11 Artifacts from the Museum of Broken Relationships

Ever had a broken heart? Own an object that won’t let you forget? That's what the Museum of Broken Relationships collects. Aside from the obvious remnants of failed relationships (rings, dresses, cutesy gifts), Brokenships displays some somewhat unusual items donated by those who have loved and lost. Here are 11 of the stranger exhibits.

1. Mannequin hands

The weird leftovers of a 5-year "love-hate relationship" in Berlin include a pair of wooden hands. The donor explains:
"One night I left my room and did not come back until next morning to find it was completely destroyed, sprayed all over with polyurethane foam. A total chaos. My favorite mannequin had no choice but to believe it.”

2. A tingler

What do you do when a departed girlfriend leaves behind her erotic head massager? Donate it: "One of the things one doesn’t give back to ex-girlfriends.”

3. A side-view mirror

Five years in the '80s ended badly for a couple in Zagreb: "One night his car was parked in front of the ‘wrong’ house. He paid for that negligence with his side-view mirror. I was sorry afterwards since the car was not to blame."

4. The "divorce day" dwarf

"He arrived in a new car. Arrogant, shallow and heartless. The dwarf was closing the gate that he had destroyed himself some time ago. At that moment it flew over to the windscreen of the new car, rebounded and landed on the asphalt surface. It was a long loop, drawing an arc of time—and this short long arc defined the end of love."

5. Air-sickness bags

Their long-distance relationship lasted a couple of years, but the mementos collected en route to each other survived much longer.

One Croatia Airlines, one Lufthansa, one Hapag Lloyd Express and three GermanWings. I think I still have those illustrated safety instructions as well, showing what to do when the airplane begins to fall apart. I have never found any instructions on what to do when a relationship begins to fall apart, but at least I’ve still got these bags.

6. The letter T

A Slovenia couple who met online didn't survive the first real-life encounter. "When we actually met in person the mutual interest was lost and he gave me the letter T from his keyboard, as he did not need it any longer.”

7. An animal made of plastic molecules

After a few years, gifts can get a little unusual. This donor gave the museum "an animal constructed out of different objects (chemical puzzle) with eyes glued on and a piece of paper saying who gave me this present."

8. An axe

After a few months of cohabitation, one partner left to travel for three weeks, but returned to find her girlfriend had fallen in love with someone else and was going on vacation alone.

In the 14 days of her holiday, every day I axed one piece of her furniture. I kept the remains there, as an expression of my inner condition. The more her room filled with chopped furniture acquiring the look of my soul, the better I felt. Two weeks after she left, she came back for the furniture. It was neatly arranged into small heaps and fragments of wood. She took that trash and left my apartment for good. The axe was promoted to a therapy instrument.

9. Intimate shampoo

These are things you don't remember to pack when you leave for good. “After the relationship ended, my mother used it for glass polishing. She claims it’s absolutely great.”

10. A wooden watermelon

Fifteen years is a long time to collect strange objects, like this faux watermelon. "Watermelon or just an illusion? Or both? Parallel lines do not meet. I’m fortunate to have Damyan and to enjoy real watermelon in summer. The illusion is gone. Parallel lines do not meet.”

11. Candy thong, unopened

"He never bought me flowers because flowers, he said, were for boring people. Instead I got sausages or new parts for my bicycle. I didn’t mind because I loved him. After four years he turned out to be as cheap and shabby as his presents. He cheated on me with a colleague from the office and dumped me via e-mail.”

More items are on display at the museum's Tumblr, on the website, and at the Museum of Broken Relationships itself, if you're ever in Zagreb, Croatia.

What's the weirdest remnant you have of a past relationship?