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66 GDAŃSK WHAT TO SEE
Maritime Museum
Gdańsk’s Maritime Museum is made up of four individual
museums, including The Crane and the Soldek
ship, that together create a complete history of the
port. Straddling both banks of the Motława, tickets
can be bought individually, or you can buy one ticket
for all four museums costing 28/17zł which includes
a free ride on the ferry which sails the short distance
between the Crane and the Museum opposite. You
can save yourself a 10-15 minute walk by using
the ferry even if you are not visiting the museum.
Tickets cost 1zł.
Central Maritime Museum (Centralne
Muzeum Morskie) D-4, ul. Ołowianka 9-13, tel.
(+48) 58 301 86 11, www.cmm.pl. The main part
of the museum is located inside three Renaissance
granaries and if you’ve only got time to visit one of the
three museums this is by far the most comprehensive
of the lot. A complete history of Poland’s nautical
history is represented on several floors and includes
old cannons, huge oil paintings, harpoon guns, a hall
dedicated to underwater archaeology, shipbuilders’
hard hats from the Lenin shipyard, a few pieces of
modern art and an extensive collection of model
ships. Information is available in English. Q Open
10:00 - 16:00. Closed Mon. From July open 10:00
- 18:00. Last entrance 45 minutes before closing.
Admission 8/5zł. Guide tours up to 30 people 35zł,
over 30 people 55zł. Y
NEW
Maritime Culture Centre (Ośrodek Kultury
Morskiej) D-4, ul. Tokarska 21-25 (entrance from
ul. Długie Pobrzeże), tel. (+48) 58 301 86 11, www.
cmm.pl. A brand new building in the shadow of Gdansk’s
crane is the modern setting for the Central Maritime
Museum’s newest exhibition. Spread over 5 floors, kids
will find the ‘People, Ships, Boats’ interactive displays on
the second floor of interest as they learn about the sea
including how devastating tsunamis start while the third
floor is home to a permanent exhibition entitled ‘Boats of
the Peoples of the World (Working Boats)’, which presents
scores of small craft from all over the world, including
Native American dugout canoes, a fabulous little English
coracle and numerous small fishing and trade vessels
from the Far East. The fourth floor currently houses an
interesting temporary exhibition telling the stories and
displaying the treasures recovered from local shipwrecks.
There are plenty of good English descriptions
plus a cafe/restaurant on the fifth floor which offers
great photo opportunities of the river from its terrace.
QOpen 10:00 - 18:00. Closed Mon. Admission 12/8 zł.
Guide tours up to 30 people 35zł.
Sołdek D-4, ul. Ołowianka 9-13, tel. (+48) 58 301
86 11 ext. 327, www.cmm.pl. The first steamship
built in Polish Gdańsk after 1945 at the Lenin Shipyards,
the Soldek has been turned into a living museum. Just
about every inch of the ship can be accessed from the
cramped engine room to the bridge to the pokey little
cabins the crews lived in. The ship was taken off the river
for restoration work, but will be open for visitors again
beginning January 17. Q Open 10:00 - 16:00. Closed
Mon. From July open 10:00 - 18:00. Last entrance 30
minutes before closing. Admission 8/5zł. Guide tours up
to 30 people 35zł, over 30 people 55zł. Y
Archaeology Education Centre - “Błękitny Lew”
(Centrum Edukacji Archeologicznej “Błękitny
lew”) D-5, ul. Chmielna 53, tel. (+48) 58 320 31
88, www.blekitnybaranek.pl. Short of building a time
machine this is the closest you’ll ever get to seeing what
local life was like hundreds of years back. Set in the only
granary building to have survived the bombing of WWII you
can watch a interesting film, available in English showing
the history of the island. Complete with background noises
of peeling bells and animals braying, this museum presents
a series of life-size dioramas designed to show what
Gdańsk once must have been like. Among the recreations
are a cobblers store, a bath house and an inn, and even
the smells have been recreated and piped into the rooms.
The mannequins aren’t exactly Madame Tussaud’s, but
this is still loads of fun, and far removed from the standard
museum experience in Poland. Q Open 09:00 - 17:00.
