Description of the attraction
The Polish Army Museum is a museum in Warsaw dedicated to the military history of Poland. It is the second largest museum in the country after the National Museum.
The museum was founded in 1920 by a decree of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Józef Pilsudski. Bronislaw Gembarzewski, an outstanding military historian and museum expert, was appointed director.
In 1939, the collection of the museum already numbered more than 60 thousand exhibits, which were taken to Germany during the German occupation. In 1946, only 40 thousand exhibits returned to the museum, 20 thousand were never found.
The museum's permanent exhibition showcases the history of the Polish army, including a collection of weapons from the Middle Ages to the 18th century, artwork, books, documents and valuable photographs. In the museum you can see guns, aircraft and armored vehicles from the First and Second World Wars, exhibited in the museum courtyard. Of particular interest are: the original saddle of Napoleon I dating back to the Egyptian campaign, a collection of personal belongings of Tadeusz Kosciuszko, as well as the armor of Polish kings, the 17th century chain mail of Jan Cosimir, the sword of Stanislav August Poniatowski, the 17th century mace of the hetman Stalislav Jablonowski.
In 2014, the museum is to move to the Warsaw Citadel, a Russian fortress built in the 19th century. The architectural competition for the design of the new museum was won by WXCA.
