Exhibition

Rybnik · Profession · Business

In the period 1922–1939, trade and crafts went through another stage of turbulent development within the Second Polish Republic (autonomous Silesian Voivodeship). Visitors to the exhibition will buy bread and cakes, make purchases in a colonial shop, order a stylish coat from a tailor, and also do other shopping, all while moving to interwar Rybnik.

The city's communication routes, including the main routes correlated with the city market, the streets of Jana III Sobieskiego, Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego (currently Powstańców Śląskich), Zamkowa, Dworcowa (currently Miejska), Kościelna, Raciborska and others, were the axes of the development of urban trade and services, the scenery of which is introduced to us by the preserved iconography and the exhibits presented.

MINING EXHIBITION 
closed - renovation

We begin our visit after receiving a miner’s safety helmet and an attendance “mark”. The visitors then set out to a staged mining excavation, where they can explore a vast collection of artifacts connected with this important field in the Upper Silesian industry. The exhibition presents, among other things, a miner’s working outfit with full equipment, a part of a track-way with a wagon, mining lamps from 19th and 20th century, equipment used for rock blasting, measurement and rescue. This collection is enriched by the presence of St. Barbara – the patron saint of miners – as well as many sculptures made from coal and graphite, presenting scenes connected with mining.

„RYBNIK – OUR TOWN” EXHIBITION

„Rybnik – our town” is a three-part exhibition dedicated to the history, culture and art of Rybnik, as well as the Upper Silesian region in general. Aside from a temporary historical display, visitors are introduced to an illustrated calendar of the town’s history. They can get to know Rybnik through various interactive presentations, documentaries, newspaper reprints. There’s also a corner designed for the youngest visitors, where they can draw and play with thematic puzzles. The part of exhibition dedicated to culture focuses on folk and middle-class culture. It presents local sacral architecture, agricultural and residential buildings, farming equipment. A traditional Upper Silesian kitchen has been recreated as a part of the display, with a typical mix of both folk and middle- class furnishing and other elements. For those visitors interested in history of fashion, there is a large collection of photos, painting, as well as mannequins presenting the characteristic regional outfit.