The National Museum in Poznań was founded in 1857 and it's one of the oldest and biggest museums in our country. Originally it was named Wielkopolska Museum and was transformed into the National Museum in 1950.
The first collection in the musum was the Museum of Polish and Slavic Antiquities. As the next step of building the Poznan's art stage in 1870 the museum bought a unique private art collection from aristocratic born Polish art historian Edward Rastawiecki. In 1894 first Prussian museum was founded on a territory of Poznań which currently is know as Gallery of Art and Sculptures and contains mostly Polish and European paintings.
During the World War II many of our valuable pieces of art were looted by German military. In addition numerous of museum's exhibitions were destroyed due to the war actions. The renovation works began immediately after the war ended - in 1945. Many of the stolen art works were eventually retrieved by the Polish government.
Currently the National Mueum in Poznań includes the following branches:
- National Museum in Poznań
- Museum of Applied Arts
- Museum of Musical Instruments
- Military Museum of Wielkopolska
- Etnography Museum
- Museum Palace in Rogalin
- Adam Mickiewicz Museum in Śmiełów
- Gołuchów Castle Museum
- Museum of the History of Poznań