One Of Croatia's Most Unique Museums Is A Thought-Provoking Destination For The Heartbroken

Compared to the Game-of-Thrones splendor of Croatia's Dalmatian Coast — including Split, a breathtaking beauty full of historic charm, and Rovinj, a seaside Croatian town like Venice without the crowds — Zagreb gets relatively little fanfare. It's not difficult to see why, as the Italian architecture, white marble, and Adriatic-tinted sunny skies of the coast transform into a somewhat dour, dimmer Astro-Hungarian flavor often capped by rain clouds. Nevertheless, as the country's capital and center of government, business, education, and art, Zagreb offers ever more reasons to visit, especially as new generations pull it further out of the pounding it took in the 20th century, including two World Wars, a civil war, and communist rule. This young, creative spirit manifests in the unique Museum of Broken Relationships.

At the Museum of Broken Relationships, there are no works of art or anything of financial value. Here, the power of the displays comes from the emotion contained inside, be it a drawing of a couple made by a stranger on the train, a toaster stolen during a post-breakup move-out, or an empty bag of fortune cookies attached to a Starbucks cup. But perhaps none get more human than belly button lint, a 27-year-old scab, and dreadlocks still braided with nuptial knots. All these artifacts are donated anonymously alongside a text telling their story and significance. They also manifest the museum's mission: "It is a museum about you, about us, about the ways we love and lose."

The authentic emotion on display at the Museum of Broken Relationships extends to its origin story. Olinka Vištica and Dražen Grubišić were in the process of divvying up possessions in the wake of their own relationship's collapse. Debating what to do with a wind-up bunny toy special to both, they were suddenly struck by the idea of a third-party repository for break-up detritus. Launched as a special project at the 2006 edition of the Zagreb Salon — a biennale exhibition of visual arts, architecture, and design — the "museum" found fast success that led to worldwide invitations and, in 2010, a permanent home in Zagreb's Upper Town district. Today, the museum counts more than 4,000 objects in its collection, with 40 or so on display.

It's also expanded its footprint globally, opening a new branch in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in November 2024. Its home is the historic Yong Chiang building, built by a Chinese merchant in 1903, near the foodie-heaven Warorot Market. This comes after a short-lived branch in Los Angeles that closed in 2017. Much like the all-inflatable Balloon Museum, the Museum of Broken Relationships tours regularly, setting up temporary traveling exhibitions over the past few years in Belgrade, Serbia; Indianapolis, USA; Mexico City, Mexico; and Aveiro, Portugal. On the museum's website, the exhibition continues to grow with thousands of new contributions and stories of heartbreak from all around the world, curatively creating the opposite effect — togetherness.