Bottled body parts at the Medical Museion
Bredgade 62, 1260 Copenhagen
Good for: A fascinating and enlightening trip through the many facets of medical history
Not so good for: The squeamish or hungover — think embalmed body parts in jars (lots of them)
FYI: Open Tuesday–Friday, 10am–4pm; Saturday–Sunday, noon–4pm. Adult tickets, DKr90 (about $13.50/£10). Guided tours are available
A display of diseased organs and body parts at Copenhagen’s Medical Museion
Morten Skovgaard
Hand it to them: the museum holds one of Europe’s richest collections of medical artefacts
In the 18th-century, it was widely believed that birth deformities were caused by an expectant mother having a fright. It wasn’t until medical professionals began collecting and preserving foetuses and babies that this was disproved — since the same deformities occurred again and again. The very collection that sparked this medical epiphany in Denmark is displayed in Copenhagen’s Medical Museion.
Founded in 1907 and housed in an 18th-century building that was once the Royal Academy of Surgery, this small museum possesses one of the richest collections of medical artefacts in Europe. A tour through its 22 main display rooms — whose themes include pharmacy, bacteria and psychiatry — takes you on a fascinating (and often gory) march through medical history and progress.