Museums, Warsaw

The National Museum & the Polish Army Museum are located right next to each other, making it easy to have a full/half day of histoory & culture, without having to trek across a city!
We started at the Army museum, but we only had a look at the outer section, which is jam-packed with old war planes, tanks, helicopters, armored cars, missile launchers, and plenty of other stuff :) Have a look at the albums for a preview of what you can see.
The National Museum took us a little longer - It displays mostly focus on Polish artists, though there are some other nationalities represented, and many era's as well. The highlight for me though was their ancient Egyptian display, featuring mummies & heiroglyphics! Great history lesson on what use to be one of my favourite subjects :)

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The State Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw must be one of the most colourful museums you have ever visited. Its permanent displays cover Polish folk costumes, Polish annual folk festivals and our folk arts and crafts. In addition to those, it boasts collections of folk art from Latin America, Africa and Australia and Oceania.
If you consult their web page before visiting, you may find out about some special events, like last weekend's Easter Fair (a fortnight before Easter), where one could not only watch and hear folk groups perform but also meet some folk artists and buy their products: beautifully decorated Easter eggs, palms and other Easter ornaments, colourful paper cut-outs, pottery, tapestries, wood carvings and what not. There was also a stall selling traditional country foodstuffs from various parts of Poland - you should have seen the queues for it!
The fair, which lasted over the weekend, included workshops for adults and children, where one could learn the techniques of decorating Easter eggs. Book your ticket if you want to join them next year as the number of places is limited. Admission to workshops: children - 8 zl, adults - 25 zl.
You may also attend one of their folk music concerts, which are held there regularly, although I couldn't find the times on their site. The museum houses a small shop where you can buy original souvenirs not to be found elsewhere in Warsaw.

Admission: 8 zl; Concessions - 4 zl

Opening hours: Tue., Thu., Fri. - 9 a.m.- 4 p.m.
Sat., Sun. - 10 a.m.- 5 p.m.
Wed. (admission free) - 11 a.m.- 6 p.m.
Mon. - closed

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Nice museum with permanent expositions in Metallurgy, Transport, Astronomy, Home Appliances, Printing Machines and Telephony/Computing. When we came in there was a Chinese exposition in what I think it's the main hall, exhibiting some interesting pieces of their culture. There was also a temporary exhibition but that wasn't covered in our ticket - however we were let in only to take pictures of some of the objects without any cost.

The signs are mostly in Polish but it was still interesting to see what they had to show.

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The Polish Military Museum was established on the basis of a 1920 decree by the Supreme Commander, Marshall Jozef Pilsudski and opened the same year. The museum moved to its present location in 1933. The collection originally came from the National Museum but after WW2 it received a large injection of weapons, uniforms and other objects. The collection spans almost a thousand years together with an outdoor exhibition of larger objects, such as tanks & aircraft. This museum is a must for anyone with an interest in the military. Some objects that attracted my attention from WW2, were 2, 4 wheel Enigma machines, there was also a 3 wheel Enigma machine and the other item was a motorcycle and sidecar, and some of these items appeared to be brand new. Opening hours: Closed Mondays and Tuesdays; open Wednesday-Sunday 10am-4pm, 1 October-30 April; 11am-5pm, 1 May-30 September.

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The Latin inscription "Artibus" (to the arts) is put above the National Gallery of Art commonly known as "Zacheta" which means in Polish encouragement. The name derives from the 19th century Society for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts which founded the gallery.

Zacheta exhibits Polish ART both old and new, both conservative and revolutionary new art. To be exhibited in Zacheta is something to be proud of. To show off in Zacheta is a must for every Warsaw visitor. The last two exhibitions I describe in my General Tips as my foundest memories. Many Zacheta exhibitions travel around top world and Polish galleries. To understand what's on in Zacheta start from the gallery bookstore and either buy or... read the exhibition catalogue although they are not always published in English. In that case, no way, you must check in advance Zacheta internet webpage in English in any internet cafe.

From time to time Zacheta is on the top of headline TV news because of... some scandals. Gabriel Narutowicz, the first elected President of the Republic of Poland was shot dead by a National Democrat sympathizer (also a painter and professor of art) on 16 December 1922, five days after his inauguration, while attending the opening of an art exhibit at the Zacheta Gallery.

In 2000 popular Polish actor Daniel Olbrychski (not my favourite; he played among others with Burt Lancaster and Simone Signoret)) entered the gallery and suddenly... took out a saber and slashed pictures hanging in the exhibition room as offending his feelings (details here). Soon later two Polish deputies demolished Maurizio Cattelano's sculpture of pope John Paul II pressed down by a meteorite as offrending their religious feelings. The lively discussion on limits of artistic freedom broke out just like now after publicizing drawings of Mahomet in Denmark and protests of Muslims.

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It's my strong recommendation but as for now (2005) exclusively for folks interested in military equipment, aircraft, vehicles etc. It's the biggest military museum in Poland but... still organized not in my favourite way. I mean it didn't change much since the early 1980' when I visited it for the first time.

Despite large and unigue collection (from Polish swords of 10th century to Soviet military aircraft) this museum desperately needs larger budget to set up multimedial exhibitions, to give better information in foreign languages and add some historical updates. Well educated but under-paid scientific staff is not enough to set up exhibitions which would attract visitors of the 21th century. Maybe someday... More money needed again!

Well, I liked most the hall of the Polish Home Army, of the East (Asian) military equipment (incl. Japanes armours from the 17/18th century), and the outdoor exhibition with aircraft, vehicles and artillery.

PRACTICALITIES
The museum is in downtown, almost 2 km south of the Old Town and 1.5 km east of the Central railway Station, very close to the roundabout with palm tree (Rondo de Gaulle'a).
Watch the museum short opening hours. From Wednesday to Sunday:
11 am - 5 pm (15 May - 30 September)
10 am - 4 pm (1 October - 14 May).
Entrance fee cost only 6 zl (1.6 euros) and it's free on each Saturday.

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Built in the 1830s to serve as a Tsarist prison, Pawiak came to the fore during WWII when the Gestapo took it over. During the Nazi occupation it became the largest political prison in Poland and saw over 100,000 inmates pass through its gates. Of this number, over 37,000 were executed within the grounds, while a further 60,000 were transported to extermination camps. Subterranean cells designed to house three people were often crammed with anything up to 18 prisoners. Dynamited during the German retreat, Pawiak has been restored as a memorial to all those who suffered inside, and now houses haunting photo displays, prisoners belongings and reconstructed cells. A mangled tree, preserved after the war, stands outside the gates bedecked with obituary notices dating from 1944.

It's chilling

Admission free.

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This museum, which is actually the childhood home of Marie, is located in the old town.

Its a small museum but quite comprehensive with its exhibits.

Some interesting photo's are displayed along with personal items of Marie's.