One of the Strangest Places to Visit: the Icelandic Phallological Museum

Okay, so I have to admit, when I heard about this museum, I was shocked. This has to be one of the strangest places to go on vacation, so I had to let you know when I found it on a travel site. The Icelandic Phallological Museum is located in Húsavík, Iceland and is devoted to the phallology. Phallology is an ancient science which studies the male reproductive organ, the penis. The museum was founded in 1997 and is still owned by Sigurdur Hjartarson, who began his collection in 1974 with a bull’s penis. At the time he began his collection, Hjartarson was a school administrator who kept his collection in office as a hobby. Since then, his collection has now grown to 261 preserved penises from 90 different species, and he has only had to pay for one. The organs are either kept in glass jars of formaldehyde or dried and mounted on the wall.

However, there is one species that he is currently missing that he wants for his collection: a human penis. For Hjartarson, it is only a matter of time, because four humans have volunteered to donate their organ after their death, including one American, who has nick-named his “Elmo.” Surprisingly, the museum had approximately 6,000 visitors last year, of which 60 percent were women.

Just in case you are wondering, his largest organ is from a sperm whale and it weighs 154 pounds and is 5.58 feet long. On the other side of the spectrum, he also has a hamster penis that is just 2 mm, which can only be viewed through a magnifying glass.