European Solidarity Centre — Attraction in Gdansk

SOLIDARNOST (Solidarity) - a very powerful, emotional and meaningful word in Poland. And, for a good reason.

I must admit despite excellent reviews I entered the museum with low expectations. Coming from a similar country I knew pretty much about the events that initiated changes in eastern Europe. However, after the first 15 min I was blown away and enjoyed the rest of my visit to maximum.

Museum is located north from old town Gdansk, just aside the entrance to the shipyard where it all began. In front of it is a monument of 3 huge crosses with anchors on top of them to commemorate the victims of the first strike from Dec 1970. Interesting fact is that it was erected in 1980, still during communist oppression, and therefore is considered first such monument built during communist regime, but when Solidarnost gained some rights. Museum architecture is amazing - ultra modern edifice with rust like modern facade resembling ship's body. Interior is a huge atrium like open space with glass and greenery resembling freedom. From there, excellent audio guide takes you on a tour through several levels. I rarely take audio guides as they're sometimes boring, with unnecessary facts and sometimes difficult to understand. This one is state of the art - you don't need to do anything. It automatically tells you stories (easy understanding and with interesting and important facts) depending on your position where you are, and tells you the way you should go.

Apart from the audio guide, there are so many interesting exhibits, short movies, hands-on displays, articles from newspapers, pictures, personal items,....

If you have any interest in that part of Europe history, I strongly advise you to visit this museum. Count on around 2 hours for a proper visit.

Congratulations Poles on your will and strength to fight communism oppression and big respect...

The 30 zlota/pp ticket sold to foreigners is TIMED and you can ONLY ENTER during the 2 HOURS WRITEN ON IT. So, THEY DO NOT TELL YOU THAT - we purchased the tickets @13:35, 30 min before the end of the 2 hours. Our backs were hurting by the time we walked through room C and we were hungry too. It took me long to go through each room because I wanted and see everything there was (as I grew up during communism and was personally affected by it). . The audio on my headphones was slow and would STOP WORKING TOO - so was my husband’s. There are attendants on every floor, but they do NOT SPEAK ENGLISH and most of them just sit/stand around and chat with each other. So, because our backs were hurting from standing up for couple hours, we decided to ask them for if we could go get something to eat before in the museum restaurant, rest our backs and legs for few minutes and get back inside the museum the SAME DAY on the same ticket we already purchased. We took the elevator to floor 0 to talk to the (headphones) attendants who were the last people who spoke English to us and we were advised that there is ONLY 2-HOUR WINDOW TO ENTER, NOT FROM THE TIME YOU PURCHASE, BUT WITHIN THE 2-hour period that starts every even hour (ie 10-12, 2-4pm, etc) Also, in the museum - most of the documents, videos are NOT IN ENGLISH, so one is left clueless if Not understanding/reading Polish. Otherwise, I think it would be a nice museum to visit esp if you are Polish - your ticket will be only 9 zlota (which I fully appreciate as it is allowing opportunity for Polish...

The Solidarnosc Museum was one of the most impressive museum visits in my entire life. The exhibition was very interesting and, due to many original exhibits, very authentic as well. You are provided with an audioguide available for various languages, including Polish, German, English, French, Spanish and some more languages. The audioguide recognizes in what part of the exhibition you are and automatically updates while moving to another exhibit. Of course you can also rewind and fast forward manually. The museum tells the entire story of Solidarnosc including the prehistory and even a brief outlook. The visit is constructed as if a framed story was told and you can decide what parts are worth to be heard in more detail. There are many interactive exhibits, e.g. a smart-table where many photos are provided. You can zoom in and out and sort the pictures on this table. When enlarging an image, a short text pops up, providing information about the depicted. It really feels like sitting at a table and going through some old images your parents or grandparents stored in a box in their basement. There are many other examples, but it would ruin the "wow-effect" to tell them upfront. The museum does not simply provide information about Polish history or the history of Solidarnosc. You are taken to an emotional trip to the past and, for a short moment, become part of history yourself. I would highly recommend visiting the Solidarnosc Museum. It was an experience I would not...