Fabryka Emalia Oskara Schindlera

About the museum

The administrative building of the former enamelware factory in Kraków’s Zabłocie district was built in 1937 as the headquarters of the company “Rekord”. After the company went bankrupt in 1939, the plant was taken over by Oskar Schindler, who in 1940 leased the buildings and named the enterprise Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik. He employed many prisoners of Jewish origin there, and in 1943 a subcamp of the camp in Płaszów was set up on the factory site. After the war the plant operated until 2002 as Telpod, and in 2005 the site passed into the ownership of the city.

In 2007 the former buildings were divided between two cultural institutions: the Muzeum Historyczne Miasta Krakowa (Kraków City History Museum) and the Muzeum Sztuki Współczesnej MOCAK (MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art). The administrative building was taken over by a branch of the city museum, which opened on 10 June 2010. Today the institution belongs to the Muzeum Krakowa.

The permanent exhibition “Kraków – czas okupacji 1939–1945” (Kraków: The Time of Occupation 1939–1945) comprises 45 spaces and leads visitors chronologically through reconstructed scenes of the city: streets, a photographic studio, a tram, the labyrinth of the ghetto, the camp in Płaszów and a fortified Kraków in the last months of the war. The exhibition combines documents and objects with multimedia, sound recordings and tactile stations, and it presents Schindler’s story against the background of the fates of the Polish and Jewish inhabitants of the city.

Highlights

• Permanent exhibition “Kraków – czas okupacji 1939–1945” in 45 spaces
• Oskar Schindler’s office and the former factory building in Zabłocie
• Reconstructed scenes: streets, tram, ghetto and the camp in Płaszów
• Tactile stations, sound trails and “memory machines”
• Audio description, translations into Polish Sign Language (PJM) and tactile materials for blind visitors

Permanent exhibition

• Kraków – czas okupacji 1939–1945 – The exhibition in 45 spaces presents the fates of the Polish and Jewish inhabitants of occupied Kraków, including the ghetto and the camp in Płaszów, and the story of Oskar Schindler.

Founded

2010

Operated by

Muzeum Krakowa (miejska instytucja kultury)

Admission & discounts

Free admission: Monday – free admission to the permanent exhibition. There is no advance booking, the number of tickets is limited, and reservations are accepted only for schools.

Online tickets are sold 90 days before the visit (group bookings from 8:00, individual bookings from 9:00). Online sales end 6 hours before the visit. A personal ticket requires an identity document. At the ticket office, tickets are sold only for the day of the visit (up to 5 per person), while stocks last. The ticket is also valid at the Apteka Pod Orłem (Eagle Pharmacy) and on ul. Pomorska within 7 days of the date on the ticket. Holders of the Karta Dużej Rodziny and the Krakowska Karta Rodzinna pay half the normal price.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: not available
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits
• Sign language tours
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description

The exhibition is spread over several floors, which are reached by a lift (cabin 1.1 × 2.2 m, with Braille markings). The floor surface changes within the exhibition space. The toilet for people with disabilities is on the ground floor next to the ticket desk, where there is also an induction loop. The museum has no designated parking spaces for people with disabilities. For blind visitors around 35 MP3 files with audio description and tactile materials with raised models have been prepared. For deaf visitors there are recordings in Polish Sign Language, subtitles for selected films and a guide to the sounds of the exhibition. A tour in Polish Sign Language with a deaf guide can be ordered.

Kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Baby changing facilities

A family ticket is valid. The museum does not state a recommended age for visitors, and the educational offer is aimed at pupils in grades 6–8 and at secondary schools. The baby changing table is on the ground floor next to the ticket desk.

Getting there & parking

The branch is located in Zabłocie in Podgórze, at ul. Lipowa 4. The museum has no designated parking spaces for people with disabilities.

Amenities & dining

• Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi for visitors is available in the ticket hall on the ground floor. On the ground floor next to the ticket desk there is a baby changing table, and in the hall there is a defibrillator.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit