My first time … at the Moulage Museum

There are exhibitions where you move forward because you’re drawn from one new object to the next, into another room or in front of another wall. And then there’s the Moulage Museum. But let’s start at the back.

As I leave the museum in the University Hospital, my stomach feels so queasy that I’m standing in the Kleine Freiheit and don’t know whether to order chamomile tea or herbal schnapps. The sun is warming me for the first time this year, but in the shade my extremities are still freezing. I’m not quite as bad off as exhibit 21b, though. Its toes are black and dead. And thanks to the craftsmanship of the moulage makers, I now know exactly what that looks like.

Sometimes things are so spectacularly horrific or disgusting that you have to look all the more closely. Hermann Maier’s horrific fall in Nagano in 1998 is still being watched on YouTube today. Thousands are currently consuming images on Twitter that, according to the Geneva Conventions, should not even exist. Onlookers drive past road accidents at a snail’s pace. And here I am in the Moulage Museum, standing in front of diseased body parts that were already touted on the website as ‘fascinatingly lifelike’.

The 600 exhibits show the human body at its ugliest: inflamed nipples, a red, scaly pubic area, crusty skin growths, a benign intestinal tumour reminiscent of a portion of tartare – anyone visiting this exhibition should have a strong stomach. On a positive note: even those who aren’t will make it to the end of the exhibition. After all, you can still make your way through even if you have to keep turning away and searching hopefully for a slightly less disgusting exhibit.

Who should consider a visit to this museum: (1.) Hypochondriacs who google ‘skin cancer’ when a new freckle appears on the tip of their nose: realising what else one might have has a healing effect. (2.) Medical students and anyone whose main job involves dealing with conditions ranging from acne to cysts: you’re ready for your own practice if you bring snacks and can enjoy them whilst viewing the exhibits. (3.) Art students and creatives who feel that career prospects are looking rather bleak: almost all moulage makers have a basic artistic training. (4.) People who think they’ve seen it all: Want to bet that the ‘Eating Lichen’ isn’t one of them?