Podlaskie Museum – Historical Museum in Bialystok

Medals available at the main entrance!

The Historical Museum at 37 Warszawska Street

This Art Nouveau residence with classicist influences stands as one of Białystok’s finest architectural gems. Its facade blooms with sunflower motifs, laurel branches with berry clusters, and wreaths intersected by vertical bands – all hallmarks of the Secession style. The interior retains original stucco ceilings (originally polychromed), woodwork, and a staircase with wrought-iron railings, with ongoing restoration work to revive its former splendor.
A Building with Many Lives:

1910-1913: Expanded by Wolf and Berta Luria under builder Antoni Roleder’s supervision

1923: Purchased by textile magnate Samuel Hirsz Cytron, who housed educational authorities

Interwar period: Hosted tax offices and the Polish Sightseeing Society

WWII: Occupied by East Prussian organizations, then Soviet military administration

Postwar: Served as security offices until becoming the Museum of the Revolutionary Movement (1976), later transformed into the Historical Museum in 1990

The Cytron Industrial Dynasty:

Samuel Hirsz Cytron, who acquired the Bucholtz textile factory in Supraśl (est. 1838), became a key figure in Białystok’s industrial revival after WWI. His factory repurposed military bandages into cloth and employed 300+ workers by 1922. The family fled to the US before WWII.
Collections & Mission:

The museum’s 70,000+ artifacts (including objects, iconography, archives, and numismatics) chronicle the city and region’s history through:

Permanent exhibitions

Research projects

Educational programs