Henryk Teisseyre Geological Museum
ul. Cybulskiego 30
50-205 Wrocław
Tel. (71) 375 93 27
muzeum.geologiczne@uwr.edu.pl
www.muzeum-geologiczne.uni.wroc.pl
Valid entry ticket required (prices available on the museum’s website).
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays: 9 am – 3 pm
Tuesdays, Thursdays: 9 am – 5 pm
Saturdays: 10 am – 3 pm
During the holiday period the museum is open Mondays to Fridays 10 am – 3 pm and on Saturdays (by prior
arrangement).
Director: Stanisław Madej PhD
Staff: Urszula Kosarewicz PhD, Anna Setlik MSc, Joanna Białek Msc
The Geological Museum of the University of Wrocław, one of the oldest institutions of its type in Poland, and even in Europe, has a vast collection of rocks as well as animal and plant fossils. The exhibits have been gathered since the early 19th century and come from all over the world. The current collection, of more than 20,000 specimens, was amassed thanks to the work of 400 collectors, many of whom are renowned geologists and palaeologists. The beginnings of geological museology at the University of Wrocław date back to 1812 when the Mineralogical Cabinet was established, housing collections of minerals, rocks and fossils. In 1868, the Cabinet was transformed into the university’s Mineralogical Museum and by the end of the 19th century the collections were divided into two themed museums: mineralogical and geological-palaeontological. Their resources, which were considerably diminished due to the Second World War, were moved in 1945 and put in the care of the Institute of Geological Sciences, where they were made accessible to researchers and the public in the 1960s and 1970s. The Geological Museum was officially reactivated in 1981; it operates on the basis of the regulations formulated in the charter of the University of Wrocław. The museum’s exhibits are divided into four scientific collections and a didactic one. Most of these exhibits are the fossilized plants (land plants dating from the Silurian period to present times, with the European Carboniferous and Neogene periods being particularly well represented) and animals, mainly invertebrates – including numerous index fossils. The collection of more than 13,000 catalogued items includes hundreds of nomenclatural types and specimens documenting the age of the rock series in the Sudetes. The rock collection includes petrographic, sedimentologic, tectonic and deposit samples documenting mainly the geological composition of Lower Silesia, complemented by interesting specimens from other regions of Poland and abroad. The Geological Museum provides access to the specimens for scientific purposes and teaching activities both on-site and by lending them to different institutions. The main hall of the museum (110 sq. metres) and the historic hall house 1,200 items; the exhibition themes include the geology of Lower Silesia, evolution of the organic world on the basis of macrofossils, and the history of the museum. Workshops and lessons in the museum are held in the Chamber of Ancient Creatures (Komnata Pradawnych Stworzeń).
Anna Setlik, Paweł Raczyński