The very first museum in the country dedicated to the history of the Polish emigration was established in Gdynia. The Emigration Museum in Gdynia – which we opened for visitors in 2015 – tells the global history of Polish men and women. On the initiative of the city’s authorities, the historic building of the Sea Terminal – which witnessed, for decades, the departures of the ocean liners – currently houses an institution which tells the story of the migrations and destinies of Poles all over the world in close connection with modern day reality. For the history of emigration is being written every day. Its multiple dimensions are depicted in the permanent exhibition.

The Emigration Museum in Gdynia combines the shared history of Poles and the present day dialogue. Migrations constitute a dynamic process taking placealongside our lives ,and not a historical fact. We are dealing with a phenomenon that happens over and over again throughout the world. Migrations change the face of the entire world. Also today.

History of millions of Poles

The history of departures from the Polish territories goes back hundreds of years. The purpose of travelling to different parts of the worldwas subsistence, i search for freedom and a desire for a better life. This did not change after Poland regained its independence. The journey was done on foot, by rail, byship or – later – it involved airtravel.. After Poland joined the European Union, emigration became the experience of of millions of young Poles. Today, almost everyone knows someone who has chosen to emigrate.

Throughout the world, there are more than 20 million people of Polish descent. What do we know today about one of the most important phenomena in the Polish history? Can we save from oblivion the memory of millions of people who instilled Polishness in their children and grandchildren? Can we feel what Poles felt as they were leaving their homes at the end of the 19th century or understand what it means to emigrate at the beginning of the 21st century? Who are the present-day emigrants and what does emigration mean to them?

We connect stories and bring people together

The Emigration Museum in Gdynia is a place that is open onto the world. This is where the stories of emigrants and immigrants, human experiences, their hopes and fears meet. To understand who we are today and who we can become tomorrow. Our shared home – 1 Polska. We are all migrants here.

We want to build a reality that welcomes everyone. Regardless of who they are, where they come from and where they live.

Collections

Things have their own history – they speak about people and travels, important places and moments. They are testimonies of their era, carriers of history of the people who looked at and touched them. These are letters, documents, diaries, photographs and personal effects which say more than a thousand words. The Emigration Museum in Gdynia acquired all of them to combine many important stories. Thanks to them – together with you – we want to touch the past.

Thanks to the acquired collections, we can get to know the life of the Polish diaspora better – past and present – to learn something about the centuries-long presence of Poles in almost every country of the globe. We also want to use them to help them reflect on the phenomenon of the exceptional Maritime Station and the entire city of Gdynia, the central point on the map of Polish migration, as best as possible.

Since the beginning of our campaign, we have met with great involvement of people for whom the history of emigration is connected with personal experiences – their own or their families’. Thanks to donations, we managed to collect objects holding emotional value that is difficult to overestimate, but that also have great scientific value. They include souvenirs connected with crossing the ocean on Polish transatlantic cruisers such as the M/S “Batory” and TS/S “Stefan Batory”, and an extraordinary collection of 38 “Emigration Holy Mothers” which gave hope to Polish emigrants. Each day, new items are added to our collections.

The collection of the Emigration Museum in Gdynia has been gathered since 2012. Currently, it consists of over 10,000 items, over half of which have been donated. They can be divided into three main groups:

• Gdynia and the Maritime Station
• Departure and trip
• Life in emigration

Due to the number of items, not all of them can be presented at the permanent exhibition, but all of them have been digitised. Those stored in museum warehouses are carefully secured and maintained.

The building of the Marine Station in Gdynia - the Museum’s headquarters

The Emigration Museum is situated in the very heart of the Gdynia port, at 1 Polska Street. Here stands the historic Passenger Sea Terminal, which was erected during the interwar period. Due to its fascinating history, it is not only the headquarters of the Museum, but also an important part of the narrative that we are presenting.

Why was this specific site selected to house the first ever Emigration Museum in Poland? It was here, that the heart of the pre-war passenger traffic was located. A place where the legendary Polish ocean liners moored, led by MS “Batory”. The building formed the main part of an extensive emigration infrastructure, which also included such facilities as the Emigration Camp in the district of Grabówek and the quarantine hospital in Babie Doły, amongst others. At the time when it was put into operationin 1933, the Sea Terminal was one of the most modern facilities of its kind in Europe. It provided efficient service in comfortable conditions.

The building also fulfilled an extremely important representative function: it was the very last image of Poland remembered by the emigrants, and the very first sight welcoming those arriving from abroad. Its architecture, monumental and elegant on the one hand, and avant-garde and functional on the other, combined the most important features of Gdynia – the pride of the Polish state, and a city open oto the world and modernity.

It was from the Sea Terminal that hundreds of thousands of people left Poland prior to the outbreak of the war. In later years, the oceanic passenger traffic was restored on a more modest scale, and in 1988 the last Polish ocean liner was decommissioned.

The present-day shape of the building is the result of painstaking restoration work and adaptation of the edifice’s architecture to its new role. The building was severely damaged during World War II and waited for 70 years to be fully renovated in order to be restored to its harmonious shape. It was possible to a large extent thanks to the funds from the EU JESSICA programme. The work included an overhaul of the northern part of the Passenger Hall, the interiors were reconstructed and the façades renovated, restoring the bas-reliefs of the eagles and the stuccos of the façade, among others. The solutions proposed by the Arsa Design Studio, in terms of the remodeling of the building, paved the way for the restoration of the Station to its former glory and allowed it to more efficiently utilize its unique, for a cultural institution, location at the very center of the port. Its glass wall with a seaview, a spacious terrace and its facilities for people with disabilities are all part of the rejuvenated face of this historic site. Since 2014, the edifice has been the central landmark of the city again, and its showpiece welcoming the thousands of visitors arriving on some of the largest cruise ships fromall corners of the world , which moor each year right here on the French Quay.

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