Though it wasn't her first role in front of the camera, "Sissi" had the most impact on the then-16-year-old Romy Schneider. After filming with director Ernst Marischka, Schneider was a star. The remarkable success of the first film was followed by several others; Schneider's popularity increased exponentially with each new role. Even today, many in Germany still see the actress as Sissi.

The Heimatfilm genre was all the rage in Germany at the end of the 1950s, as was light cinematic fare. When "Sissi" was released, it became one of the most popular pillars of German cinema. With her next film, "Scampolo," Schneider upped the ante — appearing in what is arguably one of her best films of the era as an orphan girl at Paul Hubschmid's side.

Cast as a young Leni by Orson Welles, Romy Schneider made her international debut in a film version of Kafka's "The Trial." The young Austrian-born actress appeared alongside Jeanne Moreau and Anthony Perkins and landed on the radar of many international directors.

By the end of the 1960s, Schneider had already made a few films in France, and her performance alongside her then boyfriend and film partner Alain Delon in "The Swimming Pool" became a box-office success. The elegant melodrama, which relied above all on beautiful images, made headlines — especially in the tabloid press.

With the release of "The Things of Life" in 1970, Romy Schneider hit a milestone in her career. In French filmmaker Claude Sautet, she had found "her" director. Under Sautet's direction, she could show what she had. She was able to rid herself of the "Sissi" typecasting and establish herself as a character actress.

In 1972, Schneider reprised her role as Empress Elisabeth, but in a film of a very different artistic caliber. The great Italian director Luchino Visconti used the now acclaimed actress in his magnificent four-hour film "Ludwig II." Playing alongside Helmut Berger in the title role, Romy Schneider radiated beauty and grandeur.

The tabloid press in Germany wouldn't leave Romy Schneider alone throughout the 70s and she found herself fighting many stereotypes, including one rumor that said she preferred filming in France as she wanted to put her "Sissi" past behind her. Scandalous films such as "Trio Infernal" (1974) only reconfirmed those rumors in the eyes of Germans.

Directly after the release of "Trio Infernal," Romy Schneider filmed "The Most Important Thing: Love," a film which won prizes in France but few fans in Germany. In it, she plays a down-on-her-luck actress who films soft porn to make money and in so doing, Schneider tested her own boundaries. The movie was excessive both in its acting and in the amount of skin shown.

Schneider's attempts to regain her footing in German cinema had nothing to do with her acting talents. Aleksandar Petrovic's film version of Heinrich Böll's novel "Group Portrait with a Lady" did poorly at the box office; artistically, it wasn't quite all there. For some reason, "New German Cinema" directors did not know where to start with the German star either.

Schneider's later years were overshadowed by the tragic accidental death of her son. The impact of this private suffering can be felt in her last role, in "The Passerby," which appeared in German theaters in 1982. She died a few months before the German premiere.

Even 40 years after her death, interest in Romy Schneider continues unabated. With their new documentary "Romy, femme libre" or "Romy, a free woman," which just premiered in Cannes, Lucie Caries and Clementine Deroudille depart from the often-repeated image of Schneider as a fragile world star and victim of her fate. Instead, they show her as a courageous, determined and free woman.

Even in her day, men and women equally raved about the beauty of Elisabeth. The empress worked hard to achieve this. One to two hours a day were spent on hair care alone. Until her old age she had a wasp waist measuring 50 centimetres (19.6 inches) in circumference.

Sisi, who grew up in Munich, spent the happiest days of her childhood at Lake Starnberg at her parents' summer residence. While Possenhofen Palace can only be visited from the outside, the Roseninsel (where Sisi met with her cousin, the "fairytale king" Ludwig II) and the museum in the historical waiting room of Possenhofen station offer ample opportunity to follow in the footsteps of young Sisi.

In the imperial summer residence of Bad Ischl, 15-year-old Elisabeth met Austrian Emperor Franz Josef for the first time. Her engagement to him in 1853 was the first turning point in her life. 100 years later, the Emperor's villa becomes the setting for some scenes from the famous German "Sissi" films starring Romy Schneider. The script glorified and falsified many things - not least Sisi's name.

After the wedding, the strict court rituals and a mother-in-law who interfered in raising her children soon made Sisi's life in the Hofburg unbearable. In the rooms next to the imperial apartments, the Sisi Museum now sheds light on the myth of Sisi - with personal objects such as her clothes, her furniture, her first-aid kit and her death mask. A must for all Sisi fans!

Travelling became the empress's elixir for life. Far away from the Viennese court she could relax. For example in Miramare Castle on the Adriatic coast near Trieste. Elisabeth stayed here 14 times on her travels across the Mediterranean, sometimes with Emperor Franz. The oysters, which Sisi enjoyed, are cultivated today in the Gulf of Trieste, just as they were in the Habsburg era.

On June 8, 1867 Franz Joseph and Elisabeth were crowned King and Queen of Hungary in Budapest. In the following years she repeatedly visited Gödöllő Palace, a gift from the "Hungarian people" to the royal couple. At Gödöllő, Sisi pursued her favorite pastime extensively, horse riding. And made politics: She successfully fought for Hungary's internal independence.

Sisi loved this Mediterranean island since her health spa stay on Corfu in 1860. After the suicide of her son in 1889, she sought solace on long walks and boat trips. The best place to be close to Sisi is the "Achilleion", the white marble palace that she had built as her retirement home. In the garden, sculptures remember the heroic sagas of Greek poet Homer, who inspired Sisi.

Elisabeth became an immortal legend when she was murdered on September 10, 1898 during a visit to Switzerland. Anarchist Luigi Lucheni stabbed the Empress in the heart with a file while she was walking along the shores of Lake Geneva. The empress's former suite at the Hotel Beau Rivage still contains a number of memorabilia, such as a blood-stained silk ribbon.

The Empress's body was transported to Vienna in an ice-filled coffin in her saloon car and buried seven days after the assassination in the Vienna Capuchin crypt. While the hearts of most Habsburg rulers were removed and buried in the Augustinian Church in Herzgrüftl, Sisi's body rests entirely in the coffin. Her last wish to be buried in Corfu remained unfulfilled.

Elisabeth's body was transported to the Capuchin crypt in this ornately decorated hearse. It can be seen in the carriage house at Schönbrunn Palace, which once again traces the empress's life: from the train of her wedding dress to the golden carriage she used at the coronation in Hungary all the way to her riding saddle.