SALZBURG, Austria (AP) — Visitors to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s hometown can see the composer — and his dog — in miniature as Salzburg celebrates the 270th anniversary of his birth. But they shouldn’t wait too long.The Mozarteum Foundation on Wednesday unveiled 300 gold-colored statuettes of Mozart, which are barely 50 centimeters (less than 20 inches) tall. They were designed by German concept artist Ottmar Hörl. Mozart was born on Jan. 27, 1756, in the Austrian city, where the Mozarteum Foundation offers concerts, maintains Mozart museums and supports research on him.“I didn’t want to do a monument of Mozart. There are already enough of these. But I wanted to show his human side, that he was a normal human being despite his genius,” Hörl told The Associated Press. To give the statues a human touch, Hörl depicted the composer with his favorite dog, Pimperl. Mozart and his family were known to take long walks with their dogs in the Mirabell Garden, next to where they lived.The mini-Mozarts populate not only the garden, but also Mozart’s former living quarters as well as several pavilions. In all, 400 statues were made, but only 300 are on display at present. The rest are being kept in reserve in case of theft.
A horde of golden mini-Mozarts marks 270 years since the composer's birth in Salzburg
Visitors to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s hometown can see the composer — and his dog — in miniature as Salzburg celebrates the 270th anniversary of his birth.






