New Year's Eve in the Hofburg Palace~Oh! What a Night!

Heidi Goldman attends the Imperial Ball in Vienna, Austria New Year's Eve

Going to a ball on New Year’s Eve sounds glamorous.  Even romantic.  Twenty-three hundred Europeans dressed in jeweled ball gowns and starched tuxedos having a formal dinner in the Hofburg Palace in Vienna and me, a teacher from Tucson, Arizona living out this dream.  Everyone waltzing the night away, bringing in the New Year in style is like a fairy tale.  Too good to be true?  But, it was true.

Most people in the United States are either celebrating at a party in a friend’s house, paying exorbitant price fixe dinner rates at a restaurant with a complimentary glass of cheap bubbly at the end of the evening, or watching the ball drop in Times Square on television.  Sound familiar?  That’s what I always did, too, until I was invited to attend the Imperial Ball, the first ball of Vienna’s season on New Year’s Eve.

I wondered if I could even find a ball gown, a Cinderella dress to-die-for.  Not an easy task compared to how I would ever be able to ship it to Austria considering the voluminous size and many layers involved. But I did. Wrapped in a sheet, I reluctantly pushed and shoved my gown into its own suitcase and lovingly sent it on its way by plane with the rest of my luggage.

That resolved, other questions arose.  Would I fit into a limousine wearing a gown the size of a continent?  

The dress had taken on its own persona:  it had accessories, stood up on its own, weighed twenty-five pounds and took up an entire closet.

Heidi Goldman's Ball Gown

It’s one thing to go to a ball, but let’s face it, how does one go in a ball gown?  I didn’t have to face that dilemma yet, but I couldn’t help wonder.

You may assume I must know how to ballroom dance.  After all, everyone has been watching So You Think You Can Dance for seasons.  Considering I have two left feet, next came dance lessons only to discover that learning the Viennese Waltz is the most difficult dance to learn- it’s not the hokey pokey.  Humbly, I took many challenging lessons for months. 

Have tickets...Will Travel

Heidi Goldman's tickets to Vienna's Imperial Ball New Year's Eve

Fast Forward to December 31…

My date and I entered the Hofburg Palace, the center of the Habsburg empire for centuries and were overwhelmed by its size and grandeur.  We were welcomed by the Grenadiers of the K.K. Infantry and had champagne cocktails in the Entrance Hall of the palace.

Heidi Goldman New Year's Eve ~ Hofburg Palace Vienna, Austria

Men and women from around the globe wearing magnificent ball gowns and tuxedos, mingled and listened to a string quartet playing music by Strauss, the king of waltz.

Excitement overcame me and after my last sip, I rushed up the red carpeted marble staircase, no easy feat in a large gown, to see the Grand Festival Hall, where we would be spending New Year’s.  It is the largest and most opulent of all the rooms.  

The architecture, ceiling frescoes and enormous glittering, crystal chandeliers were exquisite.  Price of admission (Eur 540 pp) to this room included a four-course dinner, welcoming cocktail, white and red wine, mineral water, champagne, musical entertainment by live-orchestras, dancers, opera singers, dancing and an operetta at the end of the evening.

Once inside this fairy tale-like room that was elaborately appointed with enormous displays of red and white roses on pedestals, guests twirled to a traditional Viennese orchestra under the golden glow illuminated by the grandiose chandeliers, while others found their tables and joined people who would become new friends by night’s end.  

Our table comprised of two dignified Russian couples and two effervescent couples from Malta.

Heidi Goldman in white at the Imperial Ball Vienna, Austria
New Year's Eve

Suddenly a brass band marched into the room playing, The Radetsky March. This particular song in Vienna brings everyone to their feet, clapping wildly to the rhythm.  And tonight in all its splendor was no exception.

Costumed dancers then followed and on the raised stage, danced the traditional Polonaise. 

Guests returned to their seats for the next course, but when the other orchestra, a big band jazz ensemble began to play, everyone abandoned their table and returned to the dance floor.  I couldn’t believe I was in a palace, boogie-ing in a ball gown to In The Mood, Rock Around the Clock and current songs of Michael 

Buble to Stevie Wonder.

When the brass played regal music announcing the arrival of actors impersonating Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Sisi, everyone stood up.  An entourage walked in front of the Imperial couple as they walked amidst the guests who immediately parted themselves on the dance floor, like Moses parting the Red Sea and were seated on stage in Baroque style chairs.

Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Sisi

Enthusiastic people counted down to midnight in their own languages yelling, “Happy New Year!” as sparkling fireworks lit up the big screen.

A ballet ensemble danced to the strains of The Blue Danube.  When they finished, Emperor Franz Joseph stood and thanked all of us for celebrating with him, wishing us peace, happiness and good fortune in the New Year in several languages.

Next, the operetta began.  For those of you who are thinking:  Boring!  Think again.  Viennese music is filled with a joie de vivre.  These internationally famed stars performed with joy and whimsy.

In the wee hours of the morning, a dance professional invited everyone to the dance floor to form a line facing one another and taught us hundreds of traditional steps so that we could try to participate in the Fledermaus-Quadrille.

The music raced wildly; people twirled rapidly, laughing and bumping shoulders.

Then, the Big Band, with its loud expansive sound played Cha Cha, Samba, Swing and popular music until three-thirty to a room of dance and party enthusiasts who wished the evening would never end.

The Imperial Ball at the Vienna Hofburg Palace is the event that begins the seasons of Balls.  So, for those of you who want to do something dazzling on New Year’s Eve, throw away your sweat pants, grab your tuxedo and elegant ball gown and waltz the night away into a spectacular New Year in the Hofburg Palace.  

Oh, What a Night!

Heidi Goldman ~ New Year's Eve in the Hofburg Palace ~ Vienna, Austria