Like so many good stories, this one began with a memorable night out.
Rino Dubokovic, a university student in Zagreb, was out enjoying drinks with his friends when they started swapping their funniest hangover stories.
Suddenly, an idea dawned on him: “Some sort of collection where all these objects from drunk stories would be exposed together with their stories.”
Six months later, in the building next to where the boozy night had taken place, there it was: The Museum of Hangovers.
Exhibits include displays of objects people found inexplicably the morning after a boozy night, a room where visitors can test their reflexes after putting on “beer goggles,” and an interactive section where they can share their own best and worst hangover experiences.
The gift shop is also tongue-in-cheek, selling a “drunkopoly” board game and bar activities, like darts.
Dubokovic, who is from the island of Hvar and studying computer science, tells CNN Travel that the point of the museum isn’t to glorify overindulgence. Rather, it’s a physical representation of the kinds of chats he had with his friends, where everyone is sharing stories and bonding about things they did in the past.
“In the future, we want to make people aware of the bad things related to alcohol,” he adds.
The museum, which opened on December 1, is still what Dubokovic calls a “test concept.” As reaction has been positive so far, he hopes that he’ll be able to secure additional funding to turn the Museum of Hangovers into a larger, permanent establishment.
This isn’t the first unorthodox museum to open in Zagreb.
In 2010, the Croatian capital welcomed the Museum of Broken Relationships, founded by an ex-couple who encouraged visitors to donate objects related to their own romantic breakups.
The collection grew to include everything from crumpled receipts to an abandoned wedding dress. It eventually became so successful that a second location opened in Los Angeles six years later.
As for Dubokovic, his own personal Museum of Hangovers would definitely include a menu from a food delivery app.
“I order pizza when I’m hungover because I am too lazy to do anything,” he says.
Good thing he wasn’t hungover when it came time to do the work of creating a museum, then.
Museum of Hangovers, Preradovićeva Street 8, 10000 Zagreb