on a low flame, it served with a Kaiserschmarm covered in powdered sugar.

Kaiserschmarm is a philosophy of its own.

It's a sweet dish that is very filling and quite addictive.

If you start, you can eat it again and again and never get enough.

It can be the main course or the dessert.

And it's delicious any time or any day of the week.

♪♪♪ Should you ever get the chance to bite into this fluffy delicacy.

Be sure to recall its imperial origins.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Clothes that reflect the spirit of a city.

The outfits these Viennese women are wearing give a nod to the traditional styles of the metropolis on the Danube, reimagined for the future.

♪♪♪ Viennese Chic - that's what Austrian fashion designer Susanne Bivosky calls her collections for the beautiful Viennese woman.

♪♪♪ I can't live without Vienna, and Vienna demands my fashion.

You just have to think a little bit about whether you are a beautiful Viennese woman or not.

There are very small tricks where you become very attractive very quickly.

A little more elegance, a little more demeanor, a little more grace.

We work on these little details.

It's actually quite quick to do.

In her Vienna studio, the designer constantly experiments with those details.

She combines the most diverse items and forms of clothing, doesn't shy away from clichés, and crosses borders to develop an independent style for the Austrian capital.

♪♪♪ We try to achieve what we want with styling.

Just putting on a hat immediately turns a look into something completely different.

That's how you get this Viennese charm or Viennese chic.

This deconstructed lace used to be a lace shawl.

The black and white look combined with the lace is typically Viennese.

The slightly playful, always contrasted with something darker ♪♪♪ Items that are often decades old are given a new life in the fashion designers dresses.

♪♪♪ She found the fabric for this skirt, for example, at a flea market.

And this used to be a tablecloth.

Everything is recycled, too.

Sustainability has never been a goal in itself, but for 30 years I've been reusing materials.

We tried to go for an image that works beyond the mainstream, so I like to ignore the international trends.

It's like fashions slower, sister.

I'm showing things today that I made 30 years ago.

And that's how you know that it's style, not fashion.

Fashion comes and goes.

Style stays.

♪♪♪ For three decades, she has set the tone in the world of fashion with her style.

At a fashion show in Vienna, she presents her recently published book, which traces her career as a fashion designer.

Susanne Bivosky was already involved with traditional costumes while studying fashion design.

Trachtenpunk was the name of one of her first collections, in which she playfully developed traditional Austrian clothing.

I have tried to bring the language of garments that existed in the country closer to the people, in a revised way.

To show there can also be a different approach to traditional costume.

But it's not just yodeling and lederhosen and dirndl, but that there are more interesting perspectives in the background.

Nowadays, she also designs costumes for the Vienna State Opera and puts up textile sculptures in the city center.

She's received a lot of praise for her commitment to giving Vienna its fashion identity.

♪♪♪ Because if you look around, everything is a copy, a copy of Paris, of London, nothing independent.

And Susanne is the only one who really stands out on her own.

She's a visionary, but always true to her own style.

I think she's a role model for what I see as the current direction of fashion.

Sustainable fashion with strong regional ties.

♪♪♪ You don't need that much, just a few good things.

You should buy more local things in general.

Who is the beautiful Viennese woman?

What is she wearing?

That's our niche.

We provide an image that really engages with the city.

Viennese chic, a timeless style that never seems to go out of fashion.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Ferlach, Austria lies south of Lake Verte, near the Slovenian border.

In 2008, the Carinthias Nostalgic Railways Association opened its museum workshop here.

When spring comes, historical vehicles of all kinds have to be put in shape.

Daniel Prix and his partner Mirjam Bäse help out.

For now, they're working on restoring an old tram engine.

♪♪♪ Essentially, what fascinates me most about the work here is that you can restore these vehicles to their original condition, using old construction materials of historical value.

This approach to restoration to reconstruction ensures that you can preserve the original condition.

They invest hundreds of man hours into this, all on a voluntary basis.

Motor trams like this were in service on Austria's Federal Railways from 1920 to the mid 1950s.

it's always gratifying to rebuild things of historical value and work together to achieve something that can be preserved for posterity.

Eventually, it'll be exhibited over in the museum and people will be able to enjoy it.

This way, history will be preserved.

Right next to the workshop is the Association's technology museum.

The result of some members passion for collecting adds up to more than 500 exhibits in the Historama, including vintage streetcars, busses and even ships.

The most important aspect of this whole collection is that a great number of people are working on it in their free time without pay.

That's what enables us to break even and keep it up and running on just the admission that visitors pay to see it.

At the moment, Daniel Prix and Mirjam Bäse are working on a special project.

They are preparing a freshly restored steam driven tram locomotive for its first test run.

The engine, built in 1888, was originally in service on tram lines in Budapest.

In general, on these runs, we have to watch how the locomotives are performing.

In a way you can feel how the locomotive is working, the noises it makes if the bearings are running hot, or if some other problems occur.

Stoking up the boiler is a drawn out process.

It takes up to 24 hours.

The temperature inside can only be increased gradually, so only wood goes in at first, then coal later on to achieve the operating temperature and pressure in the boiler needed for the run.

Before we set out in the locomotive, we have to stoke the boilers and lube down the rod systems.

This locomotive has both all and grease lubricated bearings, and they have to be filled up regularly because we need the lubrication at all times.

The next day, the steam driven tram sets off on its first test run.

Mirjam Bäse is on board as fire woman.

♪♪♪ Alexander Prix is the train driver.

His brother Daniel makes sure everything runs smoothly.

The run on the 12 kilometer line through Rosental Valley in Austria's Carinthia state is quite an experience for the team.

The nice part is that once the steam engine achieves a good operating range, you can kick back for a while, especially when it's rolling downhill.

Then the steam engine almost rolls by itself.

