City History Exhibition: From Stronghold to Grześki

The city history exhibition was designed as a series of themed mini-displays. The first, The Oldest City, begins in 1233, when the stronghold was moved to a new site. Its objects relate to transport of the time and to images of the city, and the oldest exhibit is a painting by Adolf Lehman from 1833 showing the market square and the guardhouse.

The Fate of the City covers the period from 1793 to the Second World War: the Kościuszko and January Uprisings, the burning of Kalisz during the First World War, its reconstruction and the restrictions imposed on Poles and Jews under the occupation. In the Service of the City presents the Kalisz Fire Brigade, 19th-century community activists and the history of the city's religious communities.

The Enterprising City shows guilds active before 1793 and products of factories founded in the 19th century and between the wars, nationalised after 1945. One of them was Kazimierz Mystkowski's biscuit factory. The City of Knowledge combines 19th- and 20th-century notebooks, school desks and school supplies with portraits of figures such as Stefan Szolc-Rogoziński, Maria Dąbrowska and Adam Asnyk. The display ends with The City of Attractions, with memorabilia of Kalisz sport, cinemas, the theatre and restaurants, and a gallery of old Kalisz photographers.