Meet the world's largest collection of clowns

For many people the idea of going to sleep in a room full of clowns would be the stuff of nightmares, but not Ortrud Kastaun.

That's because the 61-year-old from Germany has just been recognised by Guinness World Records for having the largest collection of clowns.

 

 

Ortrud, known to her friends as ‘Orty’, has been collecting model clowns for over 15 years, and in that time amassed 2,053 different models. 

The collection is so large Ortrud had to move to a larger flat to and even set up her own museum at her home in Essen, Germany. 

The retired civil servant says the clowns represent a transformation in her life, the collection being used as an aid to help her recover from the alcoholism she suffered from in her younger years.

"I remember being in therapy one day putting a jigsaw together.  The image was of a clown in a jack-in-the-box.  Something just clicked. From that I day on I begun collection clowns," she said.

Ortrud, who is so passionate about clowns that she has one as a tattoo, admits that her friends find the collection unsettling: “My friends will often ask me if find the clowns scary and I say ‘No’.

"I see the clowns as absolutely positive characters and as an aid to get over my alcoholism.  I think my friends understand and respect my enthusiasm."

LINKS
Guinness World Records