Closed Mon. From July open 09:00 - 18:00. Closed Mon.
Admission 10/8zł. Family ticket (2 adults, 2 children) 26zł.
Guided tour 60zł. Y
Gdansk History Museum (Muzeum Historyczne
Miasta Gdańska) C-4, ul. Długa 46/47, tel. (+48)
58 767 91 00, www.mhmg.gda.pl. The History of
Gdansk museum calls the impressive Main Town Hall
home, a Gothic-Renaissance structure originally built
in the 14th century and painstakingly repaired following
World War II. Inside visitors immediately see the ornate
Great Council Hall and Red Hall, the latter of which features
an impressively-sized fireplace and lavish ceilings paintings,
including The Glorification of the Unity of Gdansk.
Subsequent rooms feature vintage 16th and 17th furniture
and a sampling of the museum’s 600 silver pieces, which
highlight Gdansk’s silversmithing era. The top floor of the
museum features a delightful exhibit showcasing what
life was like in everyday Gdansk right before the war -
visitors get a glimpse into the homes and businesses
of residents and see a period in time that was about to
come to an abrupt end. The stairwell back to the main
floor shows what happened to that lifestyle via stunning
photographs of the complete levelling of the city at the
hands of the Red Army. In between the old council chambers
and the exhibition showing pre-war Gdansk is where
temporary exhibitions are held. This area was closed as
we went to press but we’re promised that come May 25
the entire museum will be open to the public again with
an exhibition celebrating sport and the achievements of
local sportspeople running until September 30. Q Open
10:00 - 16:00, Tue 10:00 - 15:00, Sun 11:00 - 16:00.
Mon closed. Admission 10/5zł, family ticket 20zł. Tue free.
From June open 10:00 - 19:00, Mon 10:00 - 15:00, Sun
11:00 - 19:00. Admission 10/5zł, family ticket 20zł. Mon
free. From July open 10:00 - 18:00, Mon 10:00 - 15:00,
Sun 11:00 - 18:00. Admission 10/5zł, family ticket 20zł.
Mon free. Y
National Museum Old Art Department (Muzeum
Narodowe Oddział Sztuki Dawnej) B-6, ul.
Toruńska 1, tel. (+48) 58 301 70 61 ext. 233, www.
muzeum.narodowe.gda.pl. Located in a former Franciscan
monastery, the National Museum is a work of art itself
with vaulted ceilings and a large staircase that houses
an impressive collection of equally beautiful objects. The
main draw is Hans Memling’s highly detailed triptych The
Final Judgment, which was returned to Gdansk from the
Russians in 1956 after a circuitous journey through the
hands of Napoleonic troops and Nazis. Paintings showing
pre-destruction Gdańsk and its wealthy residents
are currently off limits as renovation work takes place in
that part of the building but you can still view the work of
Gdańsk In Your Pocket gdansk.inyourpocket.com
Dutch artists in another room. The room of China dishes
is still entirely in Polish, but worth a wander along with the
collections of ceramics, furniture and fabrics that dot the
museum. Q Open 10:00 - 17:00. Closed Mon. From June
open 10:00 - 17:00, Tue 12:00 - 19:00. Closed Mon. Last
entrance 45 minutes before closing. Admission 10/6zł,
family ticket 18zł. Groups over 15 people 6zł per person.
Fri free for permanent exhibitions. Audio guides available
in German and English 13zł. Y
Old Toys Gallery (Galeria Starych Zabawek)
C-5, ul. Ogarna 117/118, tel. (+48) 695 99 53 63,
www.stare-zabawki.pl. The city’s smallest museum
is in essence a room in what was once a shop a block
away from the main street in the heart of the old town.
This, however, is a great example of quality over quantity
particularly if you spent your childhood in the People’s
Republic or are interested in the playthings of children
growing up in the years either side of WWII. It is fascinating
to see both the quality and craftsmanship of hundreds of
re-conditioned toys gathered from donations and house
clearances with many having come from the heartland
of Polish toy making - the region around Czestochowa in
south-west Poland. As with many good collections part
of the enjoyment is garnered from the owners’ pure love
of what they are doing and this is the case here with
the friendly curator happy to give you some background
info on the toys on view which adds to the handy English
explanations available on a series of screens around the
room. While we didn’t grow up in PRL it has to be said we
recognised many of the toys (we in the west just seem
to have had them 10 years earlier) and even at an age
where toys should no longer interest us we still felt a pang
of envy looking at the motor bikes designed for children.
