Warsaw Rising Museum
 Former tram power station, seat of the museum |
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| Data | |
|---|---|
| place | Warsaw , OT Wola , Poland |
| Art |
History museum
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| architect | Wojciech Obtułowicz (renovation) |
| opening | 2004 |
| Number of visitors (annually) | 200,000 (2009) |
| management | |
| Website | |
The Warsaw Uprising Museum ( Polish: Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego ) is a history museum in Warsaw . It deals with the events of the Warsaw Uprising , which lasted from August 1 to October 2, 1944. The museum was the first multimedia museum in Poland .
It was inaugurated on the day before the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, on July 31, 2004 in the building of the disused tram power station at 79 Grzybowska Street in the Wola district , by the then Mayor of Warsaw, Lech Kaczyński .
The permanent exhibition honors, on the one hand, the work of the insurgents for a free Poland and, on the other hand, focuses on the commitment of civil society and the democratic structures that have been able to establish themselves in this independent Polish “ state ” , which has existed for two months . In addition to the uprising itself, the horrors of the previous occupation , the international context of the uprising and the fate of the rebels in the Polish People's Republic are discussed.
The museum also sees itself as a cultural institution and carries out scientific and educational projects on topics related to the Warsaw Uprising and Warsaw. One of the largest projects is the “Archiwum Historii Mówionej” ( Archive of Told History ), which collects video recordings of the memories of the participants in the uprising in the sense of oral history . The Stefan Starzyński Institute attached to the museum deals with modern Warsaw and organizes series of lectures, festivals, conferences and competitions on the modern history of Warsaw.
History of the museum
For many years, for political reasons, it was not possible to build a museum dedicated to the Warsaw Uprising. The need for a museum was discussed as early as 1956 when a period of de-Stalinization came; however, no concrete steps could be taken. In 1981 a committee was set up to build a museum for the Warsaw Uprising, but this was dissolved when a state of war was declared in December 1981. In 1983 the then Lord Mayor of Warsaw, General Mieczysław Dębicki, established a Museum of the Warsaw Uprising, albeit as a department of the Warsaw City History Museum . A start was made to collect exhibits . In 1984, the then director of the Historical Museum, Prof. Janusz Durko, in cooperation with the Association of Polish Architects, announced a competition for the Warsaw Uprising Museum project. It won a design by Konrad Kucza-Kuczyński, Andrzej Miklaszewski and Zbigniew Pawłowski. The foundation stone was laid in 1994, but construction could not begin because the ownership of the intended building on Bielańska Street could not be clarified. In 2002, after his election as Lord Mayor of Warsaw, Lech Kaczyński promised the insurgents that the museum would be completed on the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising. The most important decisions were made in July 2003: A representative for the construction of the museum (later director Jan Ołdakowski) was appointed and a scientific advisory board and an honorary board were established. The working group, led by the authorized representative, selected the members of both advisory boards, who were then appointed by the mayor. As the ownership of the land on Bielańska Street could not be finally clarified, Lech Kaczyński decided to locate the former tram power station on Grzybowska Street.
Finally, in December 2003 , the Warsaw City Council passed a resolution on the creation of a new cultural institution - the Warsaw Rising Museum. The competition for the architectural concept of the building, which was announced in August 2003, was won by the Krakow architect Wojciech Obtułowicz, who designed the Polish pavilion for the Expo 2000 in Hanover. Jarosław Kłaput, Dariusz Kunowski and Mirosław Nizio won the competition to design the exhibition. Work began in April 2004 and was carried out in three shifts, 24 hours a day, for the next several months. Thanks to the efforts and great commitment of all those involved, the museum was able to open on August 31, 2004. Since then, the permanent exhibition has been continuously expanded, and it was given its current and final form in spring 2006.
