At the Museum of Broken Relationships, 25 people share heartbreak stories and their symbols

Nazareth was right, "Love hurts, love scars, love wounds and marks."

Breakups hurt and scar us. While some people cope with a pint of ice cream and a never-ending stream of Netflix, others cope by jamming to sad songs. Then, there are others who share their breakup stories with the Museum of Broken Relationships. 

This museum is in Zagreb, Croatia, and it documents all of the emotions that come with a breakup, reports Bored Panda. Their website comprises some deeply intimate stories that people have shared over the years. Here are 25 of the most interesting tales:

1. The Key To The Heart:

"You talked to me of love and presented me with small gifts every day; this is just one of them. The key to the heart. You turned my head; you just did not want to sleep with me. I realized just how much you loved me only after you died of AIDS."

2. The Toaster of Vindication:

"When I moved out, and across the country, I took the toaster. That'll show you. How are you going to toast anything now?

3. A Postcard:

"This is a postcard that was inserted through the slit of my door a long time ago by our neighbor’s son. He had been in love with me for three years. Following the old Armenian tradition, his parents came to our home to ask for my hand. My parents refused saying that their son did not deserve me. They left angry and very disappointed. The same evening their son drove his car off a cliff..."

4. A Plush Snoopy:

"He gave Snoopy to me on my 17th birthday. We had fallen in love six months earlier, on October 5, 1981. Thirty years down the line, we had three sons, a house, etc. He fell in love with another woman and he chose her... He broke my heart. Telling me that he hadn’t really loved me in those 30 years. I just don’t understand."

5. A Drawing Of Us Made By A Stranger In The Train:

"We met at a student's Valentine's Day party, the connection was immediate. She came into my life at its lowest point. I had just lost my company and was heavily in debt, working 2 jobs I really hated to pay back my loan. She didn't care. She adored me and loved me blindly and unconditionally, she was the only positive thing in my life and she kept me going. One evening we were in the Metro, getting a pizza for a movie night at home. A guy we didn't know approached us and asked if we are a couple. Defensively I said yes, and asked why does he wish to know? He said, 'Your love feels so special so I wanted to give you this.' He handed us a torn first page of a book he was reading, on which he drew us, and wished us all the best. We were so touched and amazed we didn't know what to say. She was my soulmate, my best friend, lover, and the love of my life."

6. A Forget-Me-Not Porcelain Doll

"My first true love. We got together just before we started our studies and we became adults together. We studied and lived together, and then finally realized that we had different expectations for the future. We separated quite suddenly without saying goodbye properly. Six months after the separation I got this doll from his parents as a Christmas present together with a letter explaining that the doll's name is Forget-Me-Not and that they hoped I will never forget them. They were always so good to me and I really loved them. I have not forgotten. And I never will."

7. 2 Claddagh Rings:

"14.5 years, 4 countries, and 3 rings. I lost the first ring down a drain and he replaced it. I broke the second one trying to bend it back into shape and he replaced it. I looked after the third one exceptionally well, realizing how important this must be to him. He left me."

8. Espresso Machine:

"For a long time, he loved the coffee I made for him using the espresso machine he gave me. For a long time, he loved me. And then, one day, he no longer loved the coffee I made for him using the espresso machine he gave me. And then, one day, he no longer loved me and left. And so I took the espresso machine he gave me that made the coffee he loved and I put it in the basement so I don’t have to look at it anymore... But every time I come down to the basement, there it is."

9. Empty Bag Of Fortune Cookies Attached To A Starbucks Cup:

"You were my first love. And I wished you would also be my last. When we got those fortune cookies and I opened mine, it read ‘You have to learn to read between the lines.' I should have followed that advice because between those lines there was you cheating on me over and over. Isn't that ironic?"

10. A Child's Pedal Car:

"I waited almost 40 years to learn the meaning of the word love. Unfortunately, the intensity of our emotions carried us from one extreme to another. When we loved one another, we loved without holding back. When we fought, we fought till it hurt. Thanks to her I climbed a tree for the first time in my life, and I did it at a time when my children were climbing trees. We enjoyed making each other's dreams come true. Each dream fulfilled was a joy to both of us."

