Między kurkiem a tarczą: A History of Polish Sport Shooting - Museum of Sport and Tourism, Warsaw

The exhibition “Między kurkiem a tarczą. Historia polskiego strzelectwa sportowego” (A History of Polish Sport Shooting) tells the story of the sport of shooting in Poland in six chapters, from crossbows and the first firearms to Olympic medals. The Museum of Sport and Tourism in Warsaw prepared it together with the Polish Sport Shooting Federation (Polski Związek Strzelectwa Sportowego). It opened on 21 October 2026 and, according to the museum, will be on until January 2027.

The Museum of Sport and Tourism in Warsaw on the exhibition (our translation):

We invite you to an exceptional exhibition which, in six fascinating parts, brings closer the rich and in part dramatic history of the sport of shooting in Poland: The beginnings and growth of the shooting movement - from crossbows and the first kinds of firearms to the flourishing of sports sections in the interwar years. The tragic toll of the Second World War - the results of research into the human losses among shooters, including a moving list of the names of twenty athletes who fell or were murdered. The hard work of rebuilding, and successes - a post-war history full of great achievements, led by 12 Olympic medals and many World and European Championship titles. In the central part of the exhibition we have prepared something special for visitors. You will be able to watch film footage of sports competitions and also test your own precision and take an accurate shot at a target!

What to expect

According to the exhibition texts quoted by the warszawa.pl portal, the six chapters are, in order: the 14th to 19th centuries, the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the years 1918-1939, the Second World War, post-war reality and Olympic successes. On the exhibition page the museum describes three threads: the beginnings and growth of the shooting movement up to the flourishing of sports sections in the interwar years, the toll of the Second World War, and post-war rebuilding and successes. According to the ZKS Warszawa club, the author of the exhibition is Dr hab. Robert Gawkowski.

In the part devoted to the war, the museum shows a list of the names of twenty athletes who fell or were murdered. The organisers write that they compiled it for the exhibition, summing up the human losses among sport shooters, and that it is only the tip of the iceberg.

The museum presents the post-war part as a history of great achievements, led by 12 Olympic medals and many World and European Championship titles. Among others, the exhibition text recalls Renata Mauer, who at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta won a gold medal in the 10 m air rifle and a bronze in the rifle three positions, and four years later won again at the Games in Sydney. According to warszawa.pl, the display is built around a shooting target laid on the floor, and Renata Mauer’s rifle is set into a glass column.

In the central part of the exhibition you can watch film of sports competitions and take a shot at a target yourself; the organisers write of a film of contemporary competitions.

Context

The Polish Sport Shooting Federation (PZSS), co-organiser of the exhibition, was founded in 1933 and is based in Warsaw. Its founding congress was held on 23 April 1933, the same day on which two earlier shooting associations dissolved. Today the PZSS is the national sport association for shooting and belongs to the international federation ISSF.

The first chapter of the exhibition begins in the 14th century, and the museum mentions crossbows and the first kinds of firearms. According to Wikipedia, the first fowler brotherhoods (bractwa kurkowe) on Polish lands arose at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries; at the opening of the exhibition the president of one of them, the Bractwo Kurkowe im. Jana Kilińskiego in Warsaw, gave a speech.

Tickets and time

• Where: at the Museum of Sport and Tourism, in the Olympic Centre (Centrum Olimpijskie) at ul. Wybrzeże Gdyńskie 4. Directions are on the museum profile.
• When: from 21 October 2026. The museum wrote on Facebook that the exhibition can be seen until January 2027.
• Hours: according to the opening hours page, the temporary exhibitions are open at the same hours as the permanent exhibition: Tue, Thu-Fri: 9:00-17:00, Wed: 9:00-20:00, Sat-Sun: 10:00-17:00, Mon: closed. The museum is closed on Mondays.
• Ticket: the museum’s rules require a museum admission ticket, bought according to the price list, before entering the permanent exhibition and the temporary exhibitions: standard ticket 35 PLN (about 8 EUR), reduced 25 PLN (about 6 EUR). The permanent exhibition and this exhibition can therefore be seen on a single ticket.
• Day without charge: free admission on Saturdays. The rules extend this to the temporary exhibitions and exclude only exhibitions not organised by the museum. The museum prepared this exhibition together with the PZSS, so the rule applies to it.
• On the same visit: the permanent exhibition “Dzieje sportu polskiego i olimpizmu” (The History of Polish Sport and Olympism) is open at the same hours and needs the same ticket, so it is worth planning both exhibitions together.
• Who it’s for: people interested in the history of sport and in Polish Olympic successes, those who want to learn the history of shooting from crossbows to the Olympic Games, and visitors who want to try a shot at a target themselves.
• Who can skip it: anyone who comes only to shoot. The shot at a target is one element of the central part of the exhibition, which is above all a historical story in six chapters.

What the press says

• warszawa.pl (26.10.2026, text signed “Muzeum Sportu i Turystyki, Redakcja”): the exhibition offers plenty of knowledge about the history of sport and shows unusual photographs, and the authors of the text warmly recommend it. The text is signed by the museum and quotes the exhibition texts, so it is not an independent review. - article (in Polish)
• ZKS Warszawa club blog (22.10.2026, Agnieszka Dziedzic): the exhibition will interest both people who have been involved in shooting for years and those just discovering the history of the discipline. The lecture at the opening was given by a member of the club. - post (in Polish)

Updates

• 2026-10-21 - the exhibition opened. It was opened by the museum’s director Aleksandra Czechowicz Woźniak, the author of the exhibition Robert Gawkowski and Piotr Śliwowski of the PZSS, and the programme included the lecture “Ze strzelectwem przez wieki” (Shooting Through the Ages) by Zbigniew Rybka of ZKS Warszawa. Robert Gawkowski and Piotr Śliwowski guided the guests through the exhibition, at the end two-time Olympic champion Renata Mauer and the president of the Bractwo Kurkowe im. Jana Kilińskiego in Warsaw spoke, and members of the Związkowy Klub Strzelecki fired an honour salute in front of the Olympic Centre building. The guests could also try shooting, but the sources describe the gun differently: according to warszawa.pl it was an air pistol, according to the museum’s report on Facebook a laser pistol fired at an electronic target (sources: ZKS Warszawa, warszawa.pl, the museum’s report, all in Polish).
• 2026-10-26 - the museum wrote on Facebook that the exhibition can be seen until January 2027 (source: the museum’s post, in Polish).

See also

• Museum of Sport and Tourism in Warsaw - the museum profile with the permanent exhibition “Dzieje sportu polskiego i olimpizmu” (The History of Polish Sport and Olympism), open at the same hours as the temporary exhibitions.
• By Bicycle on the Roads and Byways of the Kingdom of Poland

Museum profile: Museum of Sport and Tourism in Warsaw.