Four Domes Pavilion

Centennial Hall's Four Domes Pavilion is a historic exhibition building next to Centennial Hall in Wrocław, designed by architect Hans Poelzig and built from August 1912 to February 1913 by the firm Schlesische Beton Baugesellschaft using reinforced concrete construction. Today it houses a branch of the National Museum in Wrocław devoted to contemporary art.

Its role in the Centennial Exhibition

The pavilion was built for the Centennial Exhibition of 1913, commemorating the hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig. The exhibition was initiated by Karl Masner, director of the Silesian Museum of Decorative Arts. The show opened on 20 May and closed on 26 October, with 56 rooms devoted to the history of wars and the people connected with them. In the largest, the North Dome, the original decree of Frederick William III from 1813 was displayed.

Later uses of the building

In 1920 the Great Art Exhibition was held here, presenting works by Paul Klee and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, among others. In 1929 the Pavilion hosted an urban planning exhibition, and in 1948 the Exhibition of the Recovered Territories, seen by a million visitors. In 1951 a Zeiss planetarium was installed here, and in 1953 the Feature Film Studio made its home here.

Heritage register entry and today's function

The building is entered in the register of immovable heritage monuments under numbers 343/Wm of 15 April 1977 and A/5259/343/Wm of 15 June 2011. In 2009 the Pavilion was taken over by the National Museum in Wrocław, between 2013 and 2015 it underwent a general renovation, and since June 2016 it has housed the Museum of Contemporary Art, presenting a collection of Polish art from the second half of the twentieth and the twenty-first century. The institution also organises temporary exhibitions, educational programmes and facilities for people with special needs, including audio description and information in Polish sign language.

Architecture of the building

The pavilion is a single-storey building without a basement, of reinforced concrete construction. It has four domes: the east and west ones on a circular plan, and the south and north ones of elliptical shape, with an inner courtyard at its centre.

Practical information

• Address: Wystawowa 1, Wrocław, Biskupin-Sępolno-Dąbie-Bartoszowice estate.
• The building is accessible to wheelchair users.
• Directly next door are Centennial Hall and the Wrocław Fountain.
• You can walk from here to the Japanese Garden and the Wrocław Zoo in Szczytnicki Park.
• It is worth checking the visiting hours and current exhibitions on the museum's website before your visit.