And in the Rosental Valley, of course, the nature and the mountains are beautiful.

The test run was a success.

The tram engine is working fine.

Now it's full steam back to the Historama technology museum in Ferlach.

♪♪♪ Hello, my name is Felicitas Then.

I'm here in Salzburg to find out why this little chocolate ball is named after a world famous composer.

♪♪♪ Here in the Salzburg city center, Mozartkugeln can be found on every street corner in a variety of sizes and colors.

But to the locals.

know what the chocolates have to do with Mozart.

Good question.

Mozart's pictures on them.

A young man who is full of music.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of the world's greatest classical music composers.

Born in 1756, he only lived to be 35.

Yet during his short life he composed over 600 works.

He is still revered today in his birthplace, Salzburg and Mozartkugeln serve as a kind of culinary memorial.

They come in around a dozen different varieties.

But there's only one that is the original Mozartkugeln.

♪♪♪ Hello.

Welcome!

Here, I found the secret behind the original Mozartkugeln.

Yes, it was invented here in this house in 1890.

Doris Fürst and her husband, Martin are the first generation to run this café and pastry shop.

It was opened by Paul Fürst over 130 years ago.

♪♪♪ There are many different Mozartkugeln in Salzburg.

How tdo yours differ from all the others.

The Fürst Mozartkugeln are still made according to the original recipe and by hand, just like Paul Fürst ade them back then.

Most of the others are made industrially.

In 1905, Fürsts creation won a gold medal at an exhibition in Paris.

Naming it the Mozartkugeln was a good choice Mozart tourism began here in Salzburg in the mid-19th century.

People developed a variety of Mozart products.

There was Mozart bread, a Mozart wine, and the Mozart statue on Mozart Square was unveiled.

People realized that the Mozart name was a huge draw.

♪♪♪ In our Mozartkugeln, the percentage of nougat is very high.

So it's not so sweet because the sweetness comes more from the marzipan.

Made from almonds, this light-colored marzipan is refined with pistachio paste.

That's the green Mattapan at the center of the Mozartkugeln.

♪♪♪ A bit sweeter and more sophisticated.

♪♪♪ A green center surrounded by nougat and chocolate.

Back then, it's perfectly round shape was unique.

To make them, the nougat balls are put on sticks and dipped in chocolate, as confectioner David Lambert explains.

Ok, David.

Tell me how to coat my own Mozartkugeln.

First, we put the chocolate balls on sticks.

I've done it.

♪♪♪ Give it a good stir.

Then I pull the stick up a bit so it wobbles and the excess chocolate chips down.

Otherwise droplets will run down later and won't look nice.

I can make it wobble, too.

That's the main thing.

♪♪♪ The Fürsts makes some 3.5 million Mozartkugeln every year.

You can recognize the original balls by the little hole left behind by the stick after the chocolate dries.

It's closed with a squirt of chocolate.

♪♪♪ Even the blue and silver foil with Mozart's face on it hasn't changed in over 130 years.

We put the squirt back here so Mozart doesn't get a big nose.

My first Mozartkugeln!

♪♪♪ And now it's time for a delicious ice cream.

Perfect for a hot summer day.

Chocolate and music.

It doesn't get any better than that.

♪♪♪ Hidden behind this whimsical facade are all kinds of secrets.

We talk to Austrian Alexandra Matzner, who sheds light on some of them.

Welcome to the Kunst Haus Wien, the Hundertwasser Museum.

I'm Alexandra Matzner.

I'm an art historian, and I'm captivated by the utopian vision that Hundertwasser realized here.

For him, it was not only about architecture, but also about the celebration of life.

But he was mainly concerned with ecology, how to inhabit urban spaces in harmony with nature.

I'll show you some features you haven't seen yet.

Let's go in.

She takes us all the way up to the roof of the Hundertwasser building, a privilege reserved for a select few.

This is the highlight of the house: Hundertwassers rooftop apartment.

A normal museum ticket won't cover this insider tour.

The steps lead to the former private apartment of the artist and architect.

Only those who exhibit in the museum are allowed up here.

US photographer Annie Leibovitz and former Beatle Paul McCartney are just two of the famous faces who have been seen here over the years.

This is where Hundertwasser lived and worked while he was in Vienna.

Where he realized his architectural visions.

It was important to him to stay connected to nature.

So he planted a forest right outside his own front door.

This might just be the smallest forest in Vienna.

20 trees on an area of 220m.

Originally, the rather extravagant Hundertwasser intended to let cows graze here because he was so fond of milk.

Nothing came of it, though - Viennese planning permission only goes so far, after all.

Hundertwasser loved nature and really spent as much time as he could in the countryside.

He preferred quaint, simple houses surrounded by forest, water, and sunlight.

But when he had to be in the city, he made sure to bring nature into the house with him, so to speak.

Kunst Haus Wien is an upcycling project - It began as a disused furniture factory.

This is how Hundertwasser conceived his museum.

He took this late 19th century factory, which was originally built for Thonet and converted it according to his vision.

And in the process creating around 1500m of exhibition space in the center of Vienna.

Kunst Haus Wien opened its doors in 1991.

This floor showcases 173 iconic works by the prolific architect and artist.

The permanent exhibition at Kunst Haus Wien gives a good overview of Hundertwasser's life and work.

It's the largest, and showcases his most important paintings.

His original furnishings are here.

Everything is authentic, from the 19th century floors to the walls.

Friedensreich Hundertwasser also made sure to leave space for other artists work.

Alongside the permanent collection are regularly changing exhibitions by a number of artists.

And nature is hidden everywhere here, even behind the artworks.

This courtyard is home to a solitary tree, one of several that grow throughout the house.

The idea is simple if we humans take from nature in one place, we have to give back to it somewhere else.

Hundertwasser was an artist at one with nature.

♪♪♪