Maritime Culture Centre

The Maritime Culture Centre (Ośrodek Kultury Morskiej) is the branch of Poland's National Maritime Museum where the sea, ships and ports are explained through play and hands-on discovery. Its striking, unconventional building sits on the Motława river on Tokarska street, right next to the medieval Crane, and it is the newest of the museum's sites in Gdańsk's historic port.

What stood here before?

The centre was built on the site of the Colonial Warehouse, a building attached to the Crane. After the war it housed a boiler room, and in 1977 it was taken over by what was then the Central Maritime Museum. Construction of the new building took three years, and it opened in April 2012. Since then the Crane and the centre have been close neighbours: a medieval port crane and a modern science centre about the sea, only a few steps apart.

What is there to see?

The centre's programme is built around three exhibitions.

"People–Ships–Ports" interactive room

This part is designed for children and families. Rather than looking at objects behind glass, visitors try things out for themselves: steering and commanding a vessel, handling cargo in a port, travelling underwater in a bathyscaphe and seeing how tsunami waves form. Some exhibits can be explored by touch, which helps blind and partially sighted visitors.

"Boats of the Peoples of the World"

This maritime ethnology exhibition shows how different cultures solved the same problem: how to build a boat that survives on the water. The collection of traditional craft runs from a Venetian gondola to a Far Eastern sampan, and it invites you to compare hull shapes, materials and means of propulsion from around the globe.

"The Baltic. Sea of Green Energy"

Since 2024 the centre has hosted an interactive temporary exhibition about wind. It traces how wind forms, how people have harnessed it through history, and how offshore wind power is developing in the Baltic today.

Who is it for?

Families with children get the most out of it, because the displays ask you to do things rather than just read labels. Adults will still find plenty to enjoy, especially in the boat gallery, one of the more unusual ethnographic collections in the museum. The exhibitions are wheelchair accessible, and the lift is also adapted for visitors with visual impairments. Exhibition texts are designed with partially sighted visitors in mind.

How does it fit into a day in Gdańsk?

The centre is a natural stop on a walk along the Motława. It stands beside the Crane, and across the river are the Ołowianka granaries, home to the museum's main site, together with the museum ship "Sołdek" moored at the island. The museum sells combined tickets for several branches, so the whole complex can be planned as one outing.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Maritime Culture Centre the same as the National Maritime Museum? It is one of the National Maritime Museum's branches. The museum's main site is in the granaries on Ołowianka island, across the Motława.

Is it good for children? Yes. The interactive room was created specifically for children and families, and play is the way in to learning about the sea and ports.

Where exactly is the building? On Tokarska street, on the Motława waterfront, directly next to the Crane.

Is the building historic? No. It is a modern building that opened in 2012 on the site of the former Colonial Warehouse.

Is it accessible for visitors with disabilities? Yes. The exhibitions are wheelchair accessible, there is a lift, and some exhibits in the interactive room can be explored by touch.