Christmas in Vienna

One of the most beautiful cities I’ve been to is Vienna, and during the holiday season it is a stunning festival and a treat for the eyes to behold. All dressed up in holiday finery, the streets and buildings are aglow with decorations and lights. Festive Christmas markets seem to appear at every turn adorned with Christmas trees and holiday stalls. Locals and tourists alike are out enjoying the atmosphere, their companions, and a drink or two. It is a joy.

Streets of Vienna

A few years back we were lucky to have an early December business conference in this fine city, so we were able to discover first-hand the magic of Christmas in Vienna. Any time of year Vienna is filled with majestic buildings, fine museums, grand churches, good shopping and restaurants, and a plethora of things to do. In December, the Christmas festivities add a whole other dimension to this beautiful city.

The pedestrian streets are laden with spectacular light displays, colorful decorations, soaring Christmas trees and food and drink stalls. Shops lay out their offerings in beautiful arrangements of gifts and pastries. To stroll these streets at night is something truly special to behold. One night, as we were walking along taking in the sights, the sweet sound of music drifted in the air. As we turned the corner, we saw a tuxedo-clad gentleman playing a grand piano in the middle of the street. How he got that piano there I have not a clue, but it was delightful.

Rathausplatz Christmas Market

Perhaps the biggest treat for me were the Christmas markets. I had never seen anything quite like it. Lights, trees, craft and food stalls, people everywhere ... it truly was an enchanting scene. The biggest, and I guess most touristy, was the Rathausplatz (city hall) market. One night, as I wandered alone among the stalls, it started to gently snow. I have to say it was magical.

We also visited the markets at the Museum Quarter, Belvedere Palace and Schönbrunn.

It was very cold, but the Viennese people were out, gathered around food and drink stalls, thoroughly enjoying themselves as though it was summer.

We not only enjoyed all the Christmas pageantry, but took in many of the traditional sights as well. On our first day we attended a performance by the world-famous Lipizzans, white stallions, at the baroque Winter Riding School at Hofburg Palace. Built under Charles VI, the riding hall looks more like a grand ballroom rather than a place for horses to perform.

Schönbrunn Palace

The Ballet of the White Stallions is the result of years of training for the rider and the Lipizzans. As a horse lover who used to ride in my youth, I was excited to attend a performance and splurged on front row seats in the royal box. To see these magnificent beasts dance so elegantly and effortlessly across the hall was a wonderful, once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience for me.

The following day we ventured out to Schönbrunn Palace via the Underground (U4). Surrounded by beautiful gardens, this baroque palace has a long history. Most recently it was a residence of the Habsburg emperors. Equaled only by the Palace of Versailles in its opulence, Schönbrunn, together with its gardens, was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996.

It is worth taking a tour of the palace. In addition to European history, the US has a little history of its own there. The palace’s Great Gallery was the sight of the 1961 Vienna summit between President John F. Kennedy and the Russian head of state Nikita Khrushchev.

Belvedere

Outside we enjoyed a warm beverage and the Schönbrunn Christmas market full of trinkets, food and drink.

The next day we stopped by the Naschmarkt, a historic landmark and best fresh food and flea market in the city. I’ll go into a little more detail about this market in a later posting. We then headed to the Belvedere.

With a long history, from museum to Imperial residence and back again, the Belvedere is another stunning Baroque landmark and is also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today the Belvedere houses a vast collection of Austrian art dating from the Middle Ages to the present day.

The acquisition of some of their pieces of art, including paintings by Gustav Klimt, has been controversial. For almost a decade the Belvedere and the Republic of Austria became entangled in a lawsuit by Maria Altmann. Ms Altmann, who as a young woman had fled Austria for safety in the US, sued to reclaim artwork that had been stolen from her relatives by the Nazis just prior to World War II. Of particular note was Gustav Klimt's iconic painting of her aunt, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, renamed The Woman in Gold by the Belvedere.

Delightful Store Windows

Ms Altmann eventually won her claim and the portrait, along with other paintings, was returned to her. Ronald Lauder, heir to the Estée Lauder Companies, acquired them for his New York gallery, The Neue Galerie, on the condition they be permanently displayed for all to see and enjoy. The story was made into a terrific movie called Woman in Gold, staring Helen Mirren as Maria Altmann.

But I digress. My husband had to go off to his conference so I was on my own for the rest of the afternoon and our last full day in Vienna. I spent my time visiting churches (including the towering St. Stephen's Cathedral), listening to church music, wandering the festive streets, window shopping, browsing the markets and touring the vast Hofburg complex.

St. Stephen's Cathedral

The Hofburg is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty rulers. Originally a medieval fortified castle dating from the 13th century, the Hofburg was enlarged by each emperor. 

Today it serves as the official residence and workplace of the President of Austria and houses a number of museums and the riding school. It is located right in the center of Vienna. In addition to attending a Lipizzans performance, you can tour the Imperial Apartments, the Sisi Museum and the Silver Collection. I toured all three and found each one to be both interesting and informative.

From Vienna we took a train to Prague. I’ll discuss the food and café culture of Vienna and our visit to Prague in follow-up postings.