Austrian Empress Sisi souvenir fetches five‑times reserve price on German TV show

A miniature brass souvenir box, created to honor Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth (Sisi) and featuring dates 1854 and 1879, appeared on ZDF’s antiques programme “Bares für Rares”. Host Horst Lichter described it as a “dreamy presentation piece”, while expert Wendela Horz called it “wonderful and very representative”. The seller, Uwe, entered the item with a starting bid of €40. Bids quickly rose, and Markus Wildhagen secured the box for €50, five times the seller’s original wish price.

The piece, originally a souvenir for tourists visiting Vienna for the imperial couple’s silver wedding, includes symbolic ivy leaves and the Habsburg crown marked “FJE”. The sale highlighted the show’s ability to bring historic curiosities to a wider audience.