Museum

As of January 1, 1961, the facility came under the management of the newly established Castle Museum, a central institution directly subordinate to the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in Warsaw. It is a multi-department museum of a historical and artistic character, whose organization has been primarily focused on the reconstruction, development and proper maintenance of the castle. Alongside these efforts, the Museum also conducts scholarly research in the fields of Lower Vistula archeology as well as the history of art and culture of Royal Prussia, mainly based on its own collections. The collection, conservation, study and public presentation of works of both historical and contemporary art constitute further important tasks of the Malbork institution.

At the outset of its activity, the Museum possessed only those objects from the former castle collections that had survived the devastation of war and the wave of looting after 1945. Apart from architectural details, these included a small number of medieval sculptures and pseudo-gothic furniture from the late 19th century. Today, among more than 40 000 museum items, there are such valuable collections as one of the largest in Europe collections of medieval architectural elements, a unique worldwide collection of artistic amber works, an impressive set of historical arms and armor, and a rich numismatic collection referring to the historical mints of Malbork. The Museum’s participation in European cultural life has been reflected in the International Biennale of Contemporary Exlibris, organized since the early 1960s, which has placed the castle within the sphere of high-ranking global artistic activity. Continued to this day, it has become the oldest cyclical artistic event in Poland and the most significant manifestation of this field of graphic art in the world. The Museum has also gained wide recognition largely thanks to numerous exhibitions of amber masterpieces abroad. In recent years, they have been presented in leading museums in Germany, the United Kingdom, Finland, Sweden, the United States and Japan.

Today, the castle is the seat of a vibrant museum center, attracting over 800 000 visitors from around the world each year. It serves as a meeting place for scholars and cultural figures, journalists, and politicians, and as a setting for newly produced films and frequently held concerts.

The Malbork Castle Museum sldo has two branches: Castle in Sztum and Castle in Kwidzyn.