Museum of the History of Toruń in the Eskens’ House - The District Museum in Toruń

The Museum of the History of Toruń is located in a 14th-century building commonly referred to as the Eskens’ House. A visit to this place offers an opportunity to travel in time and take a walk through the ages. The climatic interiors of the historic granary serve as a background for a fascinating exhibition Toruń and its History which uses modern and interactive methods to present both the history of the city, from the very beginnings of the settlement to the modern times, and all aspects of the everyday life of its inhabitants.

The prehistoric period and the Middle Ages areshowcased on the ground floor of the building. Toruń is depicted as a Hanseatic city, with flourishing commerce and crafts. The workshops of the city produced dishes, shoes, and everyday objects, and goods were moved to distant places via the Vistula River. The exhibition includes a section devoted to the Toruń New Town which, just like the Old Town of Toruń, was established by the Teutonic Knights, but had a more crafts-oriented character. Visitors to the exhibition will have an opportunity to get photographed in a costume of a knight of the Teutonic Order.

The route to the first floor, which focuses on the modern period, leads through a staircase decorated with an interesting presentation highlighting the most important events in the city’s history. The exhibition includes not only such items as coins, documents, costumes and authentic guild signs, but also a multimedia presentation about the Polish-Swedish wars. Each visitor can also try their hand at building a Catholic or evangelical church out of wooden pieces.

A walk through subsequent floors takes visitors to the post-partition period and the period of the Duchy of Warsaw, presenting e.g. a collection of weapons, documents, and seals. For Toruń, this is the period of construction of the city’s fortress which remains a source of fascination to this day. The staff table located in this room displays multimedia plans of the fortifications. The second floor includes also memorabilia from the period in which Poland regained its independence, information on the city’s presidents and aerial photographs of Toruń. Exhibits from the inter-war period, such as advertisements or brochures of local cinemas, paint the picture of the city’s inhabitants’ everyday lives. The entire exhibition is accompanied and supplemented by a unique film from the 1930s offering a glimpse of Toruń of that time. Of course, the museum presents also items from the World War II era – photos from the occupation, and items reflecting the period of conspiracy and extermination. One of the exhibition’s greatest highlights is an Enigma encryption machine – one of the few which have been preserved in Poland.

The route through the Museum of the History of Toruń ends within a space devoted to the times of the Polish People’s Republic, which for many visitors could be a sentimental journey to their youth. The area is filled with the classic designs of that era, with photographs from the time of construction of the largest Toruń housing estates consisting of pre-fabricated buildings, as well as exhibits recalling the history of Toruń’s sports, culture and art, highlighting the on-going social changes. The difficult political transformations of the post-war years are also depicted within the exhibition.

There are three educational rooms in the basement of the museum which are also available to visitors who can e.g. watch any or all of the 20 videos arranged into a time line which allow them to move freely between the most important events in the history of the city. Another room provides an opportunity to learn more about the everyday life of Toruń’s inhabitants in different time periods. The visitors to the museum can also construct buildings characteristic for various periods using large-format puzzles, dress up mannequins in period costumes,and set a table with old tableware. Finally, each visitor can take a virtual tour of a medieval port and send their families a postcard showing them dressed in historical clothes.

muzeum.torun.pl