Phallological Museum, Reykjavik
With more than 280 penises on display, this collection in Reykjavik is an impressive ode to the love muscle. Cocks from a wide range of land and sea mammals – whales, seals, polar bears, even homo sapiens – jut out of the walls, recline resplendently in display cases and, in some instances, are squashed unkindly into jars. Odder still, founder Sigurður Hjartarson proclaims that his (purely scientific) interest in the phallus first began when he was given a pizzle as a child. A pizzle is a bull’s penis. The museum also promises, somewhat ominously, “the collection of about 300 artistic oddments and other practical utensils related to the museum´s chosen theme”. phallus.is
Avanos Hair Museum, Cappadocia
This incredibly creepy accumulation of women’s hair, adorning the walls and hanging from the ceiling of a cave in Turkey’s Central Antolia, was curated by potter/ oddball Galip Körükçü. He began the project in 1979 and today has 16,000 hair samples donated by willing ladies. Körükçü’s efforts have earned him a Guinness World Record. chez-galip.com
Currywurst Museum, Berlin
Everyone knows the Germans love their sausage, but did you know this pork lust extends to an entire museum devoted to currywurst? The popular dish, made from steamed pork sausage coated in thick curry ketchup, was first hawked on the streets of Berlin in the Fifties. Today’s exhibit claims to take you on a sensory journey through the best of the wurst, taking in sniffing stations and a mock sausage stand, which you can get behind and experience what it would feel like to serve the snack. Wowzers. currywurstmuseum.de
Museum of Broken Relationships, Zagreb
This cheery venue in Croatia displays the detritus of failed love affairs, offering comfort to those whose own relationships have ended. There are more than 700 objects donated from all over the world, from standard keepsakes such as teddy bears and jewellery, to the more unusual (look for the bottle that contains the tears cried by a spurned lover). brokenships.com
Museum of Contraception and Abortion, Vienna
This delightful ‘attraction’ in the Austrian capital explores the destruction of the “natural bond” between sexuality and reproduction – without judgement or adopting a specific position, it insists. Take a tour of scary-looking abortion instruments and tummy-turning body models that show the dangers of backstreet terminations. If you’re still holding on to your lunch, check out the collection of contraceptive coils, the history of vaginal rinsing and potential future plans for birth control. en.muvs.org
Fragonard Vet Museum, Paris
Yet more medical curiosities can be found among the astonishing collection at this hidden gem behind the Veterinary School of Maisons-Alfort. Devoted to the study of human and animal anatomy, you’ll see two-headed lambs, a cyclops colt and real cadavers that have been skinned and dissected to expose their organs. Eighteenth-century anatomist Honoré Fragonard got particularly creative with some of his ‘flayed figures’ – don’t miss the skinned man riding a flayed horse, surrounded by human foetuses riding animal foetuses. musee.vet-alfort.fr
Erotic Museum, Amsterdam
This extensive exploration of erotica is set over several floors in an old 17th-century warehouse. Along with an exhibit about the history of Amsterdam’s Red Light District, there’s a collection of erotic art from all over the world, a display of rather frightening condoms and a dirty version of Disney’s Snow White And The Seven Dwarves. amsterdam.info/museums/erotic-museum
Devil’s Museum, Kaunas
We have renowned Lithuanian painter Antanas Žmuidzinavicius to thank for this sinister assembly, comprising about 3000 images of the devil. Žmuidzinavicius collected sculptures and carvings of the Dark Lord as a hobby, and upon his death in 1966, a memorial museum was established at his home. The museum outgrew the house thanks to donations from visitors, and has since moved to more official lodgings. Go for an insight into the concept of the devil within cultures across the globe. muziejai.lt
Medieval Criminal Museum, San Gimignano
Amid the sublime Tuscan countryside, this grisly gallery of medieval torture devices will make you overwhelmingly glad for the fact you’re living in the here and now. Aside from the collection of iron maidens and spiky chairs, the museum seeks to create a discussion on human rights. And thus, as well as pondering the exact usage of the ‘heretic fork’, you can mull over torture through the ages as a dastardly device of authority. torturamuseum.com
Carrot Museum, Berlotte
We can only assume that the people of Berlotte in Belgium have been swigging a glass too many of their homeland’s exceptional ale. How else would you explain this incredibly silly museum, which is too small to even enter? Instead, visitors peer through a window in a historic electricity tower, and turn a wheel that operates a conveyor belt, which then moves an array of carrot-centric exhibits (carrot necklaces, carrots) in front of their very eyes. Find it by keeping an eye out for the carrot clock and carrot weather vane decorating the tower.
Thought the Europeans were weird? Try these atypical archives further afar.
Sulabh International Museum of Toilets
The magnificent Red Fort and 25,000-capacity Jama Masjid mosque in Delhi are all well and good, but one sight you really must not miss is this toilet museum. Cataloguing the historical and aesthetic evolution of toilets with a comprehensive display, you’ll learn that the crapper is, as the curator claims, “a critical chapter in the growth of civilisation”. sulabhtoiletmuseum.org
Parasite Museum
A 30ft tapeworm pulled out of a woman who ate some bad sushi is the jewel in the disturbing crown of this Tokyo museum, boasting a collection of 300 different types of parasite. Treat yourself to a souvenir keyring with a dead specimen trapped inside. kiseichu.org
Burnt Food Museum
Feel better about your culinary abilities with a visit to the Burnt Food Museum. Even better, you don’t have to leave the sofa to check out the exhibits – just visit the website for a bemusing journey through charred chow. Boston-based curator Deborah Henson-Conant gives private tours of the museum outside of cyberspace, but as they cost US$500 a pop and she looks a bit unhinged, we’d stick with the virtual option. Fun fact: there is an official Burnt Food Museum harpist. burntfoodmuseum.com
