Blaze wrecks world-class collection

Over 230 classic motorcycles and at least a dozen classic cars have been destroyed after a fire ripped through the Top Mountain Crosspoint Motorcycle Museum in the Austrian Alps in January.

The museum – noted internationally for being built at an altitude of 7135ft, making it the highest-altitude museum in Europe – caught light in the early hours of January 18, with the blaze consuming virtually the entirety of the largely wood-clad building. There were no reported injuries.

The cause of the blaze is as yet unknown, and the museum had been closed to the public since November due to Covid restrictions.

Opened in 2016, Top Mountain housed almost 300 bikes from 10 different constructors, with highlights being a 1920 Anzani racing bike, a 1923 Harley-Davidson and a 1970 Münch Mammut. Among the cars were an Aston Martin DB5, a 1964 Lotus 23B and a Porsche 959.

The museum was founded by twin brothers Alban and Attila Scheiber and inaugurated by Giacomo Agostini. There has yet to be any word on whether it will be rebuilt.