Built in 1536, Schloß Possenhofen was purchased by Duke Maximilian Joseph of Bavaria, who used it…read moreas his family's summer residence. It is best known because of its association with his daughter Elisabeth, better known as "Sisi", who enjoyed a happy youth here.
She became Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, by marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph I, at the age of 16. She still returned here to retreat from court life after her marriage, up to her murder by an Italian anarchist in 1898. As such, the town is strongly associated with 'Sisi' and there is a museum of her life in the former railway station building at Possenhofen.
The castle was modernised in the 19th Century into the domestic "Castle Villa" form visible today through the garden hedges. Sadly, the house itself is not open to the public, as it has been turned into apartments, but the grounds between the castle garden and the lakeside have been turned into a lovely public park, a popular place to sunbathe and swim in the summer.