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Phone: 48-22-629-52-71
The Polish Military Museum is situated within the same building as the National museum of Warsaw. The building was designed by architect Tadeucz Tolwinsky in functional style. The Supreme Commander, Marshall Jozef Pilsudski was the one who initiated the foundation of the Polish Military Museum in 1920.
The exposition of the museum is dedicated to the history of the Polish army. One of the sections contains the military objects used by the Polish formations during World War I. After World War II the museum received an invaluable gift of weapons, uniforms and other objects used by the Polish Armed Forces in the West. The collection of the museum is enlarged with gifts and donations made by the museums of other countries. For example, Germany presented several military standards dated back to 1939, Russia gave a valuable 17th century gun barrel, an officer uniform from the time of the Kosciuszko Rising, several standards and banners and a gun used by Marshall Pilsudski.
The permanent exposition of the Polish Military museum is very large. It includes the objects related to the story of Polish armed force from the Middle Ages to the Contemporary times. There are collections of edged weapons and firearms, banners and standards dating back to the 16th century, uniform of the 18th century and later, military orders and distinctions, equestrian, marine and aviation equipment, oriental and exotic arms. Among the museum's possessions there are personal belongings of outstanding military leaders and commanders from Hetman Jan Tarnowski to Jozef Pilsudski.
In the museum there is a special Art Department. It contains a large collection of battle-scene paintings, graphics, posters and drawings. Some perfect examples of iconography are on a display. The collection includes small icons that the soldiers and officers carried with them during battles and hoped that the depicted saints will save their lives.
A separate section of the Polish Military museum is dedicated to the history of the Cold War. The exposition displays copies of important documents, images, war machines arsenal and other objects.
In the park surrounding the museum an open-air permanent exhibition is opened. It familiarizes the visitors with the heavy military equipment, including tanks, cannons, artillery, aircraft, mine detection and diffusion equipment. The visitors are allowed to touch and even to climb the machines to make a picture. This part of the Polish Military museum is especially popular among kids who love to inspect the tanks, cannons and other machines, which hopefully will never function again.
