Muzeum Miejskie "Dom Gerharta Hauptmanna"

About the museum

The museum occupies the Villa Wiesenstein (Łąkowy Kamień) in Jagniątków, formerly Agnetendorf, which was incorporated into the boundaries of Jelenia Góra in 1997. The house, in historicist and neo-Renaissance style and resembling a castle, was built in 1900–1901 to designs by the Berlin architect Hans Grisebach. Gerhart Hauptmann, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1912, lived here from 1901 until his death in 1946. For almost half a century the villa was a centre of cultural life for artists from the Karkonosze and Berlin.

After the war the building housed a children’s holiday centre, “Warszawianka”. After 1989, on the basis of a joint declaration by Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki, it was decided to create a museum devoted to the writer here. After the property was transferred to municipal ownership, the villa was thoroughly renovated with support from the government of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Fundacja Współpracy Polsko-Niemieckiej (Polish-German Cooperation Foundation). The Dom Gerharta Hauptmanna opened on 1 September 2001 as a cultural institution of the city of Jelenia Góra, and since 1 May 2005 it has operated as a municipal museum.

Seven rooms are open to visitors, including the writer’s study, the former library, the fireplace room, the dining room and the hall known as the Hala Rajska (Paradise Hall), entirely decorated in 1922 with polychrome painting by J. M. Avenarius. The collections include fragments of correspondence, first editions and documents. The museum also runs a library with holdings on Hauptmann and Silesia, and a historic park of about 1.6 hectares.

Highlights

• Villa Wiesenstein, the home of Nobel laureate Gerhart Hauptmann
• Writer’s study, library and fireplace room
• Hala Rajska (Paradise Hall) with polychrome painting from 1922
• Permanent exhibition “100 lat willi Wiesenstein”
• Multimedia exhibition “Gerhart Hauptmann w wirze historii” (Gerhart Hauptmann in the Whirl of History)
• Historic park next to the museum

Permanent exhibitions

• 100 lat willi Wiesenstein – Permanent exhibition on more than a century of the house’s history, in connection with the life and work of the writer.
• Gerhart Hauptmann w wirze historii – Multimedia exhibition in the former dining room with an interactive biography of the writer, recordings of his voice and archive films.

Founded

2005

Operated by

Miasto Jelenia Góra

Director

Katarzyna Nadzieja Soboczyńska

Admission & discounts

Free admission: On Mondays admission to the permanent exhibitions is free for everyone (temporary exhibitions are charged). On other days, residents of Jelenia Góra with a Karta Dużej Rodziny, tour guides and group supervisors, and coach drivers visit free of charge.

Admission to the historic park next to the museum is free of charge.

Accessibility

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

The ground floor has no horizontal barriers, but steps lead up to it, and the upper floor is inaccessible because there is no lift. A direct access route for people with disabilities leads to the building. A Polish Sign Language (PJM) interpreter can be booked by submitting a request at least 3 working days before the visit.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

A family ticket (two adults and at least two persons under 16) costs PLN 10 per person.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop

On the ground floor there is a small shop with publications and souvenirs. The museum has a library with a reading room (by prior arrangement, 10:00–15:00).

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit