Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Krakow — Attraction in Krakow

The Ethnographic Museum in Krakow was opened on February 19, 1911. It owes its creation to the tireless efforts of Seweryn Udziela. This educator, social activist, author of numerous ethnographic works, member of the Anthropological, Physiographic and Ethnographic Commission of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, was himself a man-institution. A few years before the formal establishment of the institution, he defined its mission in the following way: "Ethnographic museums show which peoples live in this God's world, how they live, how they dress, what is their difficulty, what their customs and customs are. Here, some of the visitors satisfy their curiosity, others supplement their knowledge, others finally sit down to work and study the history and present state of the culture of nations ”. Initially, Udziela tried to establish an ethnographic department at the National Museum in Sukiennice (1904). It turned out, however, that there was not enough room for ethnographic collections in MN. Part of the collection remained in the deposit, part of Udziela placed in a storeroom near the chapel of the Municipal Folk School in Podgórze and in his apartment at ul. Lwowska 52. And he did...

I think photos don't do this place justice. It's not just the selection of articles on display (which is in itself great), but the thematic arrangement of the items, the presentation, and the... compassion? I guess? with which they are presented.

I think the field of ethnograpy, when presenting The People™, can sometimes miss the mark on presenting them as people. This collection doesn't. The accompanying captions and texts etc. never let you forget about the human stories and legacies connected to the items. You're not only shown tools of a trade or articles of clothing — with merely a few lines of text, they help you see not just the necklace but the young girl who wore it, not just the whetstone but the farmer who used it.

My favourite parts were: the Easter egg collection, the schoolroom, the Nativity scenes and, unexpectedly enough, the coral necklaces and their historical backgrounds! I was inspired by that to buy some coral jewellery for my mother as a Kraków...

I love ethnographic museums and this museum conquired my soul. On the first floor there is amazing expozition of inside interiors of traditional homes, school, work places. On the second floor there is rich collection of traditional clothes from different regions in Poland. Musical instruments, toys, tools and many other real things which smartly collected to explain different aspects of life. How children played, how people married, how they worked, how celebrated different holidays. There are few rooms about Christmas and bright light room about Easter. In the room for Easter there is just perfect collection of Easter eggs Pysanka. This museum not only shows, not only beautifully explains but also gives...