Museum of the Gutenberg Bible and Sacred Art, Pelplin

In Pelplin you can see Poland's only copy of the Gutenberg Bible – the first major book printed in Europe with movable type, around 1455 in Mainz. Since March 2025 the original has been on permanent display. Before that, for more than 20 years, it was shown to visitors only four times a year. The museum, founded as the Diocesan Museum, is now called the Museum of the Gutenberg Bible and Sacred Art.

History of the museum

It was founded in 1928 by Stanisław Okoniewski, Bishop of Chełmno. The collection was first housed in the bishop's palace and grew so quickly that in 1929 a branch opened in Bierzgłowo Castle. During the Second World War the collection was evacuated to Toruń, Berlin and Gdańsk, and before the front arrived it was scattered across the Vistula delta and Kashubia – some items were lost. The present building, integrated into the diocesan curia complex, dates from 1988.

The Pelplin Bible

The book was brought to Prussia in the late Middle Ages by Mikołaj Chrapicki, Bishop of Chełmno, who gave it to the Franciscans in Lubawa. After the order was dissolved it passed in 1833 to the seminary library in Pelplin. It is a two-volume copy printed on paper, in its original 15th-century binding.

The most cinematic chapter is the war. The library's director, Father Antoni Liedtke, packed the Bible in a specially made leather bag and took it to Warsaw. From there it travelled via Romania to Paris, in 1940 to London, and then aboard the liner Batory to Canada, where it was kept in a bank in Montreal. It returned to Poland in 1959, first to Wawel Castle and then – in the same bag and with the same priest – to Pelplin.

In 2023–2025 the book was studied and conserved, and a special display case was made. The research revealed that in the 19th century nobody realised that two volumes shelved in different sections of the library were one Gutenberg Bible.

What else to see

• Gothic art from the former Diocese of Chełmno: a polyptych from St Mary's Church in Toruń, the late Gothic Deposition and Flagellation from the Church of Saints John in Toruń, a Crucifixion from Lignowy and a crucified Christ from Starogard.
• Manuscripts, including St Augustine's De civitate Dei from 1425.
• Liturgical vestments – chasubles and dalmatics.
• The new exhibition "Around the Cistercian Abbey in Pelplin", prepared for the 750th anniversary of the Cistercians' arrival, and treasures such as the 14th-century gradual L13 and the Pelplin Tablature, a vast early music manuscript.

Tripto tip

The museum is at ulica Biskupa Dominika 11, a few minutes' walk from the cathedral, and is open daily except Mondays. Allow 1–1.5 hours for the exhibitions, or half a day if you combine it with the cathedral and cloister. Check current prices and hours on the museum website, as the museum is being modernised and some rooms may be closed.