Museum in Tarnowskie Góry

The Museum in Tarnowskie Góry is a municipal cultural institution, the only municipal museum in Tarnowskie Góry County. Its collections number nearly 10,000 exhibits in the departments of history, art and ethnography, and it began operating in 1958. Its seat is at Rynek 1.

The Sedlaczek townhouse

The museum occupies the upper floor of one of the oldest townhouses on the Market Square, known as the Sedlaczek Townhouse, on the corner of the Market Square and Gliwicka Street. The building probably dates from the 16th century, but it was rebuilt in the following centuries. The first mentions of the townhouse date from 1670. In 1805 its owner sold it to Johann Sedlaczek, who moved here a wine shop that had existed since 1786.

Inside, the vaults of the cellars, hall and ground-floor rooms have survived, and on the upper floor, where the exhibition rooms are, there are wooden polychrome ceilings, a stone portal and a vault with stucco. During renovation in 1957 a polychrome ceiling was discovered, probably from the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. Tradition has it that the townhouse hosted, among others, John III Sobieski, Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III.

How the museum came about

The idea of a municipal museum appeared as early as the 19th century: in 1886 one of the residents gave the town a collection of 32 coins. In 1938 a committee collected souvenirs with a regional museum in mind, which was also to open to visitors the underground workings of the former silver and lead ore mines, now known as the Silver Mine in Tarnowskie Góry. The war interrupted these efforts.

The first permanent exhibition in three renovated rooms was opened in August 1958 and this moment is regarded as the beginning of the museum. Since 1990 it has been an independent cultural institution.

Collections

The History Department, with over 2,500 exhibits, includes mining tools and a mining cart from the Fryderyk mine from the early 19th century, mining maps, souvenirs of the uprisings and the plebiscite, souvenirs of the Shooting Fraternity founded in 1780, a collection of Masonic items with the "Silberfels" lodge founded in 1816, and old prints and maps of Silesia.

The Art Department collects Western European painting from the Flemish, Dutch and Italian schools from the 16th century to the early 20th century, pewter ware, guild souvenirs and Sobieski memorabilia related to John III Sobieski. The Ethnography Department has 1,440 exhibits, including Upper Silesian folk costumes, 19th-century furniture, farm tools and decorated Easter eggs.

Permanent exhibitions and the Dworzec Kultury

The permanent exhibitions are "The Renaissance Room with a Gallery of Western European Painting", "From the History of Tarnowskie Góry" and "Vivat John III Sobieski". The museum also organises concert series under the Renaissance ceiling and an annual Museums Night.

In December 2025 the museum opened a branch, the Dworzec Kultury, on the upper floor of the historic railway station at Częstochowska 1c, with a contemporary art gallery and the Tarnowskie Góry Model Railway.

Practical information

• Address: Rynek 1, Tarnowskie Góry. The Market Square is closed to traffic; the nearest parking spaces are on Gliwicka Street, about 100 m from the museum, and there is a larger car park between Opolska and Jana III Sobieskiego streets, about 150 m away.
• Current opening days and hours are listed on the museum's website. Free admission day is Friday.
• The railway and bus stations are about 800 m from the museum.
• Because of the historic building, accessibility for people with reduced mobility is very limited, so it is worth contacting the museum in advance.

In the immediate vicinity, about 200 m from the museum, lies Plac Gwarków.

Next to it is also the synagogue in Tarnowskie Góry.