AN OLD INDUSTRIAL PLANT AS A MUSEUM – FROM CONCEPT TO IMPLEMENTATION. SELECTED ISSUES CONCERNING THE PROTECTION OF POLAND’S INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE

Abstract

The article discusses the problem of protecting industrial plants by preserving them in the form of museums established directly in historical production facilities dating from the era of industrialisation. The author presents the trends and plans of selected museums as well as the ways in which they were built; she also deals with the problem of defining the institution of an industrial open-air museum and its specificity. The creation, aims, organisational structure and financing of the Museum of the Old Polish Basin in Sielpia Wielka, the Historical Metallurgical Plant in Maleniec, the Museum of Oil and Gas Industry in Bóbrka and the "Guido" Mine in Zabrze are discussed in their historical contexts as well as on the basis of archival materials and source publications. The common features and tendencies from the Communist period are concluded by describing the communities involved in the protection of industrial cultural values, the idea behind the way the institution is organised, and the sources of financing.