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17 May 2008
Is there a Smell Museum?
Nothing is more memorable than a smell
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, many astounding revelations came to light about the Stasi, the East German secret police. One of the more bizarre activities the Stasi was found to have engaged in was the collection of Geruchsproben — smell samples — for the benefit of the East German smell hounds. The odors, collected during interrogations using a perforated metal “smell sample chair” or by breaking into people’s homes and stealing their dirty underwear, were stored in small glass jars. Many of the remaining East German smell jars are on display at the Stasi Museum in Berlin. They are also described in Stasiland by Anna Funder.The Stasi smell jars suggest an interesting question: Is there a museum dedicated to the sense of smell anywhere in the world, an institution whose mission is the accumulation of aromas for public appreciation? The Bible Museum in Amsterdam has a collection of about a dozen bilbical odors, such as frankincense and myrrh, for visitors to sample, but surely there must be some grand cabinet of smells somewhere — and not just behind the closed doors of a perfume manufacturer, or in the back of an organic chemistry lab. Where is it?
The Bible Museum - Smell Section
06:00 Posted in Interesting | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this | Tags: smell, museum, Stasi, odors, Berlin, aromas
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