Muzeum Historii Medycyny Warszawskiego Uniwersytetu Medycznego

What to expect

The Medical History Museum at WUM is Warsaw’s first and only publicly accessible medical museum. It occupies the Library and Information Centre of the Medical University of Warsaw at 63 Zwirki i Wigury Street – a modern campus between the airport and the city centre.

Founded in 2011 at the initiative of Rector Professor Marek Krawczyk, it continues a tradition of medical collecting that stretches back to the 19th-century Royal University of Warsaw. The collection numbers over 3,500 items: surgical instruments (saws, forceps, hooks, bone scissors), obstetric tools, blood pressure devices from around 1900, glass syringes, interwar sterilisation equipment. Among the rare books: Vesling’s Syntagma Anatomicum (1647), van Helmont’s Ortus Medicinae (1655), and Scultetus’s Armamentarium Chirurgicum from the 17th century with 40 copperplate engravings. In 2025 the collection gained three 18th-century antiquarian volumes donated by the Ministry of Culture.

The main attraction is the Anatomical Theatre – a permanent exhibition opened in May 2021, modelled on the historical anatomical theatres where medicine was taught from the Renaissance onward. It uses 3D mapping and modern multimedia to combine historical narrative with interactive education. Anatomical models (phantoms) allow hands-on experience – here you do not just look, you learn.

Tips

• Monday-Friday 9:30-15:30. Temporary exhibitions on the first floor, Anatomical Theatre on the ground floor. The permanent exhibition is being expanded.
• Free entry. No tickets or reservations for individual visitors. Organised groups can book a guided tour (muzeum@wum.edu.pl).
• Museum Night (May) is the best time – the museum prepares special exhibitions and extends opening hours.
• Museum lessons available for children, teenagers and adults – workshops using anatomical phantoms.
• Lecture series “The Legacy of Asclepius: Medicine versus Humanities” and “The Coryphaei of Medicine in Warsaw” – dates at muzeum.wum.edu.pl.
• Modern building – lift, wide corridors, full wheelchair and pushchair access.

Getting there

Bus: Zwirki i Wigury-Uniwersytet Medyczny stop (lines 175, 188, 504, N32) – directly in front of the campus.

Rail: Warszawa Zwirki i Wigury station (suburban rail) – 10 minutes walk.

By car: Parking on the WUM campus. Approach via ul. Zwirki i Wigury from the city centre or from the airport.

By bike: Veturilo station at the WUM campus.

Nearby museums

Marie Curie Memorial Room (Ochota, ~15 min walk) – remembering Poland’s Nobel laureate. On the neighbouring campus (University of Warsaw Ochota, 93 Zwirki i Wigury): Thugutt Geological Museum – minerals and fossils, free entry, by appointment.