Poo, hearses, human hair, noodles, toilets and much more. Around the world there are museums displaying quite unusual stuff… If fossils and rare paintings are not for you, check out this list of 10 very bizarre museums.
1. Meguro Parasitological Museum, Tokyo, Japan
The Meguro Parasitological Museum was founded in 1953 by the Japanese parasitologist Dr. Satoru Kamegai. The museum features a collection of more than 40,000 parasites. Besides this weird – though well-preserved – collection, the museum also includes a library with more than 6,000 books about parasites. But the main attraction is for sure the 8.8 meters-long tapeworm: the longest in the world.
2. Museum of Broken Relationships, Zagreb, Croatia
This weird museum was created to share heartbreak stories and possessions. It hosts a collection of more than 2,000 objects somehow related to love and relationships, such as teddy bears, letters, and postcards, but also unusual objects like a prosthetic leg, a bottle filled with tears and an axe used to damage the furniture of a cheating partner. The museum was created by two Croatian artists: Dražen Grubišić and Olinka Vištica. It had such a great success that a similar museum was later opened in Los Angeles.
3. National Poo Museum, Isle of Wight, England
The National Poo Museum was created in 2016 by Daniel Roberts, Nigel George and Dave Badman to “explore the world of poo”. This museum displays resin spheres encapsulating poo samples from different animals as well as humans. Other items of the collection include fossilized feces that date back millions of years and owl pellets. There are even interactive displays to understand the secrets of this sticky substance!
4. Avanos Hair Museum, Avanos, Turkey
The Avanos Hair Museum is probably the only museum in the world that displays an exclusive collection of human hair. This bizarre tourist spot was created by Galip Körükçü, a local pottery expert. The museum is located under Galip’s poterry shop and showcases a collection of over 16,000 hair locks donated by women from all over the world. The locks of hair cover the ceiling, the walls and other surfaces.
5. Funeral Museum, Vienna, Austria
The Funeral museum (in German Bestattungsmuseum) includes a collection of over 1,000 objects and artefacts related to Viennese funeral traditions and mourning rituals. Some objects include pallbearers’ uniforms, old hearses, wreathes, urns, and mourning clothes. There are also some objects that testify the fear to be buried alive, such as a bell to be placed inside the coffin, or a dagger for self-murder.
6. Museum of Bad Art, Somerville, MA, USA
This museum is dedicated to the collection, preservation, exhibition, and celebration of different forms of bad art. It displays more than 600 pieces which are considered very bad pieces of art… So bad that they cannot be ignored!
7. Big Mac Museum, North Huntingdon, PA, USA
The Big Mac Museum is located inside a McDonald’s restaurant and was founded by Jim Delligatti, the inventor of the Big Mac. Here, visitors can learn all about McDonald’s history and walk through a unique collection of McDonald’s memorabilia, including the world’s largest plastic Big Mac.
8. Icelandic Phallological Museum, Reykjavík, Iceland
This is probably the weirdest museum of this list. The Icelandic Phallological Museum was founded by former teacher Sigurður Hjartarson. It showcases more than 215 different penises and penile parts of various types of mammals, from mice to polar bears to seals to foxes to whales, as well as four from human beings. Thanks to this museums, visitors have the opportunity to undertake a serious study of the field of phallology which receives very little attention.
9. Sulabh International Museum of Toilets, New Delhi, India
The Sulabh International Museum of Toilets was founded by sanitation expert Dr Bindeshwar Pathak. The Museum has a collection of pictures and objects related to the historic evolution of toilets from 2500 BC to the present. It testimonies the development of toilets relating to technology, social customs, toilet etiquettes, sanitary conditions and legislative efforts. The exposition includes some of the first manmade toilets, hand-painted Austrian toilet bowls, hi-tech Japanese and Korean toilets, and a replica of the world’s biggest “toilet complex”, that is situated in Maharashtra in west-central India.
10. Cupnoodles Museum, Ikeda, Japan
This museum is also known as Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum. It is dedicated to Momofuku Ando, the creator of the instant ramen noodle.The museum includes a kitchen where visitors can make their own bowl of noodles, selecting a suop and four toppings. There is also a Chicken Ramen Factory to make ramens by hand. One of the best sections of the museum is the Instant Noodles Tunnel: a colorful exhibit that displays around 800 instant noodles packges! Outside the museum you can find the statue of Momofuku Ando standing on a colossal stone cup of his instant meal.
