Emeryk Hutten-Czapski Museum – Kraków

The Emeryk Hutten-Czapski Museum is a branch of the National Museum in Kraków. The building was originally the palace home of Emeryk Hutten-Czapski (1828-1896), a Polish Count, bibliophile, and numismatist – he was preeminent collector of all documents related to Poland’s past. With his collection of 11,000 coins, books, and maps, Czapski established in 1883 a private museum in his home, which was enlarged to accommodate his collection.

Closure during the Two World Wars

Although the city’s National Museum had chartered a numismatic museum branch as early as 1879, it was not until 1903 after Czapski’s death that his widow donated his collection to the National Museum through the city of Kraków. Wars twice forced closing of the museum, safeguarding its collection – first from 1914 to 1917; the second from 1939 to 2013 after restoration was needed to create a world-class institution. Over time, many benefactors and numismatists had greatly enhanced the museum’s collection. Today, the museum has more than 109,000 items – the world’s foremost collection of Polish coins and hoards, bank notes, medals, religious medallions, maps, and a library of about 3,000 books. 

On two floors, well-curated exhibits with touch screens throughout provide the visitor with information in both Polish and English. The ground floor galleries begin in the original palace’s parlor featuring ancient Greek Empire, Roman Republic, Imperial Roman, Byzantine, and Celtic coins. In addition, coins of Geto-Dacian origin, those minted by central-European barbaric tribes living during the Roman Empire in what is now modern-day Poland, and coins that have been unearthed in Poland are also on display. One highlight is a rare gold muschel stater (ca. 60-40 B.C.) from the Celtic Boii tribe which was discovered in Kraków in 1935. It is one of the earliest coins minted on Polish territory.