A museum of broken relationships, it’s about people breaking up, right? Well, yes and no.
The Museum of Broken Relationships, currently exhibiting in Zagreb and Los Angeles, displays objects that represent the end of a relationship. Sometimes this is between two people; a couple, parent and child, friends, neighbours, etc. Other times it’s the relationship between a person and an object, or a person and a part of themselves.
Walking around the exhibition, there are a huge range of items on show. Each has been sent in by someone, as a representation of the end of some kind of relationship in their life. Ranging in size, function and initial level of interest, only by reading the accompanying description will you know the meaning and story behind it.

I was hesitant to visit the museum while in Zagreb. I’d just finished in a relationship and didn’t really fancy spending my time reading about people breaking up. Who does, really? However, I was intrigued, in the neighbourhood and had some free time. I am so glad I did visit, and it’s one of my favourite ‘museums’ ever.
It’s not often I’m captivated enough to read each placard, usually I just stop to read the odd one as it catches my eye. Here, I read every explanation that accompanied an item. And I wanted to take photos of them all because they were all so unique and relatable, funny or touching. I found myself laughing with some of the stories, broken hearted with others and some felt as though the story was mine, albeit with a different item.
Some of my favourite items in there have stayed with me long after I left:
– A bra – a lady was acknowledging the end of her relationship with her breasts after being diagnosed with breast cancer and having a mastectomy.
– A pizza dough box – following a gluten and lactose intolerance diagnosis, the sender had to end their relationship with their favourite food, pizza. So long, cheese.
– Basketball shoes – accompanied with the message ‘We played basketball together. He was straight, I wasn’t. He used to tell me about the girls he was seeing and it killed me inside.’
– A door with messages all over it – a lady had lost her son and his friends had covered their old front door with messages for him after he passed away.
– A parachute – a lady who had met her partner while parachuting, enjoyed a life together before he died in a parachuting accident.

9 Comments
Happy Panda
July 9, 2020 at 1:03 pmCan’t wait to visit this museum when I start travelling again! Croatia is high on my to-visit places!
Becks
July 9, 2020 at 2:08 pmCroatia is absolutely stunning, I really hope you love it when you get there! And I would totally recommend the museum! 🙂
mytimetotravel
July 9, 2020 at 1:44 pmWhat a wonderful idea.
Becks
July 9, 2020 at 2:09 pmThat was my thought too, I’d never heard of anything like it before and really enjoyed the community feel of it.
Rebecca
July 9, 2020 at 8:30 pmI also went there when I was in Zagreb. One of the quirkiest museums I’ve been to. The displays definitely generate a plethora of humor, sadness, and poignancy. There was also a Museum of Broken Relationships in Los Angeles, but it’s since closed. In any case, the one in Zagreb is worth stopping over; I’d also recommend the Museum of Naive Art, which is just as quirky and enriching to see. 🙂
lookingforthehigherself
July 10, 2020 at 9:34 amOmg… I love this Museum and felt exactly as you did…. I was really touched by the woman who lost her son and gave the door of all his friends messages too… it broke my heart…
Becks
July 10, 2020 at 3:23 pmThere were quite a few exhibits in there that were quite heartbreaking, I really felt like it was a bit of an emotional ride!
Juliette
July 14, 2020 at 8:30 amSuuper interesting! I heard about it some time ago and I really love the concept. It will be for sure a must-see if I go to Zagreb (or LA) one day, it sounds so interesting! In the meantime, I’m glad I got to read a bit about it, so thanks for sharing 😊
Becks
July 14, 2020 at 10:49 pmId love to visit the LA one too (any reason for an LA visit!) because they’d be different enough to warrant it. So interesting though!