Christmas in Vienna: Xmas markets, gold palaces and a little snow bring back the spirit lost long ago

VIENNA – The Christmas Market at Belvedere Palace isn’t just a place to buy last-minute gifts and drink hot mulled wine. It’s a place to relive a childhood long since gone, to hark back to a time when Christmas  highlighted a life of innocence, when family was together and near.

On the day before Christmas, Marina and I walked through a giant gold star with “Willkommen” (“Welcome” in German)  emblazoned above it. Snow flurries fell. Ninety-seven stalls selling everything from snow globes to bratwurst lined the square.

Then, over the loudspeaker, I heard Dean Martin singing “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” off one of my family’s favorite Christmas carol albums. I was in Vienna, many miles and years from my hometown, yet walking into the Belvedere Christmas Market Wednesday was like walking into my old living room in Eugene, Ore.

I put my arm around Marina and said, “Now this is Christmas.”

We left Rome for Christmas initially because I longed for a white Christmas. Despite 23 years living in Colorado, I only had one: When I went skiing in Breckenridge. Every other year I was out of town covering sports or with family on the mild West Coast.

We first considered Bergen, Norway. It must snow in Bergen, right? Nope. It’s on the sea. It rarely gets snow this early. How about Vienna? Well, it used to. Not much anymore. Thanks, global warming.

Turns out, Wednesday’s snow was the star atop one of the best Christmases we’ve ever had: We visited Christmas markets in a city famous for them. We passed spectacular architecture that didn’t just include the palaces and churches but even apartment and office buildings. We strolled under lights that make Vienna pop during Christmas like no other city.

We had a Christmas Day walk along the Danube. We gazed at dinosaurs, one which actually moved, in the Naturhistorisches Museum. We fulfilled Marina’s (weird) childhood dream of riding the Prater, Vienna’s 65-meter Ferris wheel built in 1897 with a spectacular view of the city.

And the food … oh, my. Vienna has the best desserts on the planet. Its brats are so lean they could qualify as health food. And the wienerschnitzel, the size of catcher’s mitts, makes you want to yodel with Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music.

It was like bathing in holly at the North Pole – at least compared to Rome. Christmas is subtle in Rome, almost too subtle. The lights are few. So are the TV ads. In my Monteverde neighborhood, the only signs of Christmas were the tinny Christmas carols coming from the cheap CD players sold at the year-round corner stand. In Marina’s residential Battistini neighborhood, every day just seemed like another gray day in February.

Besides, we both wanted to give Vienna another chance. Marina only spent one day here: in 1992 on a layover from San Diego.

I had spent a few days in the summer of 1978 during my solo backpacking trip around the world. My visit was more fight than festive. I got thrown out of the Vienna State Opera house for threatening an usher who continually harassed me when I lost my ticket to “La Boheme.” I also got thrown out of a dark wine cellar after two Texans and I, all hammered, started our third chorus, loudly, of “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” 

Throw in the fact that I was living on $25 a day and never once paid on Vienna’s honor-based subway system, I arrived wondering if the City of Vienna still had a warrant out for my arrest. 

Vienna Christmas markets

 I always loved Christmas markets. Rome has pretty good ones in Piazza Navona in Centro Storico and Piazza Mazzini near the Vatican. But Vienna is the cradle of Christmas markets. Vienna has more than a dozen, scattered all over this city of 2 million people.

We first went to the biggest: the sprawling Viennese Dream in front of Rathauplatz, the iconic five-steepled town hall built in 1883. We walked by a life-size manger scene, smelled the sweet aroma of freshly fried crullers and perused the biggest stall I’ve ever seen selling nothing but Christmas tree balls.

A huge skating rink that snaked through the market featured skaters of various skill levels replicating everything from advanced hockey players to drunk reindeer.

One night we went to Turkenschanzpark, an 18th century park spanning 67 acres on the outskirts of town with walking paths, a large pond and playgrounds. On a cold, damp night in the mid-30s, people ate fresh baked potatoes and drank mulled wine under long, roofed awnings. Stands passed out fudge. A huge Christmas tree with white pin lights anchored it all.

I had a souvenir cup of mulled wine, and I warmed immediately as the sweet nectar poured down my throat. The only language we heard was German.

Belvedere topped them all, just for the backdrop alone. The Belvedere Palace is a spectacular Baroque building built in 1723 featuring Baroque statues, fountains, waterfalls and wrought-iron gates. I visited its Austrian Gallery in 1978 and this time I bathed in Christmas carols and holiday cheer.

With Burl Ives’ “A Holly, Jolly Christmas” filling the air, we passed a waffelstanitzel stand selling chocolate-covered waffles and hot chocolate stands. Booths were filled with Christmas decorations and gifts ranging from inexpensive to pure art. I bought Marina a wood cutout of a cat by a local artist who showed the intricacy involved in his craft.

