Energy Museum in Łaziska Górne

The Energy Museum in Łaziska Górne collects equipment, documents and photographs related to the generation, transmission and use of electricity. It is housed in the old switchgear building at the Łaziska Power Station, at Wyzwolenia 30.

What to see

The exhibits include a surviving part of the switchgear with a Swiss high-voltage circuit breaker that is louder than a cannon when in operation, a wartime steam turbine, a pre-war biogas engine, and measuring instruments, protection equipment and laboratory apparatus. There are also household electrical appliances, computers, electron tubes, firefighting equipment, photographs, maps, films and documents.

A special place belongs to the Edison light bulb, brought from Rhodesia, where it shone until 1970. It is lit once a year, on Epiphany, during the Festival of Light, and gives a warm yellow-orange glow. The museum also shows a suit for live-line work, in which silver threads form a Faraday cage, and the "Vibrarium", an interactive exhibition of old transformers, push buttons and electric bells.

A curiosity is a book on the history of the power station measuring 6.5 by 8 mm, written without enlargement, which is read through a magnifying glass.

How the museum came about

The idea of a permanent exhibition on the history of the plant was raised in 2000 at a meeting of the power station's board. By the end of that year over 100 exhibits had been collected, and in 2002 the Polish Society of Friends of the Energy Museum was founded. The new premises, with an area of over 500 m2, were opened on 9 December 2003. In 2006 the museum was included in the Industrial Monuments Route of the Silesian Voivodeship.

The museum operates on the grounds of the Łaziska Power Station, and has been visited by school pupils from Mikołów County, employees of nearby companies and residents of surrounding towns.

Practical information

• Address: Wyzwolenia 30, Łaziska Górne, on the grounds of the Łaziska Power Station.
• The museum's website offers a virtual walk through the exhibition.
• Opening hours and visiting rules were not found on the museum's website, so check them with the organiser before your visit.
• About 6 km away there is a museum in Mikołów.