Copper Museum in Legnica

The Legnica Museum was established in 1879.Its building and rich collections were destroyed in 1945. Established only in 1962, the present Copper Museum inherited nothing from this pre-war museum and had to be organized from scratch. For its headquarters it received the former palace of the Cistercian abbots, erected between 1726 and 1728 by Ludwig Bauch, abbot of the monastery in Lubiaz. The abbot’s coat of arms cartouche was placed above a portal topped by a balcony with figures of St. John the Baptist and St. Hedwig. This edifice, as well as the Knights’ Academy located next door, and St. John’s Church and the former Jesuit College opposite, today form a unique complex of Baroque architecture located in the center of the city, right next to the Market Square. The second museum building is a 19th-century building, adjacent at right angles to the Baroque palace, located along St. John’s Street. A lapidarium has been arranged at the rear of both edifices.

For any museum, however, the most important thing is its collections. The Museum of Copper in Legnica has managed to collect more than 30000 of them over the forty years of its existence. To a large extent, these are relics documenting the history and culture of Legnica from prehistory to the present day. They consist of objects from the field of archaeology (prehistoric and medieval ceramics, stone tools, objects made of bronze, iron, wood, bone, leather), numismatics and medal making, artistic craftsmanship, painting, graphics, photography, philocartistry, cartography. This category also includes manuscripts, documents, old prints, biographical materials, seal presses, banners, sienkiewicziana.

Since prehistory, Legnica and its environs have been known for the processing of copper and bronze, and since the Middle Ages also for its mining. Thus, the museum has a collection of copper minerals from all over the world, relics of copper mining and smelting technology, collections of various utilitarian and artistic objects made of copper and its alloys – tools and weapons, simple vessels and household utensils, but also intricately decorated creations of the craftsmanship of casting, smithing and boiler-making. The wide range of uses of copper as a material in art is complemented by collections of ancient and contemporary bronze sculpture and a collection of copper engravings.

While remaining faithful to the fields chosen years ago, the Copper Museum also strives to seek new areas of collecting activity. A collection of contemporary Polish goldsmiths has been built up for twenty years, based on the achievements of artists of the interwar period, later years, as well as participants in Legnica silver reviews. The second new field of collecting is sovietica. Even before the liquidation of the Russian garrison in Legnica, the museum began collecting materials and objects illustrating the stay of this army in our city.

The realization of the two main lines of interest of the Copper Museum is best illustrated by the most important projects of recent years.

In terms of the region’s history and culture, these were:

exhibitions: “Legnica and Silesia on old maps” (1997), “Trams in Legnica 1898-1968” (1998), “Treasures of the Legnica archive” (1998), “Legnica monuments” (1999), “From the history of the Legnica press” (2000), “Legnica around 1900”. (2001), “Baroque in Silesia” (2001), “Op nederlanse manier”(2001), “Martial Law in Silesia” (2002), “Beniamin Bilse. On the centenary of the death of the Legnica musician and composer” (2002), “F.B. Werner – Silesian illustrator and topographer” (2002).
International scientific conferences: “History of monasteries and monastic life in Legnica” 1996, Silesia numismatica. Minting of the Duchy of Legnica and Brest” (2000), “Friedrich Bernhard Werner (1690-1776). Life and works” (2002).
On copper issues:

exhibitions: “Copper Coin on Polish Lands” (1997), “Copper from Palace, Church and Manor” (1997), “Silesian Copperplate” (1997), “Bronze, Blue, Gold. Collection of the Starowieyski family” (1999), “Copperplate workshop” (2000), “Ancient bronzes” (2000), “Copper minerals” (2002).

The public was also presented with a rich selection of other exhibitions on a variety of subjects. The most popular, however, was a series of monographic exhibitions presenting the work of outstanding Polish artists of the 20th century: Henryk Rodakowski (1998), Jacek Malczewski (2000), Olga Boznanńska (2001), Piotr Potworowski (1998), Wlastimil Hofman (1999), Jan Lenica (1999). This year the exhibition of Polish art from the Tom Podl collection was very popular. Another important event was the opportunity to present his own exhibition “Silver fascinations” at the Polish Museum in America (Chicago).

The Copper Museum has two branches: the Legnica Battle Museum in Legnickie Pole and the Pavilion with relics of the Romanesque Chapel in the castle courtyard. The museum also has, on the adjacent grounds, the largest lapidarium in Lower Silesia, a permanent exhibition of architectural details and stone decorative elements of old Legnica buildings (14th-19th centuries).

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