1. Frog Museum in Kudowa-Zdrój
Museum of the Frog, photo: Rafał Mielnik / AG,
Recently a California museum dedicated to bananas made the headlines for having 20,000 banana-shaped items. The Frog Museum is made from the same mould: it features over 3,000 items somehow linked to the little amphibians. Containing figurines, soapboxes, ashtrays, specimens preserved in formalin, the impressive collection comes from nearly 20 countries spread out over 6 continents. The museum is located in Kudowa Zdrój. The lush nature surrounding the museum also provides perfect grounds for observing frogs in the wild. Excellent odds to find a prince among them!
2. Bread Museum in Radzionków
Museum of Bread, photo: Jacenty Dedek/Reporter, Piotr Gajek / East News
Most of us eat bread on a daily basis without ever learning the chemistry behind it, satisfied just to know that it’s made from flour and you can get it at the bakery. But there’s much, much more to bread. The Bread Museum not only shows the entire process of bread-making through its several exhibits, from ploughing the field to taking a freshly baked loaf out of the oven, but also features many curious bread-related items of old in its collection. These include coins made from bread used in times of need, work tools of bakers and pastry chefs and much more.
3. Museum of Unusual Bicycles in Gołąb
Museum of Unusual Bicycles, photo: Wojciech Pacewicz / Forum
The museum’s collection includes numerous whacky two-wheelers which, coolly enough, can be ridden by visitors. That is, if they manage ‒ some of these vehicles are rather tricky to ride. There is a hands-free Segway propelled by foot pedals, or the pilot-training bicycle that switches you upside-down (you’ll have to see it to believe it). Lazier visitors will enjoy rickshaws and tandems. The Museum is in Gołąb, a village an hour’s drive from the city of Lublin and is open April through October.
4. Torture Museum in Zielona Góra
Museum of Old Tortures, photo: Anna Krasko / AG
Not the best place for the faint of heart, history fans will love it. Located in the sinister basement of a large 19th century edifice in the town of Zielona Góra, the Museum presents both originals and replicas of various old torture devices. Among them you can find such gruesome objects as an iron maiden or stocks. The exposition also includes the reconstruction of a witchcraft trial and custom-made graphics revolving around the torture theme, which reference old iconography. The Museum is part of the Lubusz Land Museum (located upstairs in the same building) presents the cultural heritage of the Middle Oder area.
5. Museum of Buttons in Łowicz
Museum of Buttons, photo: Łukasz Giza / AG
The initial premises of the museum were... a suitcase. The entire collection of this private institution could fit into one when it was founded by Jacek Rutkowski in 1997. Since then the number of exhibited items has grown so much that their volume now far exceeds the limitations of their original home. Currently there are over 4500 thousand buttons in the collection, that is to say all the buttons one could ever imagine or dream of, and many more. Many of them belonged to famous Poles such as tennis player Agnieszka Radwańska, actor Borys Szyc or writer Witkacy. The museum is located in the town of Łowicz, where Rutkowski’s institution moved two years ago.
6. Museum of Fire in Żory
Fire Museum in Żory, 2015, designed by Barbara Grąbczewska and Oskar Grąbczewski, photo: Tomasz Zakrzewski/ archifolio / photo courtesy of the architects/ www.ovo-grabczewscy.pl.
Like the name suggests everything here has to do with flames and fire. Even the museum’s building was designed so that its shape resembles a flame. Moreover, its exterior copper panel-covered walls reflect sunlight in a way that brings to mind the glow of fire. Inside there’s an ultra-modern exposition which includes numerous interactive exhibits like a virtual blowtorch for heating up selected substances and a wall of fire which you can safely pass through. The Museum also shows the history of fire from prehistoric times to the present. It is located in the town of Żory in southern Poland.
7. Neon Museum in Warsaw
Neon Museum, photo: Krzysztof Zuczkowski / Forum
In an era when most people avoid avertisements like the plague, it seems strange to make a museum that focuses mostly on advertisement, but the vintage and exotic style of Warsaw's old neons willl seduce everyone. Last year, during the European Night of Museums alone, the Neon Museum in Warsaw, which exhibits post-War Polish neons of commercial origin, attracted 18 thousand visitors. The Museum has over 200 signs, among which well-known beauties like the luminous Mermaid of Warsaw and the steaming cup that used to promote the legendary Jaś i Małgosia café.
Author: Marek Kępa, March 2016