Muzeum w Lęborku

The nucleus of the museum was a collection formed in the late 19th century under the auspices of the church and local community members and enthusiasts. The first relics were accidental archaeological finds, including stone hatchets, hatchets, Pomeranian culture facial ashtrays, bronze ornaments and coins.
After the city hall was completed in 1900, the collections found their place in the new building and were displayed in the corridor in glass cabinets. As early as 1904, county calendars ("Heimat Kalender für den Kreis Lauenburg in Pommern") were published on the initiative of a group of community members involved in the establishment of the museum. The first museum exhibition combined with a scientific session on the past of the Lębork region was organized from May 7-12, 1924, in the hall of the town hall.
In 1925, the collection was moved from the town hall to the County Office building, where a permanent exhibition was arranged, prepared by Edward Stielow - director of the County Welfare Office and also acting as social manager of the collection. The exposition was of a prehistoric nature and archaeologist Doc. Dr. Helmut Agde, who lived and taught at the Teacher Training College in Lębork (formerly Lauenburg), took part in its organization.
The museum's area of operation was Lębork County. The catalog of the collection at the end of the 1930s included 1600 items. The collection also included exhibits of Gothic sculpture, armaments and the so-called corner of Pomeranian folk ceremonies.
During the war, the collection was housed in the starost's offices under the care of Edward Stielow, the museum's social manager. The encroachment of Soviet troops into the city and the making of a field hospital in the starosty, in the final period of the war, resulted in the partial destruction of the collections and their dispersal. Many of the antiquities ended up in a dumpster in the starosty's garden. Some of them decorated the officials' office rooms. It is worth mentioning that already during the war many antiquities were taken to Germany or were dispersed to local landed estates and schools.
In the period from July 1945 to August 1948, Józef Mularczyk served as county clerk for culture and art at the Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Poland in Lębork; during this period he also held the social function of guardian of museum monuments on behalf of the Minister of Culture and Art in Warsaw. Jozef Mularczyk, together with the pre-war museum manager Edward Stielow, worked on collecting the remains of the pre-war collection. A huge amount of work was put in by the aforementioned Edward Stielow in the search for places to store the relics.
In 1946, the collection was partially opened to the public in a 1913 bourgeois house (three-story) at 14-15 Mlynarska Street, where they occupied 4 rooms of the second floor. Until 1945, the above-mentioned tenement house was owned by the Nipkow family, owners and entrepreneurs in the interwar period connected with, among other things, brewing and trade.
After the war, a number of scientific centers (including Gdansk, Poznan and Warsaw) were interested in the Lębork collections in order to acquire them for their collections. In the late 1940s, a decision was made to transfer them to the Archeological Museum in Warsaw. Protests by Jozef Mularczyk caused the decision to be reversed and the monuments - already impoverished - remained in Lębork.
The first permanent exhibition was opened on August 5, 1952, after ad hoc renovations. It was titled "Archaeology of Lębork County". The scenario for the said exhibition was developed by the Pomeranian Museum in Gdansk.
In 1951-1953, the museum's collection, after Jozef Mularczyk resigned as manager, remained under the care of only a janitor.
On April 1, 1953, Waclaw Kolodziejski became the head of the museum. Until the end of 1963, the Lębork museum remained on the budget of the Pomeranian Museum in Gdansk. Since 1964, the museum passed to the budget of the Presidium of the District National Council in Lębork. At that time, the museum facility had only two full-time positions, i.e. facility manager and museum assistant.
From 1970 to 1990, the post of director was held by Elżbieta Skarbek-Wąsiewska (archaeologist). During this period, the museum conducts excavation work, among other things, on the site of an early medieval stronghold in Bialogard. A contemporary art gallery, "Steep Stairs", operating at the museum, is being established.

From 1990 to 1999, the director of the museum is Elżbieta Kal (art historian). During this period, the "Steep Stairs" gallery operates dynamically, where temporary exhibitions were - and still are - organized mainly in the field of contemporary art by artists from Poland and abroad.

In December 1999, Mariola Pruska (archaeologist, museologist) became director of the Museum and Gallery "Steep Stairs" and has been so until now.

Currently, the museum occupies all floors of the tenement house at 14-15 Mlynarska Street, as well as the adjoining rooms on the side of the annex. The Lębork museum develops and provides access to, among other things, collections on the history of the city and region, ancient art, archeology, ethnography. It was and is the organizer of historical seminars as well as lectures and workshops for organized groups. The "Lębork Historical Brotherhood" association operates at the museum and publishes the quarterly "Historical Bulletin" together with the museum. It is also a co-organizer of the city's festivities, i.e. St. Jacob's Fair and many other events.

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