I settled for a foot-long brat in a hard roll with sweet mustard.

Christmas history in Vienna

Yes, Christmas markets began in Austria. The country’s first Christmas market opened in the 15th century in front of Salzburg’s St. Nicholas cathedral. It came and went through various prohibitions before returning for good in 1972. 

Vienna’s first came in 1722 with the Nikolo, Weihnachts- und Krippenmarkt in Freyung Square. For decades, Star Singers accompanied three people who resembled the Three Wise Men and wrote in chalk on doors “ C+M+B” meaning “Christ bless your house.” 

In 1946 the practice was revived to raise funds for Vienna’s iconic St. Stephens church after it was damaged by fire and bombing during World War II. By 1952, thousands of Viennese and media followed the singers around town.

It’s estimated every Christmas Austria earns more than €1 billion, half from purchased gifts.

Nativity scenes are so huge here, I thought I was in the Vatican. The practice began in the 16th century in Franciscan and Jesuit churches. In 1782 Emperor Joseph (Scrooge) II banned them in public and they went to private homes. 

In the 1780s they began appearing in Christmas markets.

The crowds

Austrians celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve and unlike every other city I’ve visited, Vienna was packed over the two days. Asian tourists were everywhere. The line to enter St. Stephens, the massive, gothic, 12th century cathedral symbolic of Vienna, stretched too far to see the end.

Cafe Central, famous for its desserts, had a line that barely moved. Even Sacher, the shop most famous for Sachertorte, Austria’s traditional apricot-laced chocolate sponge cake, stretched out the door and down the street.

We braved the crowds on Gramen, the street famous for its Christmas lights. Gold lights lined the pedestrian street packed with people. Giant silver balls with ribbons hung over the street. Beautiful lighting turned statues into gold monuments.

The street emptied out at St. Stephens, bathed in red light in its best holiday spirit, contrasting kindly to the dark, brooding spire overhead.

Christmas mass

Being in our 60s, we didn’t dare try staying up for midnight mass on Christmas Eve. Being impatient, we didn’t dare stand in line at St. Stephens on Christmas Day. We might still be there.

Instead, we went down the street to Kapuzinerkirche, or the Capuchin Church, in Neuer Markt Square. It’s relatively modest compared to the rest of Vienna’s architecture. It’s a simple pinkish A-frame building with two side wings.

However, it is known for its Imperial Crypt. Built in 1632, it is the place of entombment for the Habsburg Dynasty, the powerful German royal family that dominated Central Europe, including the Austro-Hungarian Empire, from the 15th-20th centuries.

The little church entombs 145 members of Habsburg royalty, including 12 emperors and 18 empresses. Today, friars in the cappuccino-colored brown robes guard the crypt. 

The church has also been the cultural center for Vienna’s large Polish population. The homily we heard was in Polish. In front of a half-filled church of about 60 people, a balding, gray-haired man in a brilliant white and gold robe talked about the birth of Jesus on that day and John’s role in Jesus’ legacy.

We understood little but we knew every word of “Silent Night” which the priest, with a surprisingly beautiful voice, sang in English. 

It wasn’t Dean Martin. But sitting in a Polish church in Austria, I still felt like Christmas at home.

If you’re thinking of going …

How to get there: Conveniently located in the center of Europe, Vienna is reachable by direct flights from most major cities. I paid €398 for two round-trip tickets from Rome on Austrian Airlines.

Where to stay: Hotel Strudlhof, Pasteurgasse 1, 43-1-319-2522, www.strudlhof.at, strudlhof@dwellbell.at. A four-star hotel makes up for a total lack of decor with big, comfortable rooms, helpful English-speaking staff and good location away from tourists but only a 15-minute walk from the center. I paid €378.18 for four nights.

Where to eat: Meisc & Schadn, Schubertring 10-12, 43-1-90212, https://meisslundschadn.at, wien@schnitzellove.com, noon-11:30 p.m. The place in Vienna for weinerschnitzel, the breaded veal that is Austria’s trademark dish. An elegant restaurant on an expensive street, mains start at €18. I paid €76.70 for two including wine.

When to go: Never travel anywhere in Europe in July and August. Even if it’s not too hot, as Vienna rarely is, it’s too crowded. Spring is best to see all the flowers in the many parks. Highs in the 70s in May and June. Low 80s in July and August. During our first Christmas week it was in the 30s and 40s with drizzle and one day of snow.

For more information: Tourist-Info Wien, Albertinapi 1, 43-1-24-555, https://www.wien.info/en, info@wien.info, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.