Kaunas Sex Museum

Since this museum is now closed, I guess this is more of an obituary than a review. Still, it would be unfair not to include this amazing museum in my digital travel memoirs.  Exactly how this museum came about I do not know, but I imagine its origins are something along these line: Once upon a time,  there was a man with a dream in Kaunas. A man who had visited larger European cities and seen how tourists were drawn towards the alluring sex museums, much like Odyssevs towards the sirens. A man who dared to dream that it would be possible to create such a museum even in Kaunas (where, of course, money also would be pouring in. Much like in for instance Amsterdam).

 

A suspected source of inspiration for this now diseased museum

And so he carried this dream for many years, while all the time collecting exhibits and ideas for displays. And finally, when opportunity presented itself, he leaped into action - creating the sex museum in an abandoned nightclub in the basement beneath his antique shop.  Even writing about this short-lived institution brings tears to my eyes (although granted, they are tears of laughter). What a loss to humanity? This museum was the living proof that museums are all about the experience and not so much about the displayed items. It also showed how important the storyteller is to the story, and how humor sometimes is impossible to translate.





What does this stone age axe have to do with sex?
 Only visitors to the Kaunas Sex Museum will ever know.

 

I loved this museum, even though the guide had language skills far below those you would find among most guides volunteering to give a presentation and tour in English. Still, he was eager enough to tell the story, and this made for good entertainment anyway. After all, most Lithuanian jokes are not funny at all when translated into English word for word.





What does this BROKEN stone age Axe have to do with sex?
Only visitors to the Kaunas Sex Museum will ever know.

 

All in all, it was like having your uncle give you a guided tour through the boxes in his attic while telling funny anecdotes. And doing it in a language where he can barely express himself. And explaining why the anecdote is funny in the same unfamiliar language. I will regret to my dying day not bringing a camera to the Kaunas museum of sex on that chilly morning in Febuary 2010. Western sociologists with a special interest in gender related science have no idea what they missed.

 

How many naughty jokes can you make about this elaborate pen holder?
Only visitors to the Kaunas Sex Museum will ever know.

 

All good things must come to an end, and in the long run such a museum probably could not make a profit so close to the avenue. However, it was fun while it lasted. Besides, who knows? The Kaunas Sex Museum might rise again. Perhaps it just needed a rest?




Already a historical relic in itself - an authentic ticket from the erotic museum in Kaunas

 

Rated: Must see (should the same guys ever set up a similar museum again)