11-Year-Old Mozart Statue

Mozart statue outside the theatre he once played in at 11 years old. mytourbrno (Atlas Obscura User)

While Brno was part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, everything was Austrian: the official language, the city’s newspapers, schools, theaters, everything. Reduta Theatre in Brno’s second-biggest square, Zelny Trh (also known as the “Cabbage Market”), is not only one of the oldest theaters in central Europe, it’s also the only place in Brno where they allowed a play in Czech so the language could have a chance of surviving.

The theater is also the place where the famed Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart performed as an 11-year-old boy, and to commemorate this, the city erected a statue outside. But, can you definitely tell it is Mozart? Is anything a little strange?

This odd statue depicts the head of the composer is his adult form (a developed face), but his body is that of an 11-year-old boy (an underdeveloped body). His nakedness is meant to symbolize freedom.

Little Mozart is standing on a piano, with a tiny wing. Whenever you see a statue with only one wing, there are two reasons why. Either it is simply damaged, or, like it is the case here, it was built on purpose to signify that this person had a tragic death.

Mozart died as a poor man in pain (the exact cause of his death is still disputed today). But Brno remembers him— albeit somewhat creatively—for that one time he graced the city with his music in 1767.

Know Before You Go

The Cabbage Market still operates every day on Zelny Trh, except on Sundays. Try and visit on a week morning to see the seasonal colors in full swing!