History of the museum building
With the decision to relocate the Warsaw Uprising Museum in the former tram power station on Grzybowska Street, one of the last significant historical industrial ruins in Warsaw was given a new purpose. The power station , built between 1904–1908, was seriously damaged in September 1939. On the first day of the Warsaw Uprising, on August 1, 1944, the "Kedyw" unit was initially able to withstand the attacks of the Wehrmacht and German gendarmerie. On August 6, however, the attackers returned, captured the building and shot the power station employees who had persevered until then. After the war, the plant was converted into a district heating plant . In the course of the renovation work in 2004, the facade, which was plastered gray in the 1970s, was exposed again, so that the original brick facade emerged. A 32 meter high tower was also added, on which the symbol of the fighting Poland can be seen from afar . The tower, whose shape is reminiscent of the ruins of Warsaw, has a viewing terrace from which one can see the panorama of the city center and Wola.
Permanent exhibition
The permanent exhibition is spread over four levels (ground floor, mezzanine, 1st floor and basement) over a total of 3000 m². There are approx. 750 exhibits, approx. 1000 photographs, 225 boards with biographical and historical information as well as various city maps, maps and film excerpts that are arranged chronologically and thematically. Audio guides are also available in German.
The exhibition begins chronologically with the attack on Poland by German and Soviet troops in September 1939 and then deals with the occupation, the “Burza” ( thunderstorm ) campaign, the preparations for the uprising, its outbreak and course, the international situation in the year 1944 and the establishment of the parallel communist government in Lublin . It ends with the documentation of the fate of the insurgents in the People's Republic of Poland .
The museum uses audiovisual and multimedia communication technologies. A stone monument, which symbolizes the beating “heart” of the capital, stretches through all three exhibition levels. As you get closer, you can hear original noises from the rebellious Warsaw from various openings: whistling bullets, prayers, songs and the falling of bombs.
ground floor
The part of the exhibition on the ground floor shows the occupation and the outbreak of the uprising, the “Godzina W” ( hour “W” , the W stands for wybuch , i.e. outbreak). Palmiry and the Pawiak prison are examples of the extermination policy of the German occupiers . A general plan of the structure of the Polish underground state gives an impression of the organization of everyday life in the occupied capital. The boards for the “Burza” ( storm ) campaign document the immediate prehistory of the uprising. The most expressive symbol of the “Godzina W” is a clock that stopped at 5:00 p.m. (the official start of the uprising on August 1, 1944). The atmosphere of the first days of the uprising is reflected by the numerous Polish flags and the photos of Eugeniusz Lokajski , which show happy and relieved faces. A whole room is dedicated to the press and printing of the days of the uprising, here there are fully functional printing machines from the 1940s that reprint the announcement of August 3, 1944 about the start of the uprising. In addition, the room documents in detail the numerous newspapers of various political directions that could appear during the uprising.
In the “Little Insurgent Hall” specially designed for children, the only facility of its kind in Poland, teachers use examples from the uprising to explain to children how to get involved in civil society. In the room there are toys and children's books from the pre-war period, for example a replica of a puppet theater that gave performances during the uprising, as well as model planes and sandbags that can be used to build barricades. Weapons are forbidden in the "small insurgent room".
Mezzanine
An elevator takes visitors to the mezzanine floor in the second part of the exhibition, which forms the center of the permanent exhibition. It is dedicated to the fate and engagement of civil society as well as the fighting during the first half of the uprising in August 1944. In a tent (a replica of an exhumation tent of the Red Cross ), exhumation protocols and the story of a survivor remind of the mass murder of the civilian population in Wola , which killed around 40,000 people in the first week of August. The documentation of this crime is located in the middle of the exhibition space. Various aspects of civil life are documented around the tent: the organization of food supplies, concerts and theatrical performances by famous artists, religious life and the hospitals in which wounded rebels and Wehrmacht soldiers were treated. A screen shows footage that the Home Army information department shot during the uprising and that was shown as a current news program in the Warsaw cinema “Palladium”.
