"Otwarte Muzeum Wrocławia" ("Open Museum of Wrocław") is a project of European Culture Capital Wrocław 2016, which is to spur the residents of Wrocław to become more involved in culture. Wrocław is the only city in Poland which makes its permanent museum exhibitions available for free sightseeing. Free of charge are admissions to city museums, i.e. the City Museum of Wrocław (its branches are: the Historical Museum in the Royal Palace, the Borgeois Art Museum in the City Hall, the Military Museum, the Archaeological Museum, and the Medallic Art Museum at the Arsenal), the Architecture Museum and the Contemporary Museum Wrocław. The project doesn't include the Cemetery Art Museum (the Old Jewish Cemetery at ul. Ślężna).
"According to our observation, the number of visitors increased from 30 to 50 percent, depending on a branch and of course the month" says Ewa Pluta. "Perhaps this is the reason why less people visited us during the Museums Night, as we offer free sightseeing all year long, and not just on that one night. As usual, the most popular exhibition is "1000 lat Wrocławia" ("1000 Years of Wrocław"). We have also noticed that city guides bring in more groups.
The Royal Palace and the City Hall alone were visited by 91,000 visitors this year (data for 3 quarters only). In 2013 there were less of them, only 79,000.
One more institution that also can't complain about the number of visitors is the Museum of Architecture. "Though we were closed from March to July due to renovation works, the number of visitors to free exhibitions grew by ca. 35 percent" says Marta Czyż-Kaczor, the spokesperson for the Museum of Architecture. "Some of the visitors to permanent exhibitions also visited the temporary Archibox, of which, of course, we were glad.
The Historical Museum offers free sightseeing of the "1000 lat Wrocławia" ("1000 Years of Wrocław") exhibition, dedicated to history of Wrocław, from the earliest times to the contemporary. The Arsenal - the Archaeological and Military Museum - hosts permanent exhibitions presenting the earliest history of Silesia, as well as historical, fire and cold weapons. The Museum of Architecture presents, among others, stone details of Silesian architecture from the 12th and 13th centuries, coming from, among others, the famous Benedictine abbey in Ołbin. The Contemporary Museum holds an abundant archive of Jerzy Ludwiński, art critic who influenced the 1960's/1970's Polish artistic scene.
"Many people don't remember that Wrocław offers free museums, and that's too bad, because we are the only city in Poland who does that. In Europe, the only other places to offer free sightseeing are London, for national museums, and Paris, for city museums" points out Ewa Pluta.
Operating from the end of January 2014, runs a pilot project "Kod kultury miasta" ("City Culture Code"), which is a city loyalty programme for visitors, to collect points for visiting exhibitions. They can later exchange the points to concert or theatre performance tickets, film screenings or book discounts.
