Lublin Open Air Village Museum (Lublin)

Lublin Open Air Village Museum (Lublin)

The Lublin Open Air Village Museum presents the ethnographic diversity of the former Lubelskie Province in a picturesque landscape. The life of the Second Polish Republic society – inhabitants of villages, manor houses and towns – is illustrated by historical architecture and exhibits reflecting customs, rituals and daily work. Through museum, educational and popularisation activities, the museum preserves and promotes knowledge of the material and immaterial culture of the area between the Vistula and the Bug.

Objects representing Jewish cultural heritage have been acquired for the Lublin Open Air Village Museum since the 1970s, i.e. since the inception of the Lublin open-air museum, in order to commemorate the everyday life of the pre-war inhabitants of the villages and shtetls of the Lublin region. Many of these were acquired with a view to preparing model exhibitions in the Town sector, which included, for example, two Jewish kitchens or the flat of a Jewish signboard painter. The museum's collection includes objects used by the inhabitants of the Lublin region and objects removed from their original historical context. The collection primarily centres on the religious life of the followers of Judaism and their rituals but also includes a small number of objects related to everyday life. In addition to the manufactured products, which were known and distributed throughout Poland, there are also local touches, e.g. bottles for pejsachówka (kosher slivovitz) made for distilleries in the Lublin region.