So what that there was a lack of food in the shops - that
lucky boy was riding around on a junior sized motorbike
(we guiltily heard ourselves thinking). This exhibition could
take you 5 minutes or an hour to view depending on your
interest and we can heartily recommend it for a little
look into how young Poles once entertained themselves.
QOpen 10:00 - 18:00. Admission 8/6zł. Groups over 5
people 5zł per person.
Polish Post Office (Poczta Polska) D-2, ul.
Obrońców Poczty Polskiej 1-2, tel. (+48) 58 301 76
11, www.mhmg.gda.pl. Destroyed during WWII and reconstructed
between 1949 and 1951, this still functioning
post office also houses a small museum dedicated to the
events of September 1, 1939 as well as an exhibition of
local postal history from the 18th century to the outbreak
of WWII. Q Open 10:00 - 16:00, Tue 10:00 - 15:00, Sun
11:00 - 16:00. Closed Mon. From June open 10:00 - 19:00,
Mon 10:00 - 15:00, Sun 11:00 - 19:00. From July open 10:00
- 18:00, Mon 10:00 - 15:00, Sun 11:00 - 18:00. Admission
5/4zł. Mon free. Y
Uphagen’s House (Dom Uphagena) B-4, ul. Długa
12, tel. (+48) 58 301 23 71 ext.10, www.mhmg.gda.
pl. This impressive, rococo-style house was built in 1776 for
a Gdańsk merchant family. Now part of the Gdańsk History
Museum, it houses a rich collection of textiles and garments,
displayed in rooms fitted out with mainly original furniture.
English-language boards on the walls describe each room
in detail. Q Open 10:00 - 16:00, Tue 10:00 - 15:00, Sun
11:00 - 16:00. Mon closed. Admission 10/5zł, family ticket
20zł. Tue free. From June open 10:00 - 19:00, Mon 10:00
- 15:00, Sun 11:00 - 19:00. Admission 10/5zł, family ticket
20zł. Mon free. From July open 10:00 - 18:00, Mon 10:00
- 15:00, Sun 11:00 - 18:00. Admission 10/5zł, family ticket
20zł. Mon free. Y
gdansk.inyourpocket.com
GDAŃSK WHAT TO SEE
The Crane
The Crane (Żuraw) D-4, ul. Szeroka 67/68, tel.
(+48) 58 301 69 38, www.cmm.pl. The Crane is
one of the defining symbols of Gdańsk and represents
what little is left of the city’s great trading age. First
mentioned in 1367 the original structure burnt down
in 1442 before its current design was created in
1442-1444. As a working crane it was used to transfer
cargoes and to put up masts on ships. At one time
this was the biggest working crane in the world but
it also served a defence function and as one of the
gates to the city. It had a lifting capacity of 4 tonnes
to a height of 11 metres and this was achieved by two
huge wooden wheels at its heart each with a diameter
of 6 metres. These wheels were originally powered by
men walking inside of them to turn the lifting mechanism.
It remained a working crane until the middle of
the 19th century and was 80% destroyed in 1945 in
the battle for Gdańsk.
After the war it was rebuilt and donated to the Polish
Maritime Museum of which it remains a part today.
You will be able to view a collection of permanent and
temporary exhibitions inside including an exhibition
on port life between the 16th and 18th centuries. In
Polish only, displays include models of lighthouses,
the old port, life-size recreations of counting houses
and old port life in general plus access to the crane’s
two huge drive-wheels. Q Open 10:00 - 16:00, Sat,
Sun 10:30 - 16:30. Closed Mon. From July open 10:30
- 18:30. Last entrance 30 minutes before closing. Admission
8/5zł. Guide tours up to 30 people 35zł, over
30 people 55zł. Y
May - July 2012
67