Folk Culture of Gdańsk Pomerania

The Ethnography Department of the National Museum in Gdańsk is housed in the three-story building of the Opacka Granary, erected during the time of Abbot Franciszek Mikołaj Zaleski at the beginning of the 18th century. The completion date of its construction (1723) is visible on a cartouche placed above the entrance arch, carved at the base of the Godziemba coat of arms.

The exhibition presented inside concerns traditional forms of rural economy of various ethnic groups inhabiting the area of Gdańsk Pomerania: Kashubians, Kociewiaks, Borowiaks, Powiślans, Żuławians. The material gathered in the exhibition allows tracing the basic occupations of these ethnic groups, related to daily existence, such as fishing, farming, animal husbandry, and domestic food processing. It covers a period when peasant economy was still largely self-sufficient, and many necessary tools and equipment were produced in-house.

Chronologically, the exhibition covers the period from the mid-19th century to the second half of the 20th century, although many of the items displayed retain a form reaching back much further in time.

The natural conditions of this cultural area, numerous rivers and lakes, and the sea coast, created favorable conditions for the development of various forms of fishing. The exhibition shows a wide variety of tools, from the simplest, used for individual fishing, to more complex ones, both in terms of construction and method of use.

Farming and the associated animal husbandry were the most important occupations of the inhabitants of Pomerania, forming the basis of their livelihood. The tools gathered in this part of the exhibition illustrate the entire cycle of agricultural work: soil loosening, plowing, plant care, harvesting, and threshing.