Museum of Cieszyn Silesia

The town palace of the Counts of Larisch was built after the great fire of Cieszyn in 1789. Jan Józef Antoni count Larisch von Mönnich - founder of the residence, decided to build for himself a seat that would reflect his social status and property. In 1796 count Jan Larisch bought a small bourgeois house neighbouring with a gentry house at the then Konwiktowa Street - currently Tadeusza Regera Street) that was owned by the Larisch family since the 18th century. Combining the two properties allowed him to start the planned project and build the elegant residence of counts Larisch in 1790-1796.

In 1805 the emperor Francis I invited to Cieszyn his two allies – tsar Alexander I, the grand duke Constantine, marshal Kutuzov and duke Biron of Courland. This was the time when in the Palace of the Larisch family, especially in the so-called Egyptian Hall, concerts and balls were organised for the guests of emeperor Francis. In 1809 the palace became the seat of Albert Duke of Saxony and Teschen, and then the archduke Karl Ludwig Habsburg. In 1817 the palace hosted the emperor Francis I and his wife Caroline Augusta and their retinue. In 1831 the palace was sold to duke Philip Ludwig Saint Genois d’Anneaucourt, who in 1839 sponsored the construction of the third wing of the palace designed by a Vienesse architect Joseph Kornhäusel. In this wing a circular stable was designed (currently a café) over which a ballroom called a Roman Hall was located.

In 1840 the palace was purchased by a barrister dr Antoni Demel (from this moment the palace was called Demel's tenement house), later on it was assigned to subsequent mayors of Cieszyn - Johann Demel von Elswehr (Antoni's son) and Leonard Demel von Elswehr (Antoni’ grandson). The Demel's tenement house was sold to the town in 1918 and on 21 June 1931 became the seat of the City Museum. The new institution was created from the collection of the public museum of father Leopold Jan Szersznik (founded in 1802), ethnographic Silesian Museum (founded in 1903 by the Polish Ethnographical Association in Cieszyn), the municipal Town Museum and private collections.

In 1942 a fire broke out in the Roman Hall that destroyed the entire roof and damaged rooms on the second floor. On 24 January 1966 the museum was closed pursuant to a post-inspection requisition of the Work Inspector of the Culture and Art Officers Trade Union. After an overhaul the museum reopened on 1 May 1969. Due to poor technical condition of the building, museum exhibitions were closed in 1983 and a general overhaul was initiated that included adjustments to modern needs of the museum. The overhaul was finished in 2002. In 2004, the museum received the Wojciech Korfanty Award from the Upper Silesian Union.

The Museum organises museum classes related to the following areas of science:

Ethnography: folk pottery - production and decoration techniques, costumes of Cieszyn and highlanders of Silesian Beskids, painted and carved cases - decoration techniques used in folk furniture production, rituals and habits.

Art: the oldest art on the Cieszyn Silesia, father J.L. Szersznik Museum, burghers of Cieszyn - everyday life, art techniques, European decorative art - on the basis of the collection of B. Konczakowski, residences of the nobility of Cieszyn over the centuries.

History: The Duchy of Cieszyn in the Middle Ages, rulers of Cieszyn: Piasts and Habsburgs, nobility and its role in the history of Cieszyn Silesia, the golden era of Cieszyn or urban economic and social development of the town at the beginning of the 20th century, the split of Cieszyn and Cieszyn Silesia in 1920, from euphoria to tragedy - Cieszyn Silesia in the first half of the 20th century, Cieszyn and Cieszyn Silesia in old photographs.