Hið Íslenzka Reðasafn

The story

The Icelandic Phallological Museum (Icelandic: Hið íslenzka reðasafn [ˈhɪːð ˈistlɛnska ˈrɛːðaˌsapn̥]), located in Reykjavík, Iceland, houses the world's largest display of penises and penile parts. It holds over 300 penises from more than 100 species of mammals. The museum also holds 22 imagined penises of creatures from Icelandic folklore. In July 2011, the museum obtained its first human penis, one of many promised by would-be donors. Its detachment from the donor's body did not go according to plan and it was reduced to a greyish-brown shriveled mass that was pickled in a jar of formalin. The museum continues to search for "a younger and a bigger and better one." In the meantime, they have begun exhibiting a cast of Matt Barr's macrophallic anatomy, a man of Great Britain who has "the longest urinary measurement ever recorded and...the longest and girthiest phallus, of any man alive today." Founded in 1997 by since-then retired teacher Sigurður Hjartarson and now run by his son Hjörtur Gísli Sigurðsson, the museum grew out of an interest in penises that began during Sigurður's childhood when he was given a cattle whip made from a bull's penis. He obtained the organs of Icelandic animals from sources around the country, with acquisitions ranging from the 170 cm (5 ft 7 in) front tip of a sperm whale penis to the blue whale penis, which is 3 feet (91 cm) long, 2 mm (0.08 in) baculum of a hamster, which can only be seen with a magnifying glass. The museum claims that its collection includes the penises of elves and trolls, though, as Icelandic folklore portrays such creatures as being invisible, they cannot be seen. The collection also features phallic art and crafts such as lampshades made from the scrotums of bulls. The museum has become a popular tourist attraction, with over 70,000 visitors yearly and receiving international media attention, including a Canadian documentary film called The Final Member, which covers the museum's quest to obtain a human penis. According to its mission statement, the museum aims to enable "individuals to undertake serious study into the field of phallology in an organized, scientific fashion."

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Dates from 1997.

Wikidata Q177174, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.

What to expect

Fee

Yes

Step-free access

No

Official site

How to reach it

Named places within 25 miles

Summits around it

The highest named summits within 13.0 miles of Hið Íslenzka Reðasafn. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.

When to go

Light through the year

Local time (Atlantic/Reykjavik).

Where this comes from

OpenStreetMap element node/1511563888