Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec

Since April 2024 the Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec has had a new home: the restored Pückler mansion at ul. Zgorzelecka 28/29, set in a revitalised historic park. It is the best place to understand how Bolesławiec stoneware became famous – from the old potteries to the famous stamped decoration known as "stempelki". A second branch, the Centre of Old Pottery Techniques, lets you sit at a potter's wheel yourself.

History: from the Town Museum to the Pückler mansion

The first Town Museum opened in 1911 in a building at today's ul. Mickiewicza 13, joined to a 15th-century town tower. After the Second World War the institution "practically did not exist", and it reopened after reorganisation on 27 December 1953. Following renovation due to damp walls it reopened on 17 June 1967, and in 1968 it took the name Museum of Ceramics.

In 1991 the museum took over the building at ul. Kutuzowa 14, previously a Russian-run Kutuzov Museum – Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov died in this house in 1813. From 1995 it housed the Town History Department. In late 2022 work began on converting the Pückler mansion into the new main building, which opened in spring 2024.

What to see in the Pückler mansion

The permanent exhibitions weave together the history of the town and its ceramics. The rooms lead from prehistory through the destruction and peace of the 17th–19th centuries, the town square, an old pharmacy and a pottery workshop, to the boom of the ceramics industry in the early 20th century. Separate sections tell how Bunzlau became Bolesławiec and show the birth of stamped decoration. There is also a gallery of sculpture from open-air workshops, a gallery of local artists, a multimedia encyclopedia of Bolesławiec people and a lapidarium.

Centre of Old Pottery Techniques

In October 2023 the former Town History building at ul. Kutuzowa 14 became the Centre of Old Pottery Techniques. In the courtyard stands a 19th-century kiln with flues and a chimney, moved from a pre-war pottery, plus a replica of the 18th-century Great Pot. Inside are a workshop where you can try throwing on the wheel and decorating pots, and a display of products from 34 ceramics firms in the town and district.

Tripto tips

The museum is closed on Mondays. From May to September it opens Tuesdays and Thursdays 10:00–18:00, Wednesdays and Fridays 9:00–17:00, Saturdays 10:00–17:00 and Sundays 11:00–17:00; from October to April it closes an hour earlier. A standard ticket costs PLN 20, reduced PLN 10, and a combined ticket with the Centre PLN 25; admission is free on Thursdays (as of October 2026). There is free parking by the building, and the bus station is about 250 m away. Allow half a day for both branches, and if you come in August, check the dates of the Bolesławiec Pottery Festival.