Photo from the Werner family collection

Exhibits

The Norblin Factory Museum tells the story of the place now known as Norblin Factory. The history of the plot of land located at 51/53 Żelazna Street in Warsaw began at the end of the 18th century. It was then that the land was purchased by Franciszek Ryx, butler and trusted man for special missions of the last king of Poland, Stanisław August Poniatowski. On the land, Franciszek built villas with two outbuildings and established an English-style garden, fashionable at the time. His heir, bearing the same name and surname, Franciszek Ryx, nicknamed “Major” after the rank given to him in the Napoleonic army, extended one of the outbuildings by one storey to create a residential building.

Permanent exhibition

The permanent exhibition of the Norblin Factory Museum is based on four core trails: “Buildings and Architecture”, “Machines and Equipment”, “Products” and “People”. An additional trail combining the most important and interesting highlights of the core trails is “Norblin’s Factory in a Nutshell”, led by museum guides.

The most interesting and important trails are “Buildings and Architecture” and “Machines and Equipment”. They highlight objects within the historic Norblin Factory entered in the register of historic monuments. Equally interesting (although not based on objects entered in the register of historic monuments, an integral part of the Factory), is the “Products” trail, which presents the original historical products of the Factory. The “People” trail takes you on a walk through the factory streets and squares which have their patrons: historical figures connected with the Factory, after whom they are named.

Walking time along each trail, depending on the commitment and fitness of the visitors, should take between 50 and 90 minutes.

“Norblin Factory in a Nutshell” trail

Recommended as the first option to discover the history of the complex at a glance, it takes you through the most important and interesting stations of the four core trails.

Here you can see the relic of Ryx’s villa and a hydraulic compensating accumulator, walk along Ludwik Norblin Street and learn about the decorative styles of silver-plated goods manufactured at the Factory. We are positive that after visiting this trail, museum guests will want to deepen their knowledge on the thematic trails: “Buildings and Architecture”, “Machines and Equipment”, “Products” and “People”.

“Buildings and Architecture” trail

It takes you through the immovable monuments of the Norblin Factory, telling its story through the lens of factory architecture.

Along this trail you will see ten buildings, from the oldest to the youngest, from those erected in the pre-factory period, including the relict of the outbuilding of Franciszek Ryx’s villa from the late 18th century, to the youngest ones created in the 1930s, including the annexes forming the Burdening Hall. While viewing the buildings on this trail, you will learn about the history of their transformation resulting from the destruction inflicted by World War II and the Warsaw Uprising. The most interesting points on this walk include: the relic of Franciszek Ryx’s outbuilding, the Burdening Hall, the Foundry Hall (eastern elevation) and the auxiliary administrative and residential building (with the relic of the second outbuilding of Franciszek Ryx’s villa) – the tenement house at the corner of Żelazna and Łucka Streets; both buildings date from the second half of the 19th century.

“Machines and Equipment” trail

It follows the preserved full manufacturing line of the former factory.

Even though this is a production line of the post-war “Warsaw” Metal Rolling Mill, used for the manufacture of prefabricated products (special tubes, bars, sections and wires), half of these machines originate from the pre-World War II or even pre-World War I period, and some of them are of Norblin, Buch Brothers and T. Werner’s own production. Moving along this trail, you will follow the material from which the products were made, from one set of machines to the next. On this trail, museum visitors can see 50 machines and pieces of equipment dating from the late 19th century to the 1950s. At the heart of the Norblin Factory’s production line is the 1000T press unit, which can be discovered in great detail by watching a large-scale animation. The most interesting part of the trail is the assembly of the hydraulic compensating accumulator, one of the four preserved devices of this type in Europe next to, among others, the Tower Bridge accumulator.

“Products” trail

It presents original silver-plated (and not only) metal goods made at the Norblin Factory from the mid-19th century to 1940. The trail is divided into two routes.

The first one, “Styles”, presents objects grouped by style of decoration: Rococo, Louis XVI, Art Nouveau, Art Déco. The tour begins with a showcase dedicated to the production of the prefabricated pieces, which formed the basis for the creation of silver-plated goods, and ends at the showcase arrangement of the factory’s pre-war showroom located historically at 127 Marszałkowska Street in Warsaw. The second route of this trail, “Themes”, takes you to showcases where objects are grouped according to their use. Here you can see objects used in lighting, as restaurant or home furnishings, to store sugar and spices and prepare coffee and tea. Both routes of the “Products” trail present around 400 catalogue objects (more than 600 individual items). The museum’s silver-plated goods collection is based on the collection of Walenty Królikowski, developed over more than 40 years and purchased by the Norblin Factory Museum.

“People” trail

It takes you through the streets and squares of the Norblin Factory.

This walk is a great opportunity to learn about different personalities who have influenced the history of the factory as well as whole families and groups of people. The main axis of the Norblin factory (east-west), bearing the name of Ludwik Norblin, introduces visitors to the French family Norblin de La Gourdaine who settled down in Poland. The second most important axis (north-south), bearing the name of Teodor Werner, introduces the German Werner family who also settled down in Poland. The oldest representatives of both families came to Poland as far back as the times of the First Republic, the era of King Stanisław August Poniatowski. The link between the two families was forged by Albertyna, Ludwik’s sister and Teodor’s wife, who also has a street named after her in today’s Norblin Factory. Her figure inspires reflection about the role of women in building and developing 19th century Warsaw industry. Walking along this trail, you will pass the Factory Employees Square and the passages dedicated to its directors: Stefan Przanowski and Henryk Zabłocki. One of the squares is named after the long-standing director of the Museum of Technology, Jerzy Jasiuk. By advocating the inclusion of the former factory buildings in the register of historic monuments in 1982, he saved them from demolition. There is also a square on this trail that has two patrons: Jan Piotr Norblin and Stefan Norblin, the first and the last of the Polish Norblin family, who were not industrialists producing silver-plated goods but artists (painters).

Temporary exhibitions

Norblin Factory in a nutshell

The most interesting and important paths are ‘Buildings and Architecture’ and ‘Machinery and Equipment’. It is on these that we can see objects that are elements of the historic Norblin Factory, entered in the register of monuments. Equally interesting, although not based on objects entered in the register of monuments and forming an integral part of the Factory, is the Products path, where we can see the original historical products of the Factory. The People trail is a form of walk through the factory streets and squares, which have their patrons – historical figures connected with the Factory, whose names they bear.

Visitors begin their journey through the history of this remarkable place from the end of the 18th century, when it was still owned by Franciszek Ryx, butler to King Stanislaw August, through the glory years of the Norblin, Buch Brothers and T. Werner plant, to the post-war activities of the plant, now operating as “Walcownia Metali Warszawa”.

The museum also presents the fate of the site after 1982, when factory production ceased. Visitors learn about the history of the Werner and Norblin families, profiles of the factory’s historically significant figures – including Franciszek Ryx, or Julia Keilowa – an outstanding inter-war designer who created for the most important Polish plating factories, and see an impressive collection of the then extremely popular wares.

Exhibits

Permanent exhibition

Temporary exhibitions

Norblin Factory in a nutshell

Norblin Factory Museum

Opening hours

Museum

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