The remarkable thing about the Ossolineum is that it began in Lwów in 1817 and has made its home in Wrocław since 1947. Founded by Count Józef Maksymilian Ossoliński, it is far more than a library: it works as a cultural foundation, archive, research centre and publishing house. Its publishing imprint has continued without interruption since the early nineteenth century, making it Poland’s oldest continuously operating Polish-language publisher.
This institution was created when Poland did not exist as a sovereign state. Ossoliński built a library, archive and printing operation to keep Polish learning and literary culture connected. In Wrocław, its Polish collection has grown into the country’s most extensive, with manuscripts associated with figures including Copernicus, Mickiewicz, Słowacki and Sienkiewicz.
Its survival is also a story of devastating loss. During the war and the political upheavals around it, collections were looted, dispersed and destroyed; only about a third of its objects and printed material reached Wrocław. Mieczysław Gębarowicz and other staff preserved crucial holdings through exceptional dedication.
Today the Ossolineum ranks second among Polish institutions of its kind, behind Kraków’s Jagiellonian Library. If you want to go inside, it is open weekdays from eight until eight, and on Saturdays from nine until two.
