After spending even a couple of weeks in Europe, you’re up to your ears in artistic depictions of Jesus. So it’s nice to visit a completely different kind of museum for a change. If you happen to be in Croatia’s capital, the Museum of Broken Relationships perfectly fits the bill and is a must see.
The museum’s collection consists of artifacts donated by people from all over the world in memory of their failed loves. Each artifact is accompanied by its own back story. They are touching, heartbreaking, and sometimes hilarious. Though the exhibit consists largely of romantic relationships, you’ll also find items dedicated to family members that had a falling out or people who have passed away.
Once you’ve enjoyed basking in other people’s raw emotions, you can unload your own in their confessional. There you can jot down a few words to your exes in a giant book that’s been scribbled on by thousands in hundreds of languages. And maybe my favorite part of my visit was not the artifacts, but seeing a man cry in the confessional for 10 minutes while he wrote about some mystery person. To be honest, I saw more guys cry at this museum than I did at Auschwitz.
If you have an old mix tape or a wedding dress to discard, you can donate it to the collection online or in person. Though the exhibition travels around the world, the permanent and original museum is in Zagreb. Second only to the Dialogue in the Dark exhibition in Hamburg, the Museum of Broken Relationships is one of the best museums I’ve visited all summer.
Leave a Reply