August 14, 2026 – More than 200 gold statuettes of Austria’s most famous composer disappeared from his hometown of Salzburg, leaving a tribute to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on his 270th birthday considerably less crowded.
The Mozarteum Foundation on July 15 unveiled 320 statuettes, less than 20 inches high, showing Mozart with his dog. Within two weeks, more than 80 of the polymer figures had disappeared.
By Wednesday, a total of 210 were missing. The mini-Mozarts populated not only the garden of the composer’s former house, but also his living quarters as well as several pavilions.
While the organizers put aside some spare statuettes in case of theft, there were too few to compensate for the actual losses. And in a further stroke of bad luck, the manufacturer of the statues was away on holidays, so there was no quick fix. The exhibition of statuettes, now more widely spaced, is scheduled to remain on display until Aug. 30.