Regional Museum in Jawor

A few steps from the famous Church of Peace, in the former Bernardine monastery complex from the 15th century, operates the Regional Museum in Jawor — one of the best-preserved late-Gothic monastic complexes of Lower Silesia, today a municipal institution with dozens of displays.

The Bernardine monastery

The Gothic hall church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the cloisters, the courtyard garden and the dansker form a valuable monastic ensemble. After the secularisation in the 19th century the buildings served various functions, mainly storage, and in the 1960s they were adapted for museum purposes.

From Heimatmuseum to regional museum

The institution was founded in 1929 as the Heimatmuseum Jauer; its activity resumed in 1949, and in 1964 the collections were moved to the monastery. After a renovation of the whole complex in 1978–1986, the museum was reopened in December 1986. Today it occupies the hall church, the cloisters and the garden courtyard.

What to see

The key permanent exhibitions are the Gallery of Silesian Sacral Art (painting from the 15th–18th c. and polychromies from the 16th–17th c.), "The Jawor Land in Prehistory" with finds from the Stone Age onwards, "Old Crafts" with elements of the "Treasure of Breme" — Baroque works by Jawor goldsmiths — and "Jawor Gingerbread" with historic gingerbread moulds. A separate display tells the story of the Churches of Peace in Jawor and Świdnica, inscribed on the UNESCO list, and "Secrets of the Jawor armoury" presents militaria from the 14th century onwards. There is also the "Treasury of the Sudetes" with minerals, a museum café and a shop with gingerbread.