Fans of European motoring history are reeling today after Austria’s Top Mountain Crosspoint Motorcycle Museum suffered a cataclysmic fire on January 18, 2021. Located at the base of the Austrian side of Timmelsjoch Pass – where Austria and Italy meet deep in the Alps – the museum was founded in 2016 by twin brothers Alban and Attila Scheiber as a way to showcase their classic iron collection.
The museum housed around 230 classic bicycles, mostly European, by names like Sunbeam, Brough Superior and Zundapp, along with a smaller collection of vintage cars, including Porsches and Ferraris. Vintage American bicycles from Harley-Davidson, Indian and even a Flying Merkel were also part of his collection. Scheibers have loved motorcycles since they were children and constantly built a collection of their favorites for life before finally showing them off to the public.
By visiting the official Tyrolean tourism website, you will learn something that probably contributed to the fire, as the Google translation says: “the building with its wooden facade fits harmoniously into the alpine landscape”. If you have never had the chance to visit this museum in happier times, looking at the photos and videos shows a beautiful wooden structure, filled with all kinds of treasures of motorcycling. Motorsport legend Giacomo Agostini even helped bring this museum back to life when it started.
It is not clear at this point how much damage was done. An alarm went off at about 4:40 am and by the time the firefighters arrived, the building was already on fire, according to Moto.IT. 60 firefighters quickly started to work, trying to prevent the fire from spreading to a restaurant and other nearby buildings. So far, local media have reported that no one has been physically injured by the fire.
There is still no information available on what caused the fire, but we will keep them updated as and when we learn more.