Anything the Brits can do, the Europeans can do stranger. The continent is positively brimming with museums devoted to very niche interests…
The Serial Killer Museum, Florence, Italy
Forget the Uffizi and Michaelangelo’s David – the real highlight of a trip to the hub of the Renaissance is getting the odd tip on how to go about a grizzly murder spree. The Serial Killer Museum explores the gory detail and psychology behind many a famous slaying.
The International Esperanto Museum, Vienna, Austria
Housed inside the Austrian National Library (+43 1 534 10 730), this is devoted to the international language created in a utopian bid to get everyone speaking in the same tongue. It contains a collection of over 25,000 books and 40,000 pamphlets, all written in a language that was clearly destined to never take off.
Fingerhut Museum, Creglingen, Germany
It is forgivable to think that there isn’t much demand for thimbles any more – after all, not many people need to protect their fingers whilst darning their own clothes these days – but in this small corner of Germany, they’re regarded as an artform. The Fingerhut Museum has hundreds of them, some 850-year old relics and some elaborately painted and jewelled fashion pieces. For real fans, there are also plenty available for sale in the shop.
Leprosy Museum, Bergen, Norway
Hosted in a former leprosy hospital, this rather grim museum explores the history of the disease and the methods used to treat sufferers, whilst also showing what life was like for leprosy sufferers. All good entertainment then. Bergen is a fitting spot for the world’s foremost Leprosy museum, as it was here that Norwegian scientist Armauer Hansen discovered the bacteria that causes the disease.
This article was originally written for TNT.
Copyright David Whitley
