2015 Vienna Christmas Market Trip

Yesterday was a day trip to Vienna to enjoy some of the city's Christmas markets.  And there are definitely a few.

The first December Market was held back in 1298.  Today there are more than 20 different Christmas markets held in December.

Most of the markets open in November and close in December.

The main Vienna markets are the ones at the Rathaus (city hall), Maria-Theresien Platz, Belvedere Palace, Schönbrunn Palace, Spittelberg, and the former general hospital.

Aside from visiting six different markets we managed to visit a couple of new sightseeing spots as well.

In District I is the Judenplatz which was the centre of Jewish life in Vienna back in the Middle Ages. The Holocaust Memorial was unveiled in 2000 and commemorates the more than 65,000 Austrian Jews who were killed between 1938 and 1945.

At the end of WWII, Vienna was divided into four occupied zones by the American, British, French and Soviet armies.  At Schwarzenbergplatz is the Soviet War Memorial.

The monument was unveiled in 1945 to honour the 17,000 Soviet soldiers that died in the Battle of Vienna.  The city restored the monument in 2009.

As many times as I've been to Vienna it's nice to know that there are still new sights to see.