The magic loot - 210 tiny golden Mozarts vanish from Salzburg display

20 August 2026, 12:02 | Updated: 21 August 2026, 10:53

‘A little night mystery’ takes place in Austria...

Salzburg has hit a bum note with its latest Mozart tribute, after 210 golden statuettes of the composer disappeared from an outdoor art installation.

The city installed 320 50cm-tall figures of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his dog Pimperl on 15 July. However, 210 of the statues have gradually disappeared.

The installation was created by German conceptual artist Ottmar Hörl to mark what would have been Mozart’s 270th birthday. Commissioned by the Mozarteum Foundation, the exhibition was spread across the gardens and rooms of the composer’s former Salzburg home.

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Hörl has said he suspects the missing Mozarts were not just taken by opportunistic visitors, telling German news agency dpa that he believed the disappearances could be “organised theft”.

He said: “The worst thing for an artist is when his work dissolves.” Hörl had planned to sell the statues for around €100 (£84) each once the exhibition ended, so it’s unlikely the thieves are holing up in a Monaco mansion.

It is not the first time Hörl’s work has proved irresistible villains. At a previous installation in Bayreuth, Germany, an entire display of his Richard Wagner figures disappeared within 10 days.

However, he’s taking it in his stride, telling dpa: “That's just the nature of public space. When you work as an artist in a public space, you mustn't complain about what is happening there. It ranges from destruction to theft. That’s just how it is.”

The organisers plan to allow the remaining Mozart figures to stay on show, albeit with a bit more room to stretch their legs, until the end of August.