Museums
Hochberg residence with original interiors, the apartment of Emperor Wilhelm II and a landscape park
Historic sites
synagogue from 1835 converted into a cinema during the war, a reminder of the Pszczyna Jewish community
For children
enclosure in Pszczyna Park with bison, an educational trail and feedings at fixed times
Museums
an open-air museum of wooden architecture of the Pszczyna land with a water mill and an octagonal barn
Churches and monasteries
Baroque church with the crypt of the Promnitz family, right beside Pszczyna Castle
Museums
the only press museum in the country, with printing machines, a linotype and the Telemann Room
Churches and monasteries
neo-Baroque Lutheran church by the Market Square, rebuilt after the fire of 1905
Cemeteries and monuments
monument to Princess Daisy Hochberg on the Pszczyna market square, unveiled in 2009
Museums
militaria from the Neolithic to the world wars in a neo-Baroque gardener's house
Historic sites
a neo-Renaissance town hall on the north side of the Market Square, the seat of the town authorities for three centuries
Historic sites
a Classicist residence from around 1800 with a portico of four Tuscan columns
Cemeteries and monuments
a cemetery from 1814 with about 400 gravestones and a neo-Gothic funeral house
Churches and monasteries
an 18th-century pillar shrine with a legend about the pursuit of Henry of Valois
Historic sites
Baroque castle gate of 1687 by the Pszczyna Market Square, former seat of the Wybrańcy guard
Historic sites
Neo-Romanesque hexagonal ice house in the northern part of the castle park in Pszczyna
Places with character
a historic market square with the Baroque Frykówka and 18th and 19th-century buildings
Historic sites
oval Classicist pavilion from the 19th century on an island in the castle park, today with a tea room
Cemeteries and monuments
a cemetery from 1501 in the castle park, with a priest’s crypt and a princess’s grave
Things to do in Pszczyna: a castle with original interiors, a park with bison and an open-air museum, and the market square. A day or two of sights.
Pszczyna is a town in the south of the Silesian Voivodeship, known for the Hochberg castle, the park around it and a compact market square rebuilt after an 18th-century fire. Everything lies close together, so it is easy to explore on foot. Add to that small museums, a few churches and two burial grounds that show the town's multicultural past.
Start with the castle and the square, since they lead straight into each other: the western end of the square reaches the castle, and nearby stand the gate, the town hall and two churches. Only then head for the park, which takes as long as you give it.
The Pszczyna Castle is a former magnate residence, originally a Gothic castle from the early 15th century and now a palace housing the Castle Museum. With the historic landscape park of 156 hectares it forms a palace and park complex that was named a Monument of History in April 2021. Its interiors stand out: about 80 per cent of the furnishings are original. Inside you will see the Hochberg rooms, the imperial apartment and the Mirror Hall. The castle's rebuilding is told in the article on the castle and the emperor's headquarters.
The market square is a rectangular space on an east-west axis, on the register of monuments since 1967. Buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries survive in a tight layout after the fire of 1748. On the square sits a monument to Princess Daisy, the Princess Daisy bench by Joachim Krakowczyk, unveiled on 1 May 2009. Maria Teresa Olivia Hochberg von Pless lived from 1873 to 1943. Her life is told in the article on Daisy von Pless, the Englishwoman in Pszczyna castle.
On the square, also see the town hall at number 2: neo-Renaissance, with a clock tower from which a bugle call sounds every day. It has housed the town authorities since 1716, and its facades are on the register of monuments. In the south-western part of the square stands the Wybrańcy Gate, a Baroque gate of the Promnitz castle from 1687, the oldest part of the castle complex to survive in unchanged form.
Two churches of different denominations stand in the centre, both a short walk from the square. A third sacred site, a wayside shrine, lies by the park.
The All Saints Church stands a few dozen metres from the castle. The first mention of a church comes from 1326, but its present look is the result of rebuilding after the fire of 1748. Thirteen members of the Promnitz family rest in the crypt. The Evangelical church at Rynek 1 was built in 1743-1746 and rebuilt in neo-Baroque form after a fire in 1905. Its facade faces the main square.
The "Thy Will Be Done" shrine is a brick pillar shrine in the south-western corner of the park, where Wojska Polskiego and Żorska streets meet. It stands at a fork of old trade routes and is linked to a legend about the pursuit of Henry of Valois as he fled Poland.
The park around the castle is a separate goal for a full-day stroll. Scattered across it are a few small monuments, bison and an open-air museum. A plan for a day without the castle is in the article on the park, the open-air museum and the bison reserve.
The tea pavilion is a small neoclassical building on an oval plan, hidden among trees on an island in the middle of the Pszczynka backwaters. It has oval windows and a domed mansard roof, and today it houses a seasonal tea room. In the north of the park, on a rise above the river valley, stands the ice house: neo-Romanesque, hexagonal, where ice cut from the ponds was stored. Since 2023 it has been a registered monument.
The "Ludwikówka" manor house is a neoclassical residence of the princes of Pszczyna from around 1800 with a portico of Tuscan columns, between Dunikowskiego and Chopina streets. It closes the main view axis of the former English park. St Hedwig's Cemetery in the north-eastern part of the park, on Chopina Street, was founded in 1501 around a former branch church. By the park, in the neo-Baroque Gardener's Cottage, you will find the Museum of the Military History of Silesia.
For young visitors, pick the Bison Show Reserve in the part of the park called Zwierzyniec. The bison herd, opened to visitors on 1 June 2008, occupies two enclosures of about 10 hectares in all. It presents the biodiversity of the old Pszczyna forests. Background on the herd is in the article on the bison of Pszczyna.
Next to the bison stands the Pszczyna Village Farmstead, an open-air museum opened in 1975 on about two hectares in the eastern part of the park. It brings together a dozen or so examples of wooden folk architecture, from 18th-century granaries to a water mill. It is a stop on the region's wooden architecture route.
When it pours, there are four museums and several interiors. The Museum of the Silesian Press occupies a townhouse from the turn of the 19th century at Piastowska 26, the town's main pedestrian street. It shows printing machines, a linotype and Korfanty's newspapers. By the museum's own account it is the only one of its kind in Poland. More ideas are listed under places for rain in Pszczyna.
Pszczyna has two places linked to Jewish heritage, which should be visited with respect.
The former synagogue is on Bramkowa Street, close to the market. It was built in 1835 on the site of an earlier prayer house from 1765. Today it has no religious function, and from 1941 it was converted into a cinema, which is why its former fittings are gone.
The Jewish cemetery on Katowicka Street was founded in 1814. It covers 0.6 hectares and is among the best-preserved Jewish cemeteries in the Silesian Voivodeship: about 400 gravestones survive, with a brick fence and a neo-Gothic pre-burial house. A comparison with other towns is in the article on Jewish cemeteries of the Pszczyna and Rybnik lands.
The castle, the square with the town hall and the gate, and the park with the bison reserve. If time remains, add the open-air museum or one of the small museums.
Yes: there is the castle with original interiors, the Museum of the Silesian Press, the Museum of the Military History of Silesia and the open-air museum with its buildings.
At the Bison Show Reserve in Pszczyna Park, in the part called Zwierzyniec, at Żorska 5.
The free places include the cemeteries and the Princess Daisy bench on the square. More are gathered under free places in Pszczyna.
Open the Pszczyna events calendar and narrow it to the day you need.
