Museum of the History of Medicine and Pharmacy
ul. Jana Kilińskiego 1
15-089 Białystok
Tel. 85 748 54 67 / 748 54 05
muzeum@umb.edu.pl
www.umb.edu.pl/muzeum
Admission charges (please see the museum’s website).
Tuesdays – Fridays: 10 am – 5 pm
Saturdays – Sundays: 9 am – 5 pm
The Museum reserves the right to change the visiting hours of guided tours for individual visitors. Group tours (advance booking is essential).
Director: Magdalena Muskała MD PhD
Staff: Katarzyna Szarejko MA, Łukasz Baranowski MA, Dominik Klucznik MA, Piotr Wieczeński BA.
The Museum of the History of Medicine and Pharmacy at the Medical University of Białystok (UMB) was established in May 2011 pursuant to Order no. 22/11 dated 31 May 2011 of the Rector and Senate Decision no. 27/11 dated 24 May 2011. The museum is located in the main seat of the Medical University of Białystok, the former Branicki Palace, one of the most interesting Baroque residences in Central and Eastern Europe – in the 18th century it was called the ʽPolish Versailles’. The museum cultivates the medical heritage of Białystok, a tradition that goes back to the 17th-century owners of the city. Today’s palace still reveals traces of the medical traditions of the 18th-century Institute of Midwifery, as well as the German field hospital which functioned here during the First World War, which have been continued by the Medical University since 1950. The main aim of the museum is to preserve the medical and pharmaceutical heritage created in the borderlands of the Polish Crown and Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The collections comprise more than 10,000 items from different fields of medicine and pharmacy dating from the 18th to the 21st centuries. The main part of the museum is located in the right wing of the palace, where the royal physicians had their apartments in the early modern era. This wing now houses the surgical, radiological, stomatological, anatomical, gynaecological, ophtalmological, laryngological and pharmaceutical collections. The history of the university and of the Branicki Palace is presented in a new multimedia exhibition in the palace’s 17th-century cellars. It is part of the university’s historical Walk into the past which was opened to visitors in September 2018, and was financed by the European Union.
The museum provides a scientific and teaching base for students of the university in the history of medicine and pharmacy. Furthermore, it safeguards the university’s heritage and documents the reminiscences of its alumni. Museum workshops are organized to promote a knowledge of medicine among primary and secondary school pupils. To reach a
wider audience – the local community and tourists visiting the region – the museum hosts several cultural events, including the Night of Museums, European Heritage Days, the Podlaski Festival of Science and Arts, European University Heritage Day, and flm festivals.
Magdalena Muskała MD PhD, Marta Piszczatowska PhD MSc
