Modern temple of motorcycling burned at dawn last Monday and flames destroyed both the wooden building and the nearly 250 historic motorcycles in its collection, which also included a handful of classic cars.
The Top Mountain Museum, located on the Austrian slope of the Timmelsjoch Pass, at an altitude of 2,175 meters, just beyond the highest point of the port and the Italian border, caught fire at 4.30 in the morning of Monday, January 18 without the causes of the accident have still transcended.
These days it was closed – due to the pandemic since March 2020 – and had announced its reopening this Sunday, January 24. The preparations to re-display the jewels in the exhibition could have been accidental causes of the loss, although they are all speculation.
Europe’s highest-altitude museum
was built in 2016 in a popular location for countless bikers from around the world roaming the twisty Alpine roads at any time of the year. The initiative came from the brothers Alban and Attila Schieber, who has dedicated a good part of their lives to collecting iconic models of motorcycles made since the beginning of the 20th century.
The eight-time world champion Giacomo Agostini participated as a sponsor at the opening of the Top Mountain Museum, who was able to see some of the MV Augusta motorcycles, the brand that raised him to the top in the highest category of motorcycling. The route to get there is spectacular and the Museum, in addition to offering a motorcycle history lesson, welcomed the bikers in the warmth of its facilities and even a restaurant well-valued by visitors.
The disaster takes away units from legendary manufacturers in Europe and the United States such as BMW, Morini, BSA, Sunbeam, Royal Enfield, Zundapp, Brough Superior, MV Agusta, Indian, Flying Merkel, Triumph, Harley Davidson … everything a priceless luxury that has been burned in the snowy landscape of Timmelsjoch. Among the few cars on show were a Ferrari California Spider, a Lotus 23B, and a Porsche 356 Speedster. The disaster is irreversible.
The only positive of the catastrophe is that no person was injured. Defying the ice and snow, the fire crews in the area quickly came to the alarm signal at Timmelsjoch and although upon arrival only the roof of the building burned, the expansion of the flames was unstoppable.
