Hans-Joachim Gregor opens private toilet museum in Olching
Hans-Joachim Gregor opened his two-by-two-meter private museum located inside his home WC in Olching near Munich. The collection features approximately 80 sanitation-related items, photographs, and clippings gathered over decades of international expeditions.
A Geologist Turns Latrines Into Research
Gregor’s unusual collecting habits began in 1978 during a Sahara expedition when he noticed local participants walking away with smoothed tin cans after meals. Upon asking, he learned they used them for cleaning. Over the years, he amassed about 80 exhibits displayed in his home WC, which he converted into a museum in 2000.
The collection includes unbilled items such as coconut shells from Hawaii, butterbur from the Alps, rope ends used by sailors, and snow from the Arctic, alongside an authentic stuffed goose neck. The latter nods to a historical account that Tsar Peter the Great favored the fluffy necks of freshly slaughtered geese for personal hygiene.
Scientific Insights From Ancient Fecal Remains
Fieldwork across Libya, Yemen, India, and Guatemala shaped Gregor’s view of sanitation history. Running water toilets were rarely available during his travels, marking them as a luxury. In the jungle of Guatemala, he relied on large leaves, noting the need to check for fire ants.
Investigating medieval latrines remains a core passion for the 83-year-old. Fecal remains reveal historical diets, health indicators, and diseases, while also serving as repositories for discarded tools and waste. Attitudes toward elimination were historically less taboo, with Roman citizens using public latrines side by side and French Sun King Ludwig XIV holding political meetings while seated on his commode.
Scholars Debate Meaning of Roman Sponge Exhibit
Among the exhibits is an image depicting a Roman soldier offering a vinegar-soaked sponge to Jesus on the cross, an act Gregor interprets as a deliberate humiliation using a toilet cleaning brush. Ludwig Maximilian University theologian Christine Jacobi offered alternative perspectives, suggesting the sponge might reference posca, a common vinegar-water drink for soldiers, or point to biblical psalm references of negative vinegar offerings, while conceding a mocking gesture cannot be entirely ruled out.
The museum’s public opening coincides with World Toilet Day on November 19, a United Nations observance established in 2013 to highlight global sanitation challenges. According to World Health Organization and UNICEF figures cited, approximately 3.4 billion people worldwide lack access to safe sanitation facilities, including 354 million individuals who still practice open defecation.