more than 20,000 specimens of the geology of Lower Silesia and the Sudetes, gathered since the 1812 Mineralogical Cabinet
a contemporary art exhibition and business event space covering over 4,200 square metres
Museums
an institution of contemporary art and new media in a former coffee roastery, organiser of the WRO Media Art Biennale
Museums
the only Polish collection of medals and decorations, numbering about fifty thousand items
Museums
a Baroque townhouse of the former Oppenheim House, today a contemporary art gallery with a viewing terrace in the attic
Museums
one of two such institutions in Poland, with historic postal vehicles and old telegraph apparatus
Museums
one of the oldest archdiocesan museums in Poland, sacred art rescued from secularisation
Museums
historic ships on the Oder, including the only surviving steam-powered inland tug in Poland
Museums
an independent contemporary art gallery on the Market Square, open to visitors, with exhibitions and workshops
Museums
a municipal contemporary art gallery with an artist residency, a workshop and a reading room in the city centre
a former defensive fort now open as a military museum with a T-55 tank and an exhibition on the military history of Wrocław
Museums
almost 319,000 exhibits, including drawings by Dürer and the largest collection of Rembrandt drawings in Poland
a gallery of paintings and posters with a showroom and online shop, right next to the Niecafe café
Museums
a BWA Wrocław contemporary art gallery combining an artist residency, workshop and reading room
Museums
a contemporary art gallery with paintings, prints and sculptures, exhibitions, auctions and an online shop
Museums
a permanent exhibition on the several-decades-long history of the WKS Śląsk Wrocław football club, within the stadium
Museums
a branch of the Museum of Land Forces with an exhibition on military engineering, visited only in guided groups
Museums
BWA gallery on the site of the former Hatzfeld Palace, host of the International Drawing Triennial since 1968
Museums
works by staff and students of the Academy of Fine Arts since 1954, divided into painting, sculpture, printmaking, glass and ceramics
Museums
more than 30,000 mineral specimens, including five holotypes, in two university branches
Museums
a BWA Wrocław glass and ceramics gallery in an intimate space on Kościuszko Square
Museums
the former flat and studio of the painters Hanna Krzetuska and Eugeniusz Geppert, today a contemporary art gallery
Museums
Poland's only blue whale skeleton next to the skeletons of an Irish elk and a thylacine
Museums in Wrocław: the Racławice Panorama, National Museum, Hydropolis, a bunker for art and small collections. Pick one for a rainy day.
For a first visit, take the Racławice Panorama. The painting of the Battle of Racławice was made in 1893-1894 under the direction of Jan Styka and Wojciech Kossak, and you view it from a central platform, surrounded by the canvas on all sides. It is a branch of the National Museum in Wrocław, one of the main museums in Lower Silesia. Its main building on Powstańców Warszawy Square holds over 200,000 paintings and sculptures, mainly Silesian art.
The second stop you should not skip is the Town Hall on the Market Square. This late Gothic building was raised in stages over about 250 years, and today it houses the Museum of Bourgeois Art with the Gallery of Famous Wrocławians. Third is the Royal Palace: a Baroque residence of the Prussian Hohenzollerns in 1750-1918, now the City Museum with the multimedia exhibition "1000 Years of Wrocław". The same building holds the Museum of Medal Art, the only museum in Poland devoted to medals and decorations, with about 50,000 items.
The Depot History Centre in Grabiszyn occupies a brick former tram depot from the late 19th century and tells the postwar story of the city in the exhibition "Wrocław 1945-2016". Older history is at the Archaeological Museum, which shows collections from the Palaeolithic to the Middle Ages. It shares the City Arsenal with the Museum of Militaria, devoted to weapons. The Arsenal, built in 1459, is one of the few fully preserved medieval buildings in the city.
Three smaller addresses round this out. In the Pan Tadeusz Museum, in the Golden Sun tenement, you can see the only surviving manuscript of Mickiewicz's poem. The Ethnographic Museum shows Lower Silesian folk art in the former Summer Palace of the Bishops of Wrocław. And the University of Wrocław Museum opens historic halls, including the Leopoldina Hall and the Oratorium Marianum, plus a viewing terrace on the Mathematical Tower.
The Wrocław Contemporary Museum in Szczepin is housed in an above-ground air-raid shelter from 1942 designed by Richard Konwiarz. It is the only such institution in Poland, hence the nickname "a shelter for art". Another contemporary art venue is the Four Domes Pavilion, a reinforced-concrete pavilion from 1912-1913 next to the Centennial Hall, now a branch of the National Museum.
Beyond museums there are many galleries. BWA Wrocław runs several exhibition spaces, including one at the Wrocław Główny station. The WRO Art Centre at 7 Widok Street occupies a former coffee roastery and focuses on new media. Bulvary in Nadodrze offers over 4,200 square metres of exhibitions and events, and OP ENHEIM sits in a Baroque tenement, the former Oppenheim House on Solny Square. Also look in at the Małgosia Gallery on Odrzańska Street and the Tętno gallery, which pairs exhibitions with an online shop. A separate stop is the Neon Gallery: a courtyard at 46 Ruska Street with 30 vintage neon signs from the 1960s and 1970s.
Hydropolis is an education centre about water in a former underground reservoir of the city waterworks on Na Grobli Street. The reservoir from 1890-1892 covers 4,600 square metres, and the centre is the only one of its kind in Poland. The Museum of Architecture in the former Bernardine complex is the only one of its kind in the country, with over 20,000 exhibits. Retro fans should visit the Museum of Games and Computers of a Bygone Era in the Świebodzki station building. Its collection includes over 200 computers and consoles and about 500 handheld consoles.
Natural-science fans have the Herbarium on Bem Square, with the oldest herbarium in Poland, assembled in the 17th century by Sylvius Boccone, and the Geological Museum in Nadodrze, with over 20,000 specimens related to the geology of the Sudetes. The Museum of Pharmacy has operated since 2011 in a tenement that housed a pharmacy from the 13th century to 1951. The Museum of Man on Kuźnicza Street has been closed since 2020, with no reopening date.
Almost everything on this list carries the "Na deszcz" (rainy day) tag. With children, the Town Hall, the Royal Palace, the Museum of Architecture, the Museum of Games and the Museum of Illusions work best; the last one has interactive installations and optical illusions in the Old Town. Couples also get the Małgosia Gallery, WRO and OP ENHEIM. For more ideas see Wrocław on a rainy day and Wrocław for families.
It is a branch of the City Museum of Wrocław located in the Old Jewish Cemetery on Ślężna Street. The cemetery was founded in 1856, and the first burial took place on 17 November of that year. About 12,000 gravestones stand here. This is a place of remembrance, so visit it quietly and with respect for the dead.
Almost all on the list carry the "Na deszcz" tag. The National Museum, the Royal Palace and the Town Hall offer the most to see in one place.
In the Panorama building, a branch of the National Museum. You view the painting from a central platform; check hours and tickets with the organiser.
No. It has been closed since 2020, with no reopening date given.
In the former Bernardine complex on Bernardyńska Street. It is the only museum of architecture in Poland.
