Katharina Schratt (1853-1940) was an Austrian actress who became the life-long mistress and best
friend of Emperor Franz Joseph. Katharina Schratt appeared with the Hoftheater in Berlin at age 18,
and was an immediate success. She left Germany after only a few months to join the Viennese
Hofburgtheater. She married Hungarian aristocrat Nikolaus Kiss de Ittebe in 1879 and gave birth to a
son. After touring overseas, she returned to Vienna permanently and was one of Austria's most
popular actresses until she retired in 1900.
Their relationship continued after the assassination of Elisabeth until Franz Josef's death in November
of 1916 with only one interruption in 1900 due to an argument. They were often seen together, and
their devotion to one another was obvious even when they were quite elderly. Schratt was given a
mansion on Vienna's Gloriettegasse and a three-story palace on the Kärntner Ring to which she
completely withdrew after the Emperor's death. Although generous offers were made to her for her
memoirs, she turned them all down. Schratt became deeply religious later in life. After her death in
1940 at the age of 86, she was buried in the Hietzing Cemetery in Vienna.
The Uncrowned Empress of Austria
The real empress, Elisabeth, only spent four years out of her long marriage actually living with the
Emperor. It is said that although he loved here dearly, he found it impossible to deal with her inability
to communicate normally and her constant "daydreaming", hence his friendship with Katharina came
as no surprise to anyone. Katharina originally spent her summers at Schloss Frauenstein near St.
Wolfgang. The Emperor, however, placed a lovely villa at her disposal, which became known as the
"Schratt Villa". A small path led from the "Kaiservilla" to the rear of the Kaiserpark and to a small
door through which the Emperor would exit the park and which today no longer exists. There were
lovely walking paths and abundant beauty in the surroundings, and this was probably the place of
greatest peace and happiness for the doomed Kaiser.
Bombs from World War Two caused devastating injury to the Villa, but it has been partially
rebuilt in modern times.
Franz Joseph' watched Schratt perform at the 1885 Industrial Exhibition in Vienna and invited her to
perform for visiting Czar Alexander III of Russia. She soon became the Emperor's intimate
companion. It was said that Empress Elisabeth actually promoted the relationship between the actress
and her husband. Katharina was called the "Uncrowned Empress of Austria" by the media.