Silesian Museum in Katowice

About

Silesian Museum in Katowice (Polish: Muzeum Śląskie w Katowicach; Silesian: Muzeum Sylezyjske w Katowicy) is a museum in the city of Katowice, Poland.

The museum was founded in 1929 by the Silesian Sejm, while the region was recovering from the Silesian Uprisings. In the 20th-century interbellum, the Silesian Museum in Katowice was one of the biggest museums in Poland. After their invasion of Poland, the Nazi Germans however brought the collection to Bytom and tore the building down in 1940. In 1984 the museum was reinstated in the former Grand Hotel in Katowice [ pl ]. In 2015 a new main location was opened on the site of the former Katowice coal mine [ pl ]. The new museum reuses some of the historical buildings from the mining complex, and the primary exhibition space is underground.

Permanent exhibitions and attractions include attractions, exhibitions and galleries dedicated to:

- Upper Silesia over the course of history, presented in Polish, English, and German, and notably addressing sensitive issues such as the area's German cultural heritage and relationship with Germany – topics taboo under the Communist regime.

Among the works of Polish art are remarkable examples portraits by Stanisław Wyspiański, paintings by Olga Boznańska, Henryk Rodakowski, Jan Matejko, Józef Chełmoński, Aleksander Gierymski, Jacek Malczewski, Leon Wyczółkowski, Józef Pankiewicz, Władysław Podkowiński, and Jan Stanisławski. Other artists on display from the original collection, returned from Bytom, are:

- Witold Wojtkiewicz More contemporary artists on display are: Edward Dwurnik, Adam Marczyński, Andrzej Wróblewski, Tadeusz Kantor, Jerzy Nowosielski, Władysław Hasior, Zdzisław Beksiński, Lech Majewski, Zbigniew Libera, Natalia LL.

Among the works of Polish art are remarkable examples portraits by Stanisław Wyspiański, paintings by Olga Boznańska, Henryk Rodakowski, Jan Matejko, Józef Chełmoński, Aleksander Gierymski, Jacek Malczewski, Leon Wyczółkowski, Józef Pankiewicz, Władysław Podkowiński, and Jan Stanisławski. Other artists on display from the original collection, returned from Bytom, are:

- Witold Wojtkiewicz More contemporary artists on display are: Edward Dwurnik, Adam Marczyński, Andrzej Wróblewski, Tadeusz Kantor, Jerzy Nowosielski, Władysław Hasior, Zdzisław Beksiński, Lech Majewski, Zbigniew Libera, Natalia LL.

- Wojciech Janota: Katowice między wojnami. Miasto i jego sprawy 1922–1939. Łódź: Księży Młyn, 2010, s. 110, 111.