Muzeum Andrzeja Struga

What to expect

Aleja Niepodleglosci 210, up the staircase, apartment 10A. You walk into the flat where Andrzej Strug - real name Tadeusz Galecki - lived with his second wife Nelly Grzedzinska from 1929 until his death on 9 December 1937. The building dates to 1925-1928, part of the “Ognisko” housing cooperative. Listed as a historic monument. This is his actual home, not a reconstruction.

Strug’s life reads like a novel in itself. Prisoner at the Tsarist Citadel’s X Pavilion (1895-1896), exile to Arkhangelsk, Paris emigre, Pilsudski’s Legionnaire in the First Brigade, senator, Grand Master of the Grand National Lodge of Poland (1922-1925) - this is the only museum address in Warsaw where you can learn about Polish Freemasonry in an authentic setting. On top of that: a writer whom, after Stefan Zeromski’s death in 1925, they called “the conscience of Polish literature.”

The study with his desk, a library, manuscripts, photographs, documents, personal objects. Everything was saved by his wife Nelly - through the war, through the post-war years, through decades. Without her, neither the collection nor the museum would exist. Paintings on the walls, period furniture. The permanent exhibition “Mirages of Reality” presents a panorama of Polish interwar prose with the political novel at its centre.

This is a branch of the Adam Mickiewicz Museum of Literature. Curator Katarzyna Piktel gives tours so engaging that a visit planned for half an hour stretches past an hour. You will likely be the only guest - this is one of Warsaw’s most hidden museums. An article about it was literally titled: “Who knows where the Strug Museum is?”

Tips

• Tuesday 12:00-18:00, Wednesday-Thursday 10:00-16:00, Friday 9:00-15:00. Last entry one hour before closing.
• Normal ticket 15 PLN, reduced 8 PLN. Wednesdays free. Tuesdays -50% through end of 2026.
• Apartment in a tenement building, no lift. Narrow staircase.
• The exhibition is aimed at adults interested in literature and Polish independence history - few visual attractions for younger children.
• Film connection: Strug’s novel “Dzieje jednego pocisku” (History of One Bullet) was adapted by Agnieszka Holland into the 1980 film “Goraczka” (Fever).

Getting there

Metro: Pole Mokotowskie (M1) - 700 m southwest.

Tram: Plac Politechniki stop - lines 10, 14, 15 on al. Niepodleglosci, 700 m north.

Bus: Biblioteka Narodowa stop - approximately 500 m.

By car: Street parking on al. Niepodleglosci - paid zone.

Nearby museums

Literary Mokotow: Wladyslaw Broniewski Museum (51 Dabrowskiego Street, 1 km southeast - another branch of the Museum of Literature), Maria Dabrowska Museum (1 Progi Street, 2 km south). Further: Krolikarnia Sculpture Museum (113a Pulawska Street, 2.5 km south).