Museums

Museum of Cieszyn Silesia

The Museum of Cieszyn Silesia, founded in 1802 by Fr Leopold Jan Szersznik, is the oldest public museum in Poland and one of the oldest in Central Europe. Fr Szersznik then made his own library and museum collections available to the public. Since 21 June 1931 the seat has been the former palace of the Larisch counts at Regera Street, a short walk from the market square.

A palace full of history

The residence was erected in 1790–1796 after the great fire of Cieszyn in 1789. In 1805 the palace, among others in the Egyptian Hall, hosted Emperor Francis I and Tsar Alexander I, who was then staying in Cieszyn. In 1839 Count Filip Ludwik Saint Genois d'Anneaucourt funded the third wing designed by the Viennese architect Josef Kornhäusel — with the Roman Hall above a circular stable. In 1840 the palace was bought by the Cieszyn lawyer Antoni Demel, after whom the town house was called the Demel house for decades, until the city purchased it in 1918.

The collections

The collection numbers more than 70,000 exhibits in the departments of art, archaeology, ethnography, history, technology and photography, forming the richest museum collection of Cieszyn Silesia. The permanent exhibition „Gothic and Renaissance Art” presents valuable paintings and sculpture from the 14th to the mid-17th century, while „At the Crossroads of History and Cultures” leads from prehistory to the end of the Second World War. The museum also runs branches in Górki Wielkie, Skoczów and Wisła.