11. An Ex Axe:

"She immediately went on holiday with her new girlfriend while her furniture stayed with me. Not knowing what to do with my anger, I finally bought this axe at Karstadt to blow off steam and to give her at least a small feeling of loss – which she obviously did not have after our breakup. In the 14 days of her holiday, every day I axed one piece of her furniture. I kept the remains there, as an expression of my inner condition. The more her room filled with chopped furniture acquiring the look of my soul, the better I felt. The axe was promoted to a therapy instrument."

12.  A Key Ring:

"At one time we used it to lock the doors of the life we shared, and now I see the damage caused by the passing of time. Love is long gone; the wind blew the happiness away; and the sun dried the sorrow. Looking back on our journey when we were holding hands, I remember the scenery we had traveled through together while it was showering outside. Forever turned out to be never, leaving only a gap."

13. Frogs:

"Mom left when I was 3. This is one of the few Christmas gifts she has given me."

14. Sailor's Cap:

"For 46 years I have kept this memory of my Spanish friend. As a student of the engineering school for shipbuilding, he spent his military service year as a sailor. After I left Spain, our love lasted for another year. The distance between Frankfurt and Madrid was too big, but wonderful memories remained. Now, this cap might find a place for itself. Up to now, I did not know how to part with it with due respect."

15. A Chaplet:

"The chaplet has finally found a new home. In the 1980s I had a high school sweetheart, called Esther. She was religious and one day she left her chaplet on my desk without either of us realizing it. A few days later we had a car accident. She died and I lived. When I got home after the tragedy, I saw the chaplet lying on my desk."

16. A Hamburger Toy:

"His dog left more traces behind than he did."

17. A Gingerbread Cookie:

"We met in the middle of Oktoberfest. I'm an American diplomat, he a bloke from Liverpool working in finance in London. We connected easily and ditched our friends to hang out alone for a while. As soon as we left the Biergarten tent we started laughing like kids, going for rides, dancing, and singing and we really connected. A few days later I received this text: 'Stephanie, it is hard for me to say this to you as you are a great girl but could we leave the 'friends' thing, please? It is true I am engaged with 2 kids and going through a bit of a tough time but I know in my heart that I love her and want to make a go of it, having a good-looking single 'friend' will only make that a whole lot harder to work out in my head I feel. Many thanks for a great time I will always remember it, please don't phone or text as I fear it would only cause trouble. Have a great life. P. ('Liverpool').'"

18. A Magnifying Glass:

"She gave it to me as a remembrance before I left. I never did get why she gave a magnifying glass nor did she ever explain what it meant. But she always said she felt “small” whenever she was around me."

19. Number 2:

"He had another woman. He couldn’t make me his number 1; I couldn’t stand being his number 2."

20. An Iron:

"This iron was used to iron my wedding suit. Now it is the only thing left."

21. World Map:

"This world map was a Christmas gift & it shows all the places the couple has visited together."

22. Our Puppets:

"These puppets were handmade by my ex-girlfriend, who gave them to me for my birthday. They represent the two of us. I have colored pencils on my shirt and a CD attached to my trousers because I am an art director and musician. She has a sewing machine on her clothes because she is a tailor. Just like us, they too have a star tattooed on the arm. The gift also included two tickets for a concert of Block Party which we never attended."

23. Ceramic Heart:

"This is one of the two ceramic hearts that were fired in the sand on the beach at Pescadero, California by burying them under a large fire. The glass beads inside were supposed to melt. Near the end of the relationship. These three gifts were kept in a trunk in the basement for three years. Seems much longer."

24. Feather-filled quilt:

"Before we moved in together I was living by myself. So when we decided to live together, I had everything we needed – from towels and linen to cups, plates, and dishes. Everything. All he needed to do was pack a suitcase and move in. The only other thing he brought with him was this huge, insanely soft, and comfortable feather-filled quilt. It was like sleeping between clouds!"

25. A 3-Volume Proust:

"These battered, sand-strewn volumes are emblematic of a long love relationship that has recently ended. Soon after I married my wife, we got into an addictive Proust habit – I used to read the novel out loud to her, especially when we were on holiday."