Ethnography of Pomerania
The Department of Ethnography of Pomerania was created in 1983, however collecting ethnographical relics began in 1945. At that time several objects (ca. 600) taken over from German museums, mainly Landesmuseum in Szczecin, were put into the collection. Cultural and ethnic transitions, that Western Pomerania underwent especially in the 20th century, are visible in multi-regional character of the collection. Presently, it amounts to over 7 thousand exhibits. They include relics illustrating German folk culture of Pomerania, objects from various regions of Poland within its boundaries from before the second world war, brought by migrants and settlers after 1945 and objects made in our times. The leading collections include: objects related to fishing and agriculture, craftworks, (among others, blacksmithery tools, weaving tools, plaited wares, furniture, ceramics, glass), fabrics and elements of folk costumes, folk artworks, traditional Pomeranian ceremonial and everyday use objects. Read more ...
Contemporary Art
Since the museum in Szczecin was created after the war, collecting and popularization of contemporary art have been one of the main tasks of its public activity. First acquisitions appeared in the Polish most recent art collection as soon as in 1946. Simultaneously with efforts to obtain artworks by authors who defined the most important trends in Polish art, systematic documentation of the output of Szczecin’s and Pomeranian artistic environment was initiated. On account of cultural traditions and the location of the city, during first decades of building the collection, a particular emphasis was put on maritime issues. In mid 1960s, a decision was made to create a collection of contemporary foreign art, to complement the Polish one. Now Szczecin’s contemporary art collection consists of over five thousand works (including around 500 objects of foreign art). It includes paintings, graphics, drawings, sculptures, objects and installations as well, as applied arts. In 2005 the collection was enriched by a deposit of over 250 objects of Regionalna Zachęta Sztuki Współczesnej in Szczecin; dominated by works by artists of the field of so-called new media. Read more ...
Middle Ages
The collection of early medieval and medieval artefacts is to a significant extent the result of numerous excavations carried out in necropolises, places of worship, settlements, hill forts and towns in Western Pomerania. The range of artefacts is very wide. The so called hacksilver, collective finds of deliberately cut silver items (ornaments and coins), weighing up to a few kilograms is a precious part of early medieval collection. A bronze Romanesque bowl discovered near Nowe Objezierze, decorated inside with images of crowned figures and scenes referring to the myth of Hercules is a unique find. Read more ...
Antiquity
Collection from the Pre-Roman, Roman and Migration Period were uncovered mainly on archaeological excavations on burial sites and settlements going back to the time between final centuries before Christ and the close of antiquity. However, there is no lack of hoards or single finds, including bronze, silver or gold coins minted in the Roman Empire as well as Byzantine ones. Among this part of archaeological collection particularly worth noting are grave goods, especially finds uncovered in graves of aristocracy buried in the area of Lubieszewo, furnished with, among others, numerous imports from the territory of the Roman Empire. Of interest is also intricate and elaborately decorated jewellery of precious metals, such as silver bracelets or fibulae with gold appliqué. Unique finds include also a big, stunning silver and gold plated fibula dated at the final stages of antiquity. Read more ...
Bronze Age
The collection of finds from the Bronze Age and the early Iron Age (2000 BC – ca. 4th century BC) is the most extensive part of the collection of the National Museum in Szczecin. It abounds with collective finds (hoards) of bronze objects including jewellery, accessories, elements of horse harness, tools and weapons. Finds include also objects of gold, such as decorated armlet from Letnin. At the core of the collection are finds uncovered within settlements, primarily rich assemblages of grave goods including pottery and metal finds uncovered on numerous burial sites dated at the middle and late periods of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age. Read more ...
