January 2021
The fire catastrophe
After the far-reaching challenges of 2020, which was so marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, we all hoped that the new year 2021 would bring a fresh start or a return to life as usual.
Unfortunately, this wish did not last long: on the night of Sunday, 17th January 2021, to Monday, 18th January 2021, a fierce fire broke out in the main section of the Motorcycle Museum, destroying the entire upper floor with all the exhibits displayed therein.
A complete collection of motorbike history, which had been tracked down and acquired all over the world for over two decades with passion and finally presented in the museum in the best possible condition, melted into ashes and wreckage before our eyes.
Along with our own collectors' items, unfortunately many exhibits that donors - museums and private individuals alike - had willingly made available to us were also lost. A sad, irretrievable loss!
The inferno
Even a large contingent of volunteer fire brigades from the entire Ötztal valley could not prevent the complete destruction of our TOP Mountain Motorcycle Museum. We had to watch helplessly as our motorbike museum burned before our eyes.
The loss
The cause of the fire was determined to be a defective large screen in the museum's exhibition room. The entire collection of unique motorbikes and cars on the upper floor of the building fell victim to the flames. This part of the TOP Mountain Crosspoint burned down completely except for the supporting concrete elements.
Lucky in disguise
Fortunately, the fire brigades were able to prevent the flames from spreading to the wing of the building that houses the cable car station and the Crosspoint restaurant. We are therefore in a position to resume restaurant and cable car operations in early summer 2021 without any restrictions!
We will be back!
In every disaster there is also a new beginning. The evacuation work has been completed and work is already underway to rebuild the TOP Mountain Motorcycle Museum. We will do our best to offer an equivalent museum experience again in the foreseeable future.
