Netflix Series “The Empress” — All Filming Locations

The New Palace, the Hermitage in Bayreuth and Fantaisie Palace are all filming locations for the new Netflix series "The Empress".

Empress Elisa­beth, also known as “Sissi” or histo­ri­cally correct “Sisi”, has been given a Netflix series with six episodes. “The Empress” entered the Netflix top ten at number 2 just a few days after its series launch on 29 September 2022.

Inter­na­tional Emmy for best drama series

And that’s not all: the histo­rical drama, which was largely filmed in Bayreuth and the surroun­ding area, won the Inter­na­tional Emmy for Best Drama Series on 20 November 2023. The Netflix series about Austria’s former Empress Elisa­beth beat produc­tions from South Korea, Argen­tina and the UK in New York. This is the second time that the award in the main cate­gory of the tele­vi­sion prize for non-US produc­tions has gone to Germany, follo­wing the 2016 prize for “Deutsch­land 83”. Around 100 million viewers have watched the series, which received a second season in November 2024.

This is the trailer for the Netflix series:

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Would you like to hike in the foot­s­teps of Sisi and Franz? These are the filming locations:

First filming loca­tion: The Hermi­tage in Bayreuth

The Hermi­tage is a historic park with two castles on the outskirts of Bayreuth.

• In the Marble Hall in the Old Palace, Franz announces his enga­ge­ment to Elisa­beth, much to everyone’s surprise.
• Sisi rides along the arcade at a gallop and is prevented from leaving the impe­rial estate by a policeman.
• On the evening of the enga­ge­ment, Sisi meets her drunken father in the Lower Grotto and asks him to leave.
• Sisi goes for a walk with her ladies-in-waiting in the canal garden and disco­vers a heron.
• A tea party is held in the tea pavi­lion.

Second filming loca­tion: The New Palace in Bayreuth

The New Palace is located in the centre of the town and is an outstan­ding example of Bayreuth Rococo.

• Japa­nese room: Sisi and her family have arrived in Ischl and realise that some suit­cases are missing.
• Palm room: Sisi and Franz lie on the original oak parquet floor and look at the dragons and mythical crea­tures on the ceiling to calm down.

Third filming loca­tion: Fantaisie Castle to the west of Bayreuth

Fantaisie Palace and Park are located on the western outskirts of Bayreuth. The special feature of this park is that it combines design elements from the Rococo, Empfind­sam­keit and Histo­ri­cism styles.

• Fantaisie Palace: Sisi and her family arrive in Ischl and await the Emperor.
• Fantaisie Park, cascade: fami­lies go for a walk and stroll down the stairs.
• Park Fantaisie, Laby­rinth: fencing duel between Franz and his brother Maximilian.

Other loca­tions in the region:

• Bamberg: Wedding scenes at the cathe­dral portal, cathe­dral square and new resi­dence, Müller iron foundry
• Pommers­felden: Schloss Weis­sen­stein becomes the impe­rial palace Schönbrunn
• Para­dise Valley, halfway between Bayreuth and Bamberg: Elisa­beth and the wife of the Russian heir to the throne go for a walk in the forest with ladies-in-waiting & hunting scene, Elisa­beth rescues the Russian heir to the throne
• Eyrichsof Castle near Ebern: Hunting lodge on a hunting trip with the son of the Russian Tsar
• Staf­fel­berg near Bad Staf­fel­stein: Sisi rides up the rock and looks out over the Alps

This is what it looks like in the Netflix series:

On erlebe.bayern you can discover more about the filming loca­tions of the series, as well as other film loca­tions in the region.