Museum of the Złotów Land

The Museum of the Złotów Land (Muzeum Ziemi Złotowskiej; Złotów is pronounced roughly "ZWOH-toof") is a small regional museum in the town of Złotów in northern Greater Poland, housed in an 18th-century half-timbered townhouse. Its black-and-white facade is one of the most recognizable buildings in town, and inside you will find archaeology, folk culture and art from Krajna, a historic borderland between Pomerania and Greater Poland. It is a rewarding one-hour stop on a road trip through the lake country north of Poznań.

A museum shaped by a shifting border

Złotów (German: Flatow) belonged to Prussia and later Germany until 1945, and the museum's story reflects that. The first collection was started in 1916–1917 by the German district administrator, Dr. Janssen. In 1935 most exhibits were moved to the Grenzlandmuseum in Piła (then Schneidemühl) and were considered lost after World War II, until archaeologist Andrzej Kokowski traced some of them in Germany decades later.

The Polish museum grew out of an ethnographic contest held in 1956. A local committee opened a first display in two rooms on Zamkowa Street, and the institution was formally approved with effect from May 9, 1962. Between 1963 and 1966 the half-timbered house was restored under the supervision of specialists from the Warsaw University of Technology, and the museum opened there in October 1966.

What to see

The building itself is a listed monument and one of the few surviving gable-fronted houses in Złotów. The collections cover archaeology, ethnography, local history and art. Highlights include prehistoric finds from the region, the folk culture of the Krajna people with their distinctive embroidery and costumes, and rotating art shows (in fall 2026, works by Teresa Jakubowska and Łucja Warpińska). Labels are in Polish, so a translation app helps.

The museum also runs several branches around town: the Galeria za Winklem on Paderewski Square, with a permanent exhibit on Złotów in communist times and a tourist information point; the Granary (Spichlerz), with an exhibit on Polish schools in the area in 1929–1939, when the town was part of Germany; the Krajna Farmstead by the town lake; and a Memorial Chapel, open free on Sundays from 1 to 2 p.m.

Opening hours and tickets (as of October 2026)

• Address: ul. Wojska Polskiego 2a, 77-400 Złotów.
• Hours: Monday–Friday 8 a.m.–4 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.–2 p.m., closed Sunday. Galeria za Winklem: daily 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
• Tickets: PLN 10 standard, PLN 5 reduced, temporary exhibit PLN 5, museum guide PLN 25, town guide PLN 50 per hour.
• Contact: +48 67 263 28 72, poczta@muzeum-zlotow.pl.

How to get there

Złotów is about 20 miles northeast of Piła and roughly a 2-hour drive north of Poznań, the nearest major city with an international airport. Regional trains link Złotów with Piła and Chojnice, and buses run to Piła and Poznań. The museum is in the town center, a short walk from Paderewski Square.

Is it worth visiting?

If you are passing through, yes: an hour here gives you a compact picture of a border region that changed hands in the 20th century. Pair it with the early Baroque Church of the Assumption (1661–1664) and the Neoclassical St. Stanislaus Kostka Church designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, both within walking distance.