Gdańsk Crane

Medals available from the vending machine in the museum shop!

The Maritime Culture Centre, opened in April 2012, is one of the most modern museums in Poland – as the only institution in the country, it comprehensively and interactively presents maritime themes using multimedia techniques. Despite its contemporary architectural form, featuring partially glazed walls and ceilings, the MCC references Gdańsk’s historic buildings.

Its great advantage is its location on the Motława waterfront – along one of the Old Town’s most popular tourist routes. The Centre adjoins directly to the brick Żuraw (Crane) tower and stretches along the Rybackie Pobrzeże (Fishermen’s Embankment).

The main attraction of the MCC is the interactive exhibition “People-Ships-Ports”. What immediately catches the eye is a huge pool with remote-controlled ship and yacht models. Visitors can organize regattas here, learn how to best set sails relative to the wind, or attempt delicate water maneuvers using tugboats.

Visitors will also learn about port operations and can use a forklift to load goods like rice, cocoa, and fruits into containers. Meanwhile, deep-sea enthusiasts can take the helm of a bathyscaphe for a virtual tour to a shipwreck on the ocean floor. This is Poland’s only exhibition where you can step onto a ship’s bridge, grab the wheel, and attempt to rescue a castaway visible in the distance (on an LCD screen).

The second floor features the “Boats of the World” exhibition with a rich collection of vessels – from an Eskimo kayak to a Venetian gondola. There are 41 boats from countries including Norway, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Tanzania, Panama, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Ghana, Vietnam, and Samoa. Most were gifts from seafarers, mainly Polish ship captains and crews who acquired these valuable objects during voyages from the mid-1960s to late 1980s. The boats are accompanied by photographs of the regions where they were or still are used. Descriptions of ethnographic, geographic, and sociological conditions, along with the history and construction of the vessels, are presented in six multimedia kiosks containing over 1,000 photos and videos.

The third floor is reserved for temporary exhibitions.

The fourth floor houses a restaurant with a terrace offering views of Granary Island and the main seat of the National Maritime Museum, plus the s.s. “Sołdek”. There’s also a conference room accommodating up to 100 people.

The history of the MCC’s plot is noteworthy. Its fate is inextricably linked to the neighboring Żuraw. Visible in 17th- and 18th-century engravings, the building adjacent to Żuraw initially served as a granary, with a steep roof resembling many similar port warehouses across the river on Granary Island. 19th-century photos show a flatter roof and enlarged windows when converted to residential use. Destroyed during WWII, a municipal boiler house was built here in the 1950s. In 1977, the National Maritime Museum took over the building, adapting it for offices, storage, and exhibitions. For over 30 years, this branch was called the “Colonial Warehouse”, referencing its former function.