Stone Age
Collection from the final period of the older and middle period of the Stone Age (Final Palaeolithic and Mesolithic) include primarily single tools and whole assemblages of finds made of flint, uncovered mainly on archaeological excavations in the area of the oldest human settlements in Western Pomerania. They are accompanied by artefacts made of bone and antlers. Among them particularly conspicuous are artefacts representing art of hunter-gatherer cultures of the Stone Age – insygnia from Rusinowo and perforated baton (bâton de comandement) from Szczecin-Podjuchy – covered with rich decorations with images of humans. Collection dating at the younger Stone Age (the Neolithic) are richer both formally as well as in terms of the raw material used. They include finds uncovered in the area of villages as well as in graves of the oldest farming and pastoral cultures populating the territory of Western Pomerania between 5000 and 2000 BC. The most numerous assemblages of artefacts were uncovered on archaeological excavation in Pyrzyce Land, in the vicinity of Szczecin, on Wolin Island and in the neighbourhood of Cedynia. Among goods of daily use, such as pottery, tools and weapons made of flint and rock, accessories of bone and antlers, worth noting is an amulet made of amber: a figurine of a bear, which was found in the area of Słupsk. This unique find combines simplicity with apt representation of the shape of an animal displaying exceptionally soft lines and elegance of form highlighted by the character and colour of the raw material. Figurka niedźwiadka z bursztynu odkryta w torfie w okolicach Słupska, środkowa lub młodsza epoka kamienia, 10,2 x 4,2 x 3,5 cm, fot. G. Solecki/A. Piętak Author: No Data Insygnium z poroża łosia wydobyte z kredy jeziornej w okolicach Rusinowa (powiat świdwiński) przewiezionej do pobliskich Powalic, schyłek starszej epoki kamienia, 40,5 cm, fot. G. Solecki Author: No Data Przedstawienie postaci ludzkiej – ornament ryty na insygnium z poroża łosia wydobytym z kredy jeziornej w okolicach Rusinowa (powiat świdwiński), schyłek starszej epoki kamienia, fot. G. Solecki Author: No Data Przedstawienie postaci ludzkiej – ornament ryty na przedmiocie rytualnym z poroża jelenia wydobytym z Odry w Szczecinie-Podjuchach, środkowa epoka kamienia, 34,6 cm, fot. G. Solecki/A. Piętak Author: No Data Topór z poroża jelenia odkryty w bagnie w rejonie Krzecka (powiat świdwiński), 22 x 26 cm, środkowa lub młodsza epoka kamienia, fot. G. Solecki/A. Piętak Author: No Data Harpun z poroża sarny wydobyty z Odry w okolicach Polic, młodsza epoka kamienia, 25,9 cm, fot. G. Solecki/A. Piętak Author: No Data Zdobiony przedmiot rytualny z poroża jelenia wydobyty z Odry w Szczecinie-Podjuchach, środkowa epoka kamienia, 34,6 cm, fot. G. Solecki/A. Piętak Author: No Data Haczyk rybacki z poroża jelenia wydobyty w Raduszu (powiat bytowski), środkowa epoka kamienia, 14,1 cm, fot. G. Solecki/A. Piętak Author: No Data Zdobiony sztylet z kości jelenia znaleziony w okolicy Niezabyszewa (powiat bytowski), środkowa epoka kamienia, 21 cm, fot. G. Solecki/A. Piętak Author: No Data Sztylet z kości jelenia lub renifera odkryty pod stosem kamieni polnych w okolicy Stolca (powiat policki), schyłek starszej lub środkowa epoka kamienia, 17,6 cm, fot. G. Solecki/A. Piętak Author: No Data Harpun z kości jelenia z rejonu Gniewina (powiat wejherowski), środkowa epoka kamienia, 18,1 cm, fot. G. Solecki/A. Piętak Author: No Data Naczynia gliniane, narzędzia krzemienne, ozdoba z muszli ostrygi i szable dzika z wyposażenia grobu odkrytego w Karsku (powiat pyrzycki), młodsza epoka kamienia, fot. G. Solecki/A. Piętak Author: No Data Naczynia gliniane, prawdopodobnie z wyposażenia grobu, znalezione w Dołujach (powiat policki), młodsza epoka kamienia, wysokość: 14,5 i 9,2 cm, fot. G. Solecki/A. Piętak Author: No Data Topór kamienny z Dzwonowa (powiat stargardzki), młodsza epoka kamienia, 13,1 cm, fot. G. Solecki/A. Piętak Author: No Data
Archaeology
Rich collection of archeological relics, including tens of thousands objects hand-made before ages, as well, as numerous archive material remaining under the care of Archaeology Department, are the oldest collection of the National Museum in Szczecin. The history of collecting them began nearly 200 years ago and dates back to the beginning of preservation of historic monuments of Pomerania and systematic collecting interests of 19th-century enthusiasts and researchers of Pomeranian antiquities. The storage covers relics accidentally discovered by the inhabitants of Pomerania, collections given by former collectors, and, above all, groups of objects discovered as results of regular excavations. Read more ...