Museum of Broken Relationships
The Museum of Broken Relationships is a permanent collection of objects left behind after romantic relationships end, housed since 2010 in the Baroque Kulmer Palace on the historic Ćirilometodska street in Zagreb’s Upper Town. Founded by Croatian artists Olinka Vištica and Dražen Grubišić following their own break-up, the museum invites donors worldwide to submit objects and personal testimonies from ended relationships, creating an unconventional archive of human loss, longing, and resilience. The concept has toured dozens of cities globally and won the Council of Europe Museum Prize (Ken Adam Award) in 2011.
At a glance
- Type
- Thematic museum (private non-profit foundation)
- Period
- Permanent Zagreb location opened 2010; concept originated 2006
- Style
- 17th–18th century Baroque palace (Kulmer Palace)
- Location
- Ćirilometodska 2, Gornji Grad, Zagreb, Croatia
- Coordinates
- 45.8150° N, 15.9713° E
Overview
The Museum of Broken Relationships presents a continuously growing collection of everyday objects — a love letter, a wedding dress, a garden gnome, a rubber duck — each donated by an anonymous contributor and accompanied by a short text explaining the relationship and its end. The juxtaposition of mundane objects and intimate testimony creates an emotionally powerful experience that resonates across cultural and linguistic boundaries. It is one of the most visited and talked-about museums in Croatia.
History
The project grew out of a travelling exhibition conceived by Zagreb-based filmmakers Olinka Vištica and Dražen Grubišić after the end of their own four-year relationship in 2003. They opened the first touring show in 2006, taking it to venues across Europe, the Americas, and Asia. After international acclaim, a permanent home was established in 2010 in Zagreb’s Upper Town, occupying rooms of the 17th-century Kulmer Palace. In 2011 the museum received the Council of Europe Museum Prize, affirming its status as a significant cultural institution.
What you see
Visitors move through elegantly lit rooms of the Baroque palace where each display case holds a single donated object alongside its story in Croatian and English. The collection spans continents and decades: war-time keepsakes, childhood toys that outlasted marriages, prosthetic limbs left behind, even an axe used to destroy furniture in the aftermath of a break-up. The palace setting — stone floors, high ceilings, period architecture — provides a reflective contrast to the raw personal narratives on display.
Cultural significance
The museum pioneered a new model of participatory collecting built on emotional testimony rather than historical or aesthetic criteria, influencing museums worldwide. It has been replicated in Los Angeles and has inspired dozens of pop-up exhibitions globally, while the Zagreb collection remains the canonical version of the concept.
Practical information
- Address
- Ćirilometodska 2, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
- Opening hours
- Check official website for current hours and admission prices
- Website
- brokenships.com
Getting there
The museum is in Zagreb’s Upper Town (Gornji Grad), reachable via the historic funicular (uspinjača) from Tomićeva street near Ban Jelačić Square, or on foot up the stone staircases from the lower city. Trams 1, 6, 11, 12, 13, and 14 stop at Trg bana Jelačića, a short walk away.