First floor
A reconstructed sewer (channels were used as information and escape routes during the uprising) and stairs lead down to the third part of the exhibition, which deals with the events of September 1944. A burial ground documents the misery of the civilian population and the increasingly difficult conditions under which the population had to endure. At the end there is surrender: the disarming of the insurgents and deportation into captivity, the expulsion of the civilian population from the city, the subsequent systematic looting and destruction of cultural assets and the demolition of the buildings that are still preserved. Information about the Yalta Conference and documentation of the fate of the insurgents in the Polish People's Republic can also be found here.
In two separate rooms, two topics are dealt with, which give an interesting insight into everyday life during the uprising: the mail that was delivered by scouts during the uprising and the radio station, thanks to which up-to-date information on the situation in Warsaw is received around the world could become.
Second exhibition hall - Hall B
The second exhibition hall is dominated by a replica of the Liberator B-24J aircraft , one of the British aircraft that dropped weapons and food over the rebellious Warsaw. This aircraft, which had a Polish crew who had been in the service of the Royal Air Force since 1939 , was shot down by the German Air Force on its return flight from Warsaw. Original parts of the wreck recovered near Krakow are integrated into the replica. Events such as lectures are often held under the aircraft, which is a symbol of hope in a hopeless situation. In Hall B there are also selected reports from insurgents that were collected by the museum as part of the “Archiwum Historii Mówionej” project ( Archive of the Told History ). The basement of Hall B houses a documentation of the life of the German occupiers in Warsaw.
Memorial wall
Outside the exhibition hall, in Wolności Park ( Freedom Park ), there is a 156-meter-long memorial wall on which the names of around 10,000 fallen insurgents are engraved. The list is constantly being expanded as relatives keep reporting new names.
Other activities of the museum
The Warsaw Uprising Museum does not only consist of the permanent exhibition, but also, as a cultural institution, carries out diverse projects and events.
Archive of the story told
In October 2004 the project “Archive of the Told Story” was launched, the aim of which is to record an interview with all insurgents who are still alive . The catalog of questions, which was prepared by a team of historians and sociologists , not only focuses on the Warsaw Uprising, but also relates to the life of the insurgents before the war, their engagement during the occupation and their fate after the war. The collected materials represent interesting sources for research on the Polish underground state. At the moment there are over 1000 interviews in the archive, which are also accessible on the museum website.
education
Since January 2005, the museum's education department has been running classes for students of all ages. Their content was prepared by experienced educators and is adapted to the age of the participants. For example, first graders study the symbols of the insurgents, middle-aged students learn the role of the press by creating a newspaper with articles on a specific day of the insurrection themselves, while older students deal with theoretical topics, such as whether the outbreak of the Uprising was justified. The events take place in the “Hall of the Little Insurgent” or in the Jan Nowak Jeziorański Hall, the lecture hall of the museum.
Instytut Stefana Starzyńskiego
The Stefan Starzyński Institute attached to the museum deals with the city of Warsaw and focuses primarily on the latest developments. Festivals, competitions and lectures are intended to help ensure that Warsaw is perceived by its residents as a modern and dynamic city. In 2008 the institute u. a. the third edition of the festival “Niewinni Czarodzieje - Tyrmand, Komeda, Polanski”, which commemorated the brief phase of cultural heyday after the end of Stalinism in 1956, published a city guide to films set in Warsaw and presented current and historical architectural projects in a lecture series in front. In November 2009 the German-language city guide “Warsaw - the thematic guide through Poland's capital” by Grzegorz Piątek and Jarosław Trybuś will be published.
See also
literature
- Włodzimierz Borodziej: The Warsaw Uprising 1944. S. Fischer, Frankfurt a. M. 2004, ISBN 3-596-16186-X .
Web links
- Museum website
- Warsaw Rising Museum at Google Cultural Institute
- Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego on YouTube
- Monika Heinemann: The Warsaw Uprising Museum from Contemporary History-online , July 2014.
Coordinates: 52 ° 13 ′ 56 ″ N , 20 ° 58 ′ 51 ″ E