Discover Polish folk history frozen in time in this impressive museum, which is housed in a former town hall.
The Ethnographic Museum documents cultures past and present. Peer into one of the painstakingly reconstructed bedrooms or kitchens and imagine how life must have been for the Polish peasants that would have occupied them. Inspect tools used by a village carpenter and browse a vast collection of religious and folk art.
The Ethnographic Museum was founded in 1911 by a schoolteacher and keen folk historian. Housed in the Renaissance building that was once the town hall for Kazimierz, it contains one of the largest collections of any museum in Poland.
See how the living quarters of a typical Polish villager would have looked more than 100 years ago in two fully reconstructed rooms, Izba Podhalańska and Izba Krakowska. Original furniture, artwork and decoration are set up as they would have looked in the past. Elsewhere you can imagine cooking on a traditional wood-burning stove or see tools used to make furniture in a carpenter’s workshop.
Compare your wardrobe with historic clothes on display in the large section dedicated to costumes and traditional dress. On the top floor look at the museum’s vast collection of folk art. Religious paintings and scenes from everyday life are on display here. Watch for the entire cabinet filled with painted eggs, a traditional Polish craft.
Pick up a Polish or English guidebook from reception on your way in to read details about the exhibits. The guidebook puts the artifacts into their historical perspective and gives general background on Polish folk history.
The Ethnographic Museum is located just south of the Old Town in the Kazimierz district. Get there by bus or tram. The museum is closed on Mondays. There is a small charge for entry, although Sundays are free for permanent exhibitions. A smaller museum extension around the corner on ul. Krakowska holds temporary exhibitions with a separate fee to enter.
