Museum of Kościerska Land named after Dr Jerzy Knyba in Kościerzyna

The Museum began its activities on 2 April 2007 as a separate, self-governing cultural institution, with Mr Krzysztof Jażdżewski as its director. Throughout 2007 its activities were based on the internal organisation of the institution and the preparation of temporary exhibitions and publishing activities, which resulted in the publication of the first issue of the Ko¶cierzynskie Zeszyty Muzealnych and the publication Z dziejów Kurkowego Bractwa Strzeleckiego w Kościerzynie.  The next stage in the development of the Kościerzyna museum and the expansion of its activities was the acquisition in April 2009 of the Kościerzyna Locomotive Depot, which had been operating since 1992, and its incorporation as a branch of the Railway Museum into the structure of the Kościerzyna Region Museum.  In November 2010, the Kościerskie Land Museum opened its second branch, the Accordion Museum. This is the first facility in Poland dedicated solely to this instrument, so popular in Kashubia. In the years 2010-2013, it was located in the building of the Kościerskie Culture Centre, and now, since January 2014, it has had its seat on the ground floor of the Kościerskie town hall.  On 21.04.2012, after five years of activity, the Museum of Kościerska Earth in Kościerzyna received its patron. On that day our museum was solemnly named after Dr Jerzy Knyba - Honorary Citizen of the City, activist, community worker, educator and teacher of many generations of residents of Koscierzyna, but above all historian and ethnographer, and creator of the Koscierzyna museum.  The Dr Jerzy Knyba Museum of Kościerzyna has a permanent museum exhibition devoted mainly to the history of the city and the land of Kościerzyna. It also introduces distinguished Kashubian activists, writers, painters and their works. The whole exhibition is divided into 3 sections:  1) the Department of History and Culture of the Kościerna Region, where exhibits and boards depicting the history of Kościerzyna and the Kościerna Region, as well as the culture of the people living there, have been placed. An interesting element of the exhibition are archaeological findings from the area of the Kościerna poviat; 2) Ethnographic Section containing various kinds of handicrafts of the Kashubian people (furniture, embroidery, weaving, sculptures, dishes) depicting everyday life of the Kashubians in previous centuries;  3) the Nature Section, where exhibits depicting the fauna of the Kościerzyna Region have found their place (currently the section is on deposit in the Forest Education Chamber in the Kościerzyna Forest Inspectorate, ul. M. Skłodowskiej-Curie 6).