Printing Museum in Cieszyn

The Printing Museum in Cieszyn at ul. Głęboka 50 was founded in 1996 to commemorate the printing traditions of Cieszyn Silesia. Its collections include a typesetting machine with a set of type, chemigraphic and woodcut matrices, platen presses and bookbinding equipment.

Where the collections came from

In 1996 the company Prodruk handed historic printing equipment over to the city. In 1998 the museum took over the equipment of a closed typography workshop from the Cieszyn branch of the University of Silesia. Further devices arrived later: a pot for remelting linotype alloy, a machine for casting hand-set text with a full set of matrices, a ruling machine and drawers of type. In 2004 a graphics workshop was opened.

Closure and a new format

The museum was closed on 1 April 2019 for extension and modernisation. After the renovation, in 2022, management of the venue was incorporated into the structure of Cieszyn Castle, which runs the site jointly with the association Printing Museum in Cieszyn. In 2014 the museum received the Juliusz Ligoń Silesian Prize, and since 2010 it has been on the Industrial Monuments Route of the Silesian Voivodeship.

Workshops and exhibitions

The museum runs graphics workshops for children, including nursery-age ones, during which participants prepare designs that are transferred to a matrix and then printed on an old graphics press. There are also bookbinding workshops, after which each participant takes home a notebook they have stitched themselves. In the past, typography workshops with hand typesetting were organised. The museum also organised temporary exhibitions of graphic art, bookplates and posters.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Głęboka 50, 43-400 Cieszyn.
• The museum's website, muzeumdrukarstwa.pl, was under construction at the time of checking and has tabs with opening hours and a price list. Hours, workshops and the possibility of visiting must be checked before your visit.
• The museum lies not far from Cieszyn's Market Square, a few hundred metres away.
• At a similar distance stands the Rotunda of St Nicholas.
• Nearby is also the Larisch Palace, the seat of the Museum of Cieszyn Silesia.