Gdynia City Museum

The Gdynia City Museum is a municipal museum on the seaside boulevard that tells the story of one of Poland's youngest and most unusual cities – from a Kashubian fishing village to a booming interwar port, through World War II and the anti-communist protests of 1970 and 1980. Its permanent exhibition, "Gdynia – An Open Work," is the perfect primer before you walk the UNESCO-listed modernist center. It sits a few minutes from Kościuszko Square, sharing a building with the Naval Museum.

About the museum

The museum grew out of a city-history documentation unit set up at the municipal library in 1968 and became an independent institution on January 1, 1983. Its current building on Zawiszy Czarnego Street opened on November 16, 2007. The collections hold more than 63,000 objects – documents, everyday items, maps, posters, photographs, artworks and textiles.

The permanent exhibition

"Gdynia – Dzieło Otwarte" (An Open Work) fills the second and third floors. It presents Gdynia as the product of two forces: the dream of a modern, dynamic Poland and deep-rooted patriotism. You'll follow the port and city growing at an almost "American" pace, the brutal break of the German invasion in September 1939 – when residents were murdered, expelled or forced into labor – and the postwar fight for freedom in December 1970 and August 1980. Just as much space goes to ordinary life: schools, churches, trolleybuses, the market hall and the sea. Temporary exhibitions change regularly; fall 2026 features shows on the artist Kazimierz Ostrowski and on postwar Gdynia photography by Bolesława and Edmund Zdanowski.

Visiting tips

Allow 1–1.5 hours. On weekdays between 10:30 am and 1:30 pm school groups use the exhibition, so afternoons and weekends are quieter. Guided tours must be booked two weeks ahead with the education department (edukacja@muzeumgdynia.pl). The museum also offers an invitation video in Polish Sign Language and adapts its exhibitions for visitors with visual, hearing or intellectual disabilities and for autistic visitors. The building is wheelchair accessible, with a ramp from Sędzickiego Street, an elevator and an accessible restroom; guide and assistance dogs are welcome. Is it worth visiting? Yes – especially before exploring the modernist downtown, as it explains why Gdynia looks the way it does.

Opening hours and tickets (as of October 2026)

• Tuesday–Friday 10 am–6 pm; Saturday, Sunday and holidays 10 am–5 pm; closed Mondays. Last entry 30 minutes before closing.
• Closed on November 1 and December 24–26 and 31; open on November 11 (10 am–5 pm).
• Tickets: 20 PLN regular, 12 PLN reduced, 45 PLN family (two adults with children under 18); under-7s free.
• Free admission every Tuesday.
• Address: ul. Zawiszy Czarnego 1A; phone +48 58 662 09 55; tickets also online.

How to get there

The museum is about 20 minutes on foot from Gdynia Główna station and 6 minutes from the Skwer Kościuszki – InfoBox bus stop. Gdańsk is roughly 30 minutes away by SKM train; Gdańsk airport (about 23 km) has PKM trains to Gdynia Główna. Parking is available on Sędzickiego Street. Next door you'll find the Naval Museum and its outdoor display of naval guns; above rises Kamienna Góra hill with a viewpoint.