In a baroque palace in Zagreb's Upper Town, hundreds of stories of love lost fill the rooms with objects that once meant everything to someone.

Welcome to the Museum of Broken Relationships, where a pair of garden gnomes, a wedding dress, and an ax that chopped up an ex's furniture stand as monuments to relationships that didn't last.

This isn't your typical museum experience. There are no precious antiquities or famous paintings here. Instead, you'll find deeply personal objects donated by people from around the world, each accompanied by anonymous confessions that reveal the universal pain and occasional humor of romantic endings.

From Breakup to Breakthrough

The museum began in 2006 as a traveling exhibition, created by two Croatian artists, Olinka Vištica and Dražen Grubišić, following their own breakup. What started as a creative way to process their separation struck a chord with people everywhere.

As friends began contributing their own artifacts of failed relationships, the collection grew. By 2010, the project found its permanent home in Zagreb's historic Upper Town. The museum has since won the European Museum of the Year Award in 2011, proving that museums don't need ancient artifacts to touch people's hearts.

Love's Leftover Objects

The collection spans continents and cultures, with donations from over 100 countries. You'll encounter wedding dresses never worn, love letters carefully preserved, and everyday items transformed by heartbreak into something extraordinary.

Each object tells a story. An ax from Berlin used to destroy an ex-partner's furniture. A prosthetic leg from Slovenia left behind after a brief affair. A toaster from the Netherlands that represents years of silent breakfasts. The accompanying descriptions, written by the donors themselves, provide raw, honest context that transforms mundane objects into powerful emotional artifacts.

A Museum That Heals

What makes this museum truly special is its therapeutic dimension. It's not just about displaying objects but creating space for emotional processing and connection. Visitors often leave their own contributions, finding catharsis in sharing their stories.

The museum encourages reflection on why relationships fail and what cultural, political, and social forces shape our intimate lives. It's simultaneously deeply personal and universally relatable. The experience often provokes laughter, tears, and the comforting realization that heartbreak is a shared human experience. There's even a wedding chapel on-site, offering a hopeful counterpoint to all the endings.

Museum of Broken Relationships Highlights & Tips

• The Breakup Confessional Read the anonymous stories accompanying each object. These personal narratives range from heartbreaking to darkly humorous, revealing the universal language of love and loss.
• International Collection Explore artifacts from over 100 countries, showing how heartbreak transcends cultural boundaries while also reflecting different cultural attitudes toward relationships.
• The Wedding Chapel Visit the on-site wedding chapel, a hopeful addition that celebrates new beginnings and reminds visitors that love continues despite its fragility.
• Allow Extra Time Budget at least 90 minutes for your visit. You'll want time to read the stories behind the objects, which are as important as the items themselves.
• Located in Upper Town The museum sits in Zagreb's historic Upper Town (Gornji Grad), easily combined with visits to other nearby attractions like St. Mark's Church and the Lotrščak Tower.
• Photography Welcome Personal photography is permitted throughout the museum, though you may want to be respectful of other visitors processing their own emotions.
• Contribute Your Story Consider submitting your own object and story to the collection. There's something cathartic about transforming personal pain into shared art.

The Museum of Broken Relationships reminds us that endings are as much a part of the human experience as beginnings. It's a place where vulnerability becomes strength, where personal objects become collective memory, and where strangers connect through shared heartache.

Whether you're nursing a fresh wound or decades past your last breakup, this museum offers something rare: permission to feel, remember, and ultimately heal. It's proof that even our most painful moments can create something beautiful and meaningful for others.