Christkindlmarkt Am Hof by Carl Wenzel Zaijcek. [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons.As I’ve told my readers before, I’m a little bit obsessed with Vienna and really hope to visit it one day. When I first started this blog, I researched and wrote an extensive article about Viennese balls. Another tradition I’m fascinated by is the Christkindlmarkt, or Christmas Market, which dates back to the Middle Ages. For the month leading up to Christmas, these outdoor markets sell seasonal food, crafts, decorations, and gifts. Christmas Markets take place throughout Europe, including England, but the Vienna Market is one of the oldest. I would be happy to visit any or all of them. With all their sights, sounds, and smells of the holiday season, I can only imagine what a beautiful and festive atmosphere they must contain. In this watercolor by Austrian artist Carl Wenzel Hajcek (1860-1923), vendors sell Christmas trees in the snow underneath a monumental equestrian statue of some Austrian hero. I’m sure that the Christmas Markets today are much more elaborate and numerous than appears here.
Alexandra Kiely, aka A Scholarly Skater, is an art historian based in the northeastern United States. She loves wandering down the dark and dusty corners of art history and wholeheartedly believes in visual art's ability to enrich every person's life.
Her favorite periods of art history are 19th-century American painting and medieval European art and architecture. When she not looking at, reading about, writing about, or teaching art, she's probably ice dancing or reading.
View all posts by Alexandra Kiely (A Scholarly Skater)
2 thoughts on “December 23rd: Christkindlmarkt Am Hof by Carl Wenzel Zajicek”
I’d love to go to a Christmas market in Vienna too. 🙂 Austria had been on my travel wish list since I was a little girl and an avid fan of the Chalet School books (which are set in Austria). I think reading those books inspired my interest in Austria.
Most of the towns and larger villages in Tirol have one. I wish I had a photo handy without the faces of people I know in it (privacy and all that). Chestnuts roasted on an open fire are actually a thing and not just a song!
A Scholarly Skater 
I’d love to go to a Christmas market in Vienna too. 🙂 Austria had been on my travel wish list since I was a little girl and an avid fan of the Chalet School books (which are set in Austria). I think reading those books inspired my interest in Austria.
Most of the towns and larger villages in Tirol have one. I wish I had a photo handy without the faces of people I know in it (privacy and all that). Chestnuts roasted on an open fire are actually a thing and not just a song!