No kidding…it really exists…

Museum of Broken Relationships Hits Berlin

On the dusty top floor of a former squat in East Berlin the collection is growing with each passing week. At first glance it looks as if someone had assembled the remnants of a flea market. A bicycle hangs from the wall, while rings, teddy bears, socks, fluffy pink handcuffs and various ornaments are on display.

But the junk, unwanted though it may be, is far from being meaningless detritus. Each of the objects, many of them rather humdrum, were once full of meaning for someone. They are the leftovers of love affairs that didn’t work out.

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"We developed the idea of the ‘Museum of Broken Relationships’ where we can put the objects, get rid of them and not stay connected with that energy, but keep them and preserve them from oblivion," co-founder Vistica told Reuters.

And the exhibition is supposed to act as a kind of therapy, so that instead of destroying objects they can be removed to the museum to "convalesce" and participate in a "collective emotional history."

Perhaps the show has snowballed because it reveals just how universal the theme of lost love can be. "The more personal it is, I think, the more successful it is," Vistica told Reuters. "The response of the people really proves that. They recognized it as something sincere."

The cathartic effect is evident in some of the explanations that accompany the displays (see box above). A prosthetic limb from a war veteran who fell in love with his social worker is described as having "endured longer than our love: It was made of better material." A pen is on display which was once used to write "romantic crap he didn’t deserve."…

I have some things I could contribute.  A roll of 35mm film that belongs to my first high school crush.  A ticket stub to see the fuelers race at Capital Raceway.  An LP phono cartridge alignment tool.  A golden clip-on earring.  But probably the saddest one of all is the stuffed bear I bought, about a week before the guy I bought it for told me he was seeing someone else.  Poor little guy has sat on one of my bookcases ever since, waiting for the arms that were supposed to hold him, and only having me.  Problem is, I don’t want to get off of any of these artifacts.  I tend to collect my own history as I go along.  It’s why I’ve been able to unearth tons of stuff from my high school years out of my storage bins…much to the delight of my fellow reunion committee members.  No, I have nothing to donate to such a museum.  But I’d probably go visit the collection if it ever came my way.  Sometimes knowing you’re not alone helps.

Pictures of lost love Here…