Zita comes home

Eckartsau Castle [ENA] Zita comes home or Zita kehrt Heim in German is an interactive historical performance about the last empress of Austria. The performance is provided with a great care to details and enthusiasm by Elisabeth – Joe Harriet and Sylvia Reisinger. Elisabeth-Joe Harriet also wrote the idea of this performance, the book about Zita and the regie of the performance which took place in the castle of Eckertsau.

Zita was the wife of the last monarch of the Austrian-Hungarian empire. Zita and her husband had historical role to announce the end of the participation of Austrian in the World War I. After their short reign they lived in exile for several years where they continued to play a role for the Austrian history. Zita received a special present of the Austrian Chancellor Kreisky. After 63 years of exile she could visit Austria again.

The castle Eckartsau was one of the last places where she stayed when she was in Austria. It is located in the middle of the charming landscape of the Danube wetlands. This was a castle for hunting which the Emperor Franz I, husband of Maria Theresa, acquired the castle and estate in the 18th century. Today the baroque state rooms still have a sense of the splendour and of the joy of this bygone era. In the palace the visitors can let their mind wander and imagine the carefree life the nobility led in this man-made paradise. Two artists are leading participants through the hall of the castle of Eckertsau which was the last palace where Zita was living when she was in Austria.

Charles and Zita were crowned in Budapest on 30 December 1916. Charles called Zita several times a day whenever they were separated. Zita would discreetly attend audiences with the Prime Minister or military briefings and she had a special interest in social policy. Energetic and strong-willed, Zita accompanied her husband to the provinces and to the front, as well as occupying herself with charitable works and hospital visits to the war-wounded. In 1918 Charles signed the manifesto where he was deposed from power. Then Zita and Charles departed for the Royal shooting lodge at Eckartsau, close to the borders with Hungary and Slovakia and the Republic of German-Austria was proclaimed the next day. In exile Zita lived in several countries.

On the 100th anniversary of her husband's death, Zita finally returns home to the former family residence, Schloss Eckartsau, where Emperor Karl and she spent their last months in Austria in 1918/1919. During a walk through the castle, you will hear what Zita, portrayed by the actress Elisabeth-Joe Harriet, knows to tell about her eventful, highly political life, about her family and the last weeks at home. At Zita's side, the ever-faithful Countess Korff, portrayed by Sylvia Reisinger.