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Driving to Katowice in the past, I often passed the construction site, which later turned out to be the museum. I have slept in a hotel many times where I had a view of this place. Today, the Silesian Museum is open and invites tourists to show them a variety of exhibitions, the most important of which is the one about the history of Upper Silesia.
In my private ranking, museums are divided into several categories. There are objects with a boring form and content, some in which the subject matter is interesting, but the form of its transmission is weak, and there are also those where, despite the poor substantive part, its form of application wins, and finally there are also those in which interesting information is presented in extraordinary form!
The Silesian Museum belongs to the last group and it is definitely worth visiting. If I were to point out other institutions that can give you a picture of what a museum from my top shelf looks like, I would definitely refer you to the Warsaw Uprising Museum, Schindler’s Factory, Exploseum or the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk.
Location of Silesian Museum
The Silesian Museum is based in Katowice (Silesia region) at Dobrowolskiego street number 1. It is the city center and the Katowice Spodek can be seen from the observation tower. There is a car park right next to the museum. We have a surface car park at our disposal with 120 parking spaces. Parking for up to 4 hours (which is enough for sightseeing) is free. Each subsequent hour costs PLN 4.
Silesian Museum – first impressions
As I have already mentioned to you, I watched the process of creating the museum while spending nights in Katowice. I most often chose the Etap hotel, which is today’s Ibis. But let’s go back to the museum. After we got there and parked the car, we didn’t know where to go for a while, but it was enough to look around and we got to the entrance and ticket offices. We went through the security gate and went to buy tickets. The modern art exhibitions were interesting, but I liked the one about the history of Upper Silesia the most.
There are several renovated buildings with exhibitions waiting for you on site, as well as, for example, a restaurant and an observation tower. You will also easily notice a few buildings that are still waiting for their turn.
Admission tickets and opening hours
The Silesian Museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00 to 20.00, the observation tower is also open at the same hours.
As for tickets, their prices vary depending on the exhibitions we want to see.
- All exhibitions (permanent and temporary) – adult 24 zlotys, concessions 16 zlotys, family 62 zlotys
- Temporary exhibitions – normal PLN 14, concessions PLN 9, family PLN 37
- Observation tower – normal ticket PLN 5, reduced ticket – PLN 3
We decided on a family ticket, which included all the exhibitions and the tower.
Expositions
Several exhibitions are available to visitors. Among them “Laboratory of theatrical space”, “Gallery of non-professional art”, “Gallery of Silesian sacred art”, “Tell el-Farcha. 20 years of Polish excavations”, “Ray from Saturn. Teofil Ociepka’s painting” and finally “The light of history. Upper Silesia” throughout history”.
The art exhibitions were interesting, but for the children (not counting Teofil Ociepka’s paintings), they were not the most interesting. They were fine for me, but it was the exhibition on Upper Silesia that I found the most interesting throughout history.
It was opened on June 26, 20216. We enter the exhibition through the symbolic gate to the “Katowice” mine. The entire exhibition is divided into 19 spaces in which various issues are raised – political, social, industrial and cultural. Pay attention to the leaflet stands along the way. They are devoted to the subject of Upper Silesia, or rather Silesians, and describe customs and traditions (eg every Silesian knows someone who breeds pigeons or a Silesian grandfather made sweets for his granddaughters himself).
At the exhibition, I found a lot of elements that I knew about before, but never paid any attention to them. The exhibition is presented in Polish, English and German, and the voice narration is also in Silesian.
The exhibition will also recall outstanding figures from Upper Silesia and the twists in the history of the region that influenced its final shape. The exhibition covers the most ancient fate of the Silesian lands, and it ended at the political breakthrough in 1989.
Observation Tower
The museum complex has an observation tower located on the mine hoisting tower. Originally, it was the “Warszawa II” shaft tower. It is considered to be one of the most visually distinctive buildings in the museum. The structure is 40 meters high, and from its top we can admire the museum area and the panorama of Katowice.
We take the elevator to the top, and with a lot of tourist traffic, the staff can limit our time at the top so that everyone can take advantage of this attraction. Before your visit, check the weather conditions, because in bad weather conditions, access to the tower is impossible.
Worth a visit?
Absolutely yes! The Silesian Museum is a facility that you should visit. Even if you are not interested in modern or sacred art, the interactive exhibition on Upper Silesia itself is amazing! Wandering around it, we move in time, learning about the history of the region, which is closely interwoven with local culture, cuisine and customs.
