The
museum has a handful of redeemable qualities. It as an extensive array of
medieval torture contraptions, ranging from a guillotine, to an inquisition
chair, to an Iron Maiden of Nuremberg, a spike-laden contraption where
purported criminals and witches were placed to languish until they confessed to
their sins.
(Iron Maiden of Nuremberg)
(Example of Torture Device)
The range of devices is astounding, and the museum certainly
succeeds in presenting an incredibly extensive assortment of machines. In
addition, numerous pictures line the walls next to the various machines,
allowing one to witness first-hand how these apparatuses would be used during
medieval times. In this respect, the museum succeeds as well, as one is given
the opportunity to picture scenes involving the usage of the torture devices.
(Example of Picture in Torture Museum)
Furthermore, when one enters the museum, he/she notices without delay that the
layout has the look and feel of a dungeon. There are numerous stone archways
that permeate the museum and connect one room to the next. Uniform gray cement floors
and either cement or brick wall sidings are present in all rooms. The interior
is very dimly lit, as the museum only utilizes faint blue, red, and orange
colors; this gives the inside space a drab and dreary color. In addition, the
narrow pathways one takes to traverse the museum greatly contribute to the
feeling of being trapped and confined in a small space, something that the
torture devices displayed undoubtedly did in medieval times. However, the look
and feel of the layout is the only thing the museum does correctly, and every
other aspect does not compare to the detail with which the interior is designed.
As
soon as one approaches the museum and purchases a ticket, he/she will
immediately notice the upbeat Renaissance-era classical music ringing through
the air. This is jarring, as (I believe) eerie, almost grotesque music would
more effectively prepare one for what lies ahead. As a result of this joyful
music, the museum-goer is puzzled and perplexed at the disconnect, and
questions if the display will truly be as frightening as various advertisements
about the attraction make it out to be. It would have been more effective (in
my view) for the museum to broadcast terrifying music, so as to place me (and
any other general observer) in the correct mood.
Additionally,
the way the museum presents the information about the contraptions lacks
creativity, and the text displays are incredibly unpleasing and tedious to
read. Each placard in the interior has the same mind-numbing format: a short
paragraph in text (in six different languages) with a miniscule font, feeble
diction and syntax, and bland item description. It is an absolute struggle to
get through the entire paragraph, and one feels like gauging his/her eyes out
after the second sentence. What’s more, the museum repeats this humdrum format
for every single placard in the interior. Reading about the museum therefore
becomes a wholly detestable process. Good museums craft their information in an
attractive and appealing way so as to instill a sense of excitement and wonder
in their audiences. If one considers this a criterion in grading an attraction
(which I do), the Torture Museum fails, as the text exhibits greatly diminish
the overall quality and visual aesthetic, and render it extremely difficult for
viewers to receive a holistic understanding.
The
lack of auditory stimuli also greatly weakens the overall experience for
viewers. The only sounds one can hear as he/she makes his/her way through the
museum are the footsteps and muffled conversations of other museum patrons.
While some would argue that this perpetuates the feeling of a dungeon and is
consequently one of the museum’s valid qualities, I contend that the absence of
any recorded music or sound further renders the museum as monotonous and
tedious to snake through. Any sort of recording would have been welcomed deeply;
with properly placed recordings of intense music, sounds of the machines in
use, or scenes depicting the situation where a machine would have been used,
the museum would have made the experience all the more pleasing and
stimulating. However, since it did not accomplish this task, I found myself un-engaged,
and nodded off as I traversed the interior. As such and as before, the museum
failed, since it botched its attempt to keep me interested.
In
the same line of thinking, even the displays themselves get tedious, as each device
is exhibited in the same way, and displayed near in proximity to the next
device. Every machine has an identical type of accompanying picture (black and
white, almost pencil-like drawings), and is presented in the same, darkly lit
manner. On top of that, each contraption is situated extremely close to next on,
rendering it difficult for one to process and digest what he/she just inspected.
Consequently, one feels an information and visual overload, as he/she is
bombarded with images of a new contraption over and over again. Gradually, one’s
interest in sorting through this incessant stimuli wanes, and by the end, he/she
cannot wait to walk out of the museum, merely glimpsing at the remaining
contraptions and not digesting what in the world he/she just viewed. So while
the sheer number of machines is one of the museum’s virtues, it also becomes
one of its drawbacks by the end.
As
I stated before, I would only recommend this museum for those with a particular
interest in medieval technology. The museum certainly succeeded in the fact
that it delivered, as promised and advertised to the public, an enormous supply
of medieval torture devices (approximately 100). However, the museum failed to
render the subject matter exciting for its audience, and thus it cannot be
considered anything more than a 2-out-of-5-star attraction. The 7.50-euro
charge and the approximately 30 minutes spent wandering through the museum are better
suited towards participating in some other activity.
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