Top Mountain Motorcycle Museum World of Experience

On 18 January 2021, some 230 historic motorcycles and 28 cars caught fire at the Top Mountain Motorcycle Museum in Hochgurgl. An immense loss also for the entire classic motorcycle and vintage car community around the world. But the twin brothers Alban and Attila Scheiber, operators of Europe’s highest motorcycle museum (2175 m), shook their heads briefly and then stepped on the gas as usual. Like a phoenix from the ashes, a new museum - or rather a multimedia world of experience – was built in the same place next to the Timmelsjoch road toll station and base station of Kirchenkar mountain gondola. Covering 5600 square meters on two levels, twice as large as before, showing over 550 exhibits, including 30 cars, twice as well stocked and with heaps of exciting "driving experiences", the museum could be reopened on 18 November 2021.

My dream: riding the Timmelsjoch High Alpine Road on a motorbike one day. Not as a pillion rider, but at the start myself. Now I'm actually racing down the tight, steep curves towards South Tyrol at breakneck speed, sweating on my forehead, although I know that nothing will happen and that I can press the red stop button at any time. Because the super-modern 5 KTM is well secured in the 4D cinema - "unique in the world", as Alban Scheiber assures me, the hot ride is only a simulation. “Even if you have never sat on a motorbike before, you can now try it out safely”.

The motorbike fans Attila and Alban Scheiber had already fulfilled their dream of having their own museum in 2016. Showing the evolution of motorcycles, from its beginnings in 1885 to modern times. Walk-in motorcycle history coupled with exciting special exhibitions. Flashing chrome, rich sound of the engines and really hot motorcycles even today. The Indian Chief Bagger TOP Mountain is staged in front of a blue screen. Almost everyone takes a selfie here. Hardly anyone can escape the fascination of the Motor Experience with 4D cinema, Motor Wall and technology simulation, even those who have never had anything to do with motorcycles before. On the walls, old black-and-white photos beam back to the era when the riders of adventurous motorbikes still wore flat caps and loose knickers. “Vehicles around the World” uses moving images to show what motorbikes and cars are capable of.

"Of course," says Alban when I ask him about the fire disaster, "at the beginning we were very depressed. As children we used to ride very small motorbikes up the mountain. At the age of 18 we were already buying motorcycles and never selling them again, just renovating them really well. We have collected all our lives. And then everything burns down. 230 motorcycles and 28 cars.”

In the meantime, Alban and Attila have awoken from the shock: “Fortunately, we were able to fall back on our old contacts. We used to own 80 percent of the motorbikes and 20 percent were borrowed – mostly from private collectors. After the fire, we never thought that someone would lend us a motorbike again. Exactly the opposite was the case. People from South America to Australia got in touch with us to offer bikes. Some collectors have even lent us machines even though they were emotionally very attached to them, including a Hildebrand & Wolfmüller, the world's first mass-produced motorcycle. However, between 15 and 20 percent of the unique exhibits that were burned could not be replaced.”

Since the brothers had already planned an extension that was twice as large, they brought it forward by a year or two. They set up the new "Sound of Motorbikes" station, where visitors can experience the real feeling on special bikes with sounds and vibrations - like on the 5 KTM. Where children can have great fun too. Like eight-year-old Aline from the Netherlands.
Or 10-year-old Jenny from the Black Forest, who is just telling her mum that she really wants to have a real motorbike as soon as she is grown up.

Another new highlight: under the motto “Porsche Heritage”, the car manufacturer Porsche has delivered a couple of racing cars that have made history, including the 919 Hybrid - winning car of the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours, driven by Marc Lieb, Romain Dumas and Neel Jani who took the overall win in the last lap.

Pioneering achievements from the 1930s and 1950s were also brought into focus. And I'm extremely lucky as a reporter! Peter Reisch, son of the famous researcher Max Reisch (1912 - 1985) happens to be on site and enjoys being photographed at his father's desk and in front of a large picture showing his father on a Puch 250 E. "It was taken on his 13,000 km journey to India in 1933," Peter Reisch explains. The permanent special exhibition "Prof. Max Reisch's expeditions and research trips" shows expedition vehicles, the Orient archive and the Asian collection of the Tirolean geographer and travel writer, whose expeditions led to almost all continents.

The brand new special exhibition “Tricolori Italiane” is all about Italian motorcycles. After all, the most successful motorcyclist of all time - Giacomo Agostini - once inaugurated the museum as its godfather.

Motorbikes everywhere you look, even in the restaurant. With the reopening, the wine list was also expanded: "In addition to international brands, we now offer many Italian wines," Alban states. We treat ourselves to a glass of fine red wine and toast to a top future of the Top Mountain Motorcycle Museum. Fortunately, drinking and driving is not an issue on the simulators.

The renowned journalist and sporty globetrotter from Hamburg has a great passion for the Ötztal and its manifold contrasts and activities:

• Action – Isolation
• Thrill of speed – Peace and relaxation
• Ancient rituals – Trendy hot spots