The historical and regional collection of Albin Makowski (1908-1982) is open to the public by courtesy of the Museum in the collector's former apartment located on the ground floor of the tenement house at 5 Drzymały Street.

Its origins date back to 1926 and the collection consists of archives, family heirlooms, numismatic items, sculptures, paintings cold weapons, arts and crafts related to the history of Chojnice and the ethnography of the region.  A document from the Pomeranian prince Barnim X from 1557, an altar retable made by David Bohr in 1765, and a portrait of priest B. Makowski by Tymon Niesiołowski and specimens of Chinese porcelain are the most valuable pieces gathered there. The valuable collection of 4,831 items, including 28 old prints, is kept in the form of a separate collection in the museum library. In 1963, the collection was entered into the register of monuments, a statutory form of administrative and legal forms to protect cultural assets in Poland. According to Albin Makowski’s last will, it was given to the city and since 1983 has belonged to the Historical and Ethnographic Museum in Chojnice.

Albin Makowski was a lawyer by profession, regionalist and a lover of the town. Born in Berlin to a family of Polish immigrants, he moved to Chojnice after the First World War. After graduating from high school, he worked in the town hall and also acted as an editor of local newspapers. He fought in defense of Warsaw, later in the underground, and from November 1942 was a prisoner of the Stutthof camp. He graduated from law studies at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń in 1948. He was also the founder and member of numerous associations and regional movements in Chojnice.