Warsaw Uprising Museum

Warsaw Uprising Museum

This is one of the most interesting places in Warsaw and one of the most modern museums in Poland. There are no boring display cases or traditional exhibits, the museum exploits a variety of media: light, sound and vision. Located in a 60s postindustrial building which once housed a tram power station, the museum was opened on the 60^th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising as a branch of Warsaw's History Museum. In 3000m2 of floor space there are 1000 exhibits, 1500 photographs and 200 biographies.

A fundamental element are the photos of Warsaw during the uprising, both large-scale as well as on various kinds of screen. The visitors route takes you various themed rooms showing the fortunes of the uprising in chronological order. The central feature of the museum is the steel monument which connects all the floors of the museum on which the key dates of the uprising are engraved. There are also a few attractions for younger visitors. In the Young Insurgent room you can get to know the history of the uprising presented by the Uprising Theatre as well as play with replicas of 2^nd world war toys.

Another interesting part of the exhibition is a hall in which there is a replica of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator aeroplane piloted by Zbigniew Szostak and shot down by the Luftwaffe. You can find also some periodic exhibitions, conferences, meetings and other events in this place. In the basement you can get an idea of what it was like in occupied Warsaw in the exhibition called "Germans".

The Warsaw Uprising Museum is surrounded by the Park of Freedom, in which the most interesting object is the Wall of Remembrance where the names of 11 000 people who died during the Uprising are carved out. The centrepiece of the wall is a quarter-ton bell, 'Monter', which was cast in honour of the leader of the Uprising, General Antoni Chruściel.