Władysław Reymont Museum of Literature in Bielsko-Biała

The Władysław Reymont Museum of Literature in Bielsko-Biała was housed at ul. Pankiewicza 1 in the Old Town. It was created in 1989 by a self-taught enthusiast, a weaver by trade, who copied out the works of classics of Polish literature by hand. At present the museum's activity is suspended.

The collections and their originator

The core of the collections consisted of books copied out in pen and illustrated by the founder, above all the works of Władysław Reymont. The first novel he copied out, in 1982, was “The Peasants”. By 2016 more than 120 such works had been produced, including works by Adam Mickiewicz and Henryk Sienkiewicz. The museum also showed paintings, sculptures and mementoes that the founder had collected or made himself.

At first the collections were in a flat in a block of flats, and in 1989 the founder rented a premises from the town in a neglected townhouse in the Old Town and furnished it himself. Until 2023 the institution operated as a private one, supported by voluntary donations from visitors. It received support from, among others, the Canadian Reymont Foundation and the Stefan Batory Foundation.

The museum today

In December 2023 the collections were bought and secured by the Beskid Library (Książnica Beskidzka). The museum suspended its activity, and it was declared that after the renovation of the building at ul. Pankiewicza 1 it would return to its seat. The museum's founder died in 2024.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Pankiewicza 1, Bielsko-Biała, Old Town.
• Before you visit, check with the Beskid Library whether the museum has reopened, because sources speak of a suspension until the renovation.
• Next door stand the Sułkowski Princes' Castle and St Nicholas Cathedral, and not far away is the Banialuka Puppet Theatre.