Uphagen House (Museum of Gdansk branch)

What to expect

Uphagen House in Gdansk is a museum in which the exhibit is the home itself: Johann Uphagen’s townhouse at ul. Długa 12, where you see the living quarters and the service rooms. The museum calls it the only 18th-century burgher townhouse in Poland, and one of only a few in Europe, that is open to visitors; the English Wikipedia also writes of a handful of such houses in Europe.

The tour takes you through the living rooms as well as the working back of the house. On the ground floor are the kitchen, the pantry and the cook’s room, and there is also the courtyard. On the second floor the former bedrooms and a small salon now serve as temporary exhibition rooms, so what you see there depends on the current exhibition.

Visitors rate the house well: on Google Maps it has 4.3 out of 5 from 1314 reviews (read on 25 October 2026).

Who it suits: anyone curious about how an 18th-century burgher townhouse was furnished, from the living rooms to the kitchen and pantry, and anyone strolling along ul. Długa who wants to step inside one of its townhouses. Who should skip it: wheelchair users will see only the ground floor, that is the kitchen, the pantry, the cook’s room and the courtyard. The building has no lift, some passages are narrow and there are thresholds between the rooms.

How long: the museum says a visit takes at least half an hour. Allow more if you also want to see the temporary exhibition on the second floor. It is a short visit that is easy to fit into a walk along ul. Długa, not a destination for a whole afternoon.

Tips

• Tickets and concessions. Prices: standard ticket 26 PLN (about 6 EUR), reduced 19 PLN (about 4 EUR). Reduced tickets are for pupils, students, pensioners and disability pensioners with a valid ID, and children up to the age of 7 enter free at every branch of the Museum of Gdansk (Muzeum Gdańska).
• A day without a ticket. Once a week you pay nothing to get in: free admission on Mondays. On the museum’s website, also check the closing day (closed on Tuesdays) and the list of holidays on which the branch is closed.
• Thursday is the longest day. On Thursdays the house stays open longer than on other days (on Thursdays 10:00-18:00), so it is the best day for a visit after work.
• Family ticket and pass. The museum’s price list also includes a family ticket for up to 8 people (1-2 adults with children up to 18) and a 90-day pass, full-price and reduced; their prices are on the museum’s website.
• Guide in Polish only. A guided tour costs extra, is given only in Polish and has to be booked several days in advance. If you do not speak Polish, you go round on your own.
• Photos without flash. You may photograph the interiors, but without flash.
• A break in the courtyard. From spring to autumn there are benches in the courtyard of the townhouse, a good place to rest halfway through a walk along ul. Długa.
• Accessibility. The only entrance is from ul. Długa, at pavement level, but the pavement around the building is uneven, and none of the ground-floor toilets is adapted for people with disabilities. The ticket desk has an induction loop; for the duration of your visit you can borrow crutches, a walker, a magnifier and cotton gloves, and the branch’s web page describes the house in easy-to-read text and in Polish Sign Language.

Getting there

• Address: ul. Długa 12, 80-827 Gdańsk; the only entrance is from ul. Długa.
• Public transport: according to the ZTM Gdańsk timetable, the stops closest to the house, about 230-260 m away, are the “Brama Wyżynna” stops. Lines 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 and 9 stop at “Brama Wyżynna 01” and “Brama Wyżynna 02”, and lines 106, 108, 111, 112, 138, 154, 166, 183, 208 and 212, among others, stop at “Brama Wyżynna 03” and “Brama Wyżynna 05”.
• Line 100: according to the ZTM Gdańsk timetable, the “Targ Drzewny 01” stop, about 247 m from the house, is served by line 100.
• On foot from the station: according to tripto.pl, you can walk from Gdańsk Główny station in about 10 minutes, through the Highland Gate (Brama Wyżynna) and the Golden Gate (Złota Brama).

Background

The rooms you see today at ul. Długa 12 were opened to visitors in June 1998, when the Museum of Burgher Interiors (Muzeum Wnętrz Mieszczańskich) opened here. It was not the first museum in this townhouse: a museum was set up here as early as 1911 and ran until 1944.

After its rebuilding in 1953 the house was at first the seat of various institutions. It regained its museum function in 1981, and after further renovations it was opened to visitors in 1998.

The townhouse owes its name to Johann Uphagen (1731-1802), a bibliophile and historian who bought it in 1775. According to the Polish Wikipedia, it was he who had the facade and the interiors remodelled in the rococo style then in fashion. On its website the museum calls the building “Uphagenowska kamienica” (the Uphagen townhouse).