Factory Museum in Łódź

The Factory Museum in Łódź tells the story of Izrael Poznański's textile empire on the very spot where it operated – in the former fabric printing works on the site of today's Manufaktura. Here you can see how cotton became yarn and yarn became cloth, and hear 19th-century looms at work. It is the best way to understand, in an hour, where the "Promised Land" came from and why the brick halls next to the shopping centre look the way they do.

History: from Poznański's empire to Manufaktura

Izrael Poznański bought the first plots along ul. Ogrodowa in 1871. By the end of the 19th century a complex of almost 30 hectares had grown up here: weaving sheds, a spinning mill, bleachery, dye works, fabric printing works, machine shops, a gasworks, a fire station and a railway siding, plus the factory owner's palace and housing for workers. After the Second World War the plant was nationalised as Poltex – in the 1970s one of the largest textile works in Poland. It went bankrupt in 1997, and after almost four years of renovation the brick buildings reopened on 17 May 2006 as Manufaktura. The Factory Museum has been here since 2007.

What to see

The multimedia permanent exhibition was designed by Mirosław Nizio, co-creator of the Warsaw Rising Museum. It leads you through the stages of production:

• from raw cotton to yarn and then to fabric – with a demonstration of 19th-century looms,
• finishing and quality control of textiles,
• old factory plans, architectural details and archive photos,
• the history of the Poznański family.

Among the exhibits are fragments of the original gates of the main factory entrance, one of the clocks that hung above it, and bricks stamped IKP or IP – fired in Poznański's own brickworks. The gate itself, built in 1878–1880, has been reconstructed: it consists of 4,500 parts and weighs 3.7 tonnes.

The combined ticket also includes the viewing terrace overlooking the whole of Manufaktura. A board on the terrace explains what each visible building was used for, so once you are back on the ground you start to recognise the old spinning mill, weaving sheds and gate.

Opening hours and tickets (as of October 2026)

• Tuesday–Sunday 10:00–18:00, closed on Mondays; also closed on Easter Day, 1 and 3 May, 1 November and 24–26 and 31 December, among others,
• standard ticket PLN 18, reduced PLN 14, family PLN 42 (prices valid until 31 August 2027),
• with terrace access PLN 22 / PLN 17 / PLN 47, terrace only PLN 5,
• guided tour: PLN 50 in Polish, PLN 100 in English.

Tripto tips

Plan about an hour for the exhibition, an hour and a half with the terrace. The museum is on the second floor of the former printing works at ul. Drewnowska 58; the lift and staircase are opposite the entrance to the Cinema City cinema. It works well with school-age children – the machines and factory plans impress more than display cases. Nearby, visit Poznański Palace (Museum of the City of Łódź) and the ms2 gallery of the Museum of Art.