Nonseum
The Nonseum is a one-of-a-kind museum of deliberate uselessness in the small Lower Austrian village of Herrnbaumgarten, dedicated to the collection and display of intentionally absurd inventions, superfluous gadgets, and objects that spectacularly fail their stated purpose. Founded in 1994, it has grown into a beloved cultural curiosity attracting visitors from across Europe who come to laugh, puzzle, and reflect on human ingenuity gone cheerfully wrong.
At a glance
- Type
- Curiosity and humour museum; museum of useless inventions
- Period
- Founded 1994
- Style
- Vernacular rural building; playful interactive installation design
- Location
- Herrnbaumgarten, Lower Austria, Austria · 48.6972° N, 16.6779° E
Overview
In a quiet village in the Weinviertel wine country north of Vienna, the Nonseum stages a systematic celebration of failure. Its permanent collection comprises hundreds of objects invented, designed, and manufactured with complete earnestness but no discernible practical value — or objects whose practical value is so marginal as to constitute a philosophical joke. The Nonseum has been featured in international media as an example of the growing genre of “anti-museums” that use humour to interrogate what heritage and collecting institutions normally choose to celebrate.
History
The Nonseum was established in 1994 by the Reithner family in Herrnbaumgarten, a village of a few hundred inhabitants some 70 kilometres north of Vienna near the Czech border. The founding concept was simple: create a museum dedicated exclusively to things that do not work, are not needed, or were invented for reasons nobody can satisfactorily explain. The collection grew through donations and commissions, with inventors and artists submitting contraptions for curatorial consideration. Over three decades it has become the village’s primary cultural landmark and a popular day-trip destination from Vienna and from Brno across the border.
What you see
Exhibits include prototypes for inventions such as a left-handed coffee cup, a solar-powered torch, a waterproof sponge, and an ejector seat for helicopters — each presented with deadpan museum-quality labels that explain, in earnest curatorial prose, exactly why the object is useless. The display cases mix hand-crafted artisan objects with mass-produced oddities and conceptual art pieces. Interactive stations invite visitors to attempt using the objects, providing a direct experience of magnificent futility. Temporary exhibitions expand the permanent collection with themed explorations of specific categories of non-function.
Cultural significance
The Nonseum occupies a genuine place in the cultural heritage of Lower Austria as a long-running institution of vernacular humour and creative community engagement. By parodying the conventions of serious museums — authoritative labels, glass cases, conservation concerns — it invites visitors to question what objects and practices societies choose to preserve and honour.
Practical information
- Address
- Hauptstraße 1, 2171 Herrnbaumgarten, Austria
- Hours
- Seasonal opening; check official website for current times
- Admission
- Paid entry
- Website
- nonseum.at
Getting there
Herrnbaumgarten is located approximately 70 km north of Vienna in the Weinviertel region. By car, take the A5 motorway toward Brno and exit at Poysdorf, then follow regional roads west. No direct rail connection serves the village; the nearest train station is Poysdorf or Laa an der Thaya, from which a taxi or local bus is required. Organised day trips from Vienna and from the Czech city of Brno also serve the museum seasonally.