It’s the time of the year when spring is around the corner and the Christian celebration of Easter is eagerly awaited by believers and chocolate lovers. As the trees sprout leaf buds and blossoms, Vienna in spring is a delight and a perfect city destination for a Easter city break.
Easter Markets
Vienna is known for its Christmas markets (Weihnachtsmarkt) but did you know the city also has three Easter markets (Ostermärkt)?
What does an Austrian Easter Market sell? The markets sell regional crafts, local wine and food and of course the most beautifully decorated eggs … no tacky plastic!
· Schönbrunn (27 March to 21 April, 2025)
The stunning palace is worth a visit any time of year but it’s markets at Christmas and Easter are an added bonus. Be prepared for crowds as Schönbrunn is a popular destination for visitors to Vienna.
· Freyung (3 April to 21 April, 2025)
The market here is small with a huge amount of the beautifully hand decorated eggs. Here you can also find a wonderful selection of regional foods and wine. Close to the Rathaus and the Schottentor station, it’s easy to get to.
· Am Hof (4 April to 21 April, 2025)
Also close to the Rathaus and the Schottentor station this market is primarily local food and wine products and with work from local artists.
Museums
There are some great exhibitions during the spring, including:
• a Klimt “methods” exhibition at the Lower Belevedere. The exhibition looks at the secrets are hiding beneath the surface of Gustav Klimt’s famous works, and how the artist applied gold and other precious metals to his canvases.
Today’s technologies make it possible to look into the inner layers of paint and gain an understanding of Klimt’s working process, according to the museum website. One-day tickets good for the Klimt show are 25.90 and you can get yours here.
• a Da Vinci/Dürer exhibition at the Albertina explores the importance of drawing as opposed to painting. In this exhibition, 26 drawings by Albrecht Dürer are compared to as many works by Leonardo da Vinci. In addition to works by Leonardo and Dürer, the exhibition presents works by Raphael, Titian, Albrecht Altdorfer, Hans Baldung Grien, Hans Holbein the Elder and other outstanding Renaissance masters, according to the Albertina website.
Admission to the Albertina is 19.90 euros and you can get tickets in advance here.
Music
There are some wonderful venues that offer classical concerts in Vienna (check out local websites for details). Also close to Schönbrunn Palace, at Der Reigen, you can find the Blues Festival from 20 March to 31 May.
The iconic Votivkirche (Votive Church) near Schottentor station and the Rathaus has, until 26 April, a stunning immersive light show running Monday to Saturday, twice each evening. The light show and music, titled “Light Of Creation,” is spectacular and well worth seeing, but book ahead.
Tickets are 22 euros and you can get yours here.
Austrian Easter treats and traditions
Austria has many regional customs during the Easter period:
· In supermarkets, you will find coloured eggs for sale. These are hard-boiled and the tradition stems back to the 12th century and were precursor to the elaborately decorated eggs you can buy in the markets. These eggs are used in the Austrian tradition of Eierpecken (egg pecking). Two opponents knock the pointed ends of their eggs together trying to crack their opponent’s egg without cracking theirs, rather like the British tradition of “conkers”.
· Decorating “blown out” eggs is a big part of Easter and the variety depends on your skill level. In Burgenland, an Austrian region in the east on the Hungary border, the eggs are decorated by elaborate designs scratched onto the dyed egg.
· The Osterbaum (Easter tree) is where you display your handiwork, or the more intricate purchased eggs. In the weeks before Easter florists sell branches of willow which are placed in the home and decorated with eggs and ribbons.
· The Osterlamm (Easter Lamb) cake is a popular addition to Austrian tables. You’ll see lamb cake moulds on shelves in kitchen stores around the city. The cake is a simple butter cake that when released from its mould is sprinkled with icing sugar.
· Instead of commercially made chocolate eggs Austrians have foil wrapped chocolate rabbits for sale on the shelves. You’ll see these in all the stores around the city and of course they are delicious!
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See more about Vienna here in Dispatches’ archives.
Photographer/writer Jackie Harding was born in the United Kingdom. As a long-time expat, she lived in Boston for 12 years and in the Netherlands for the past 10 years.
Trained as a nurse in the U.K., she worked for nine years in the United States as a special education teacher’s assistant. Since moving to the Netherlands, she has discovered writing and photography.
Contributing to Dispatches since 2016, Jackie has written about her travels around Europe as well as about expat life and issues.
She also covered the Women’s March Amsterdam.
She’s married to British businessman Martin Harding and is the mother of two international adult children.
