Stuffed animals hold pyjama party at Salzburg fortress

Stuffed animals spent the night at Hohensalzburg Fortress in Salzburg after children brought them to a family event, ORF reported. The toys travelled up to the fortress by funicular railway while their owners stayed behind.

Families gathered at the funicular on Saturday evening, with many children anxious about their favourite toy spending its first night away from home. Nine-year-old Jakob brought a stuffed bat because “a bat would probably feel very comfortable in a castle”.

After the children said goodbye, the toys were taken to the fortress. Staff photographed them before they moved into their historic overnight accommodation. The idea was for the animals to let part of each child spend the night at the fortress.

Melanie Salvenmoser, a cultural educator at Hohensalzburg Fortress, promised to look after the toys. She said they would stay in the room where she was working the night shift.

Salvenmoser said social media had inspired the event, after she saw similar overnight stays for stuffed animals, including at libraries. The children were reunited with their toys during a family tour of the fortress on Sunday morning.