“Poznańskis: Palace. Power. Posterity” is the new arrangement of the first floor of the Palace of the Poznański Family—the headquarters of the Museum of the City of Łódź. Interiors that once served residential and representative functions now house an exhibition that tells the story of the Poznański family and their residence.
The exhibition relies on a restrained narrative in order to direct visitors’ attention primarily to the palace interiors themselves. On the one hand, they are meant to be a feast for the eyes; on the other, they have been arranged to include clues that make it easier to read the palace’s history and understand the world of its former owners. In some rooms, original elements of décor and furnishings have survived, making it easier to determine their original function and thus clearly suggesting the form and content the exhibition should take. Other rooms stay silent, leaving space for conjecture and interpretation—thus the arrangement serves as a reminder that many facts about the palace and the Poznański family still await discovery.
The visitor route opens with a room devoted to Izrael Poznański and his path to success, and it ends with an encounter with the family’s contemporary descendants. Along the way, a chronological story of the Poznańskis and their industrial empire—from the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries through the interwar period—unfolds in the background. Visitors learn about it, among other ways, through exhibits and props such as reproductions of newspapers and documents.
The exhibition is the result of many years of research and conservation work, enriched by the museum’s experience in working with the public. Its final form was shaped by curatorial and scenographic efforts, including the careful selection of museum pieces, the reconstruction of interior decorations, and the preparation of props and replicas. The arrangement was prepared during an anniversary period—both for the palace itself (the 120th anniversary of its construction in 2023) and for the institution tasked with caring for this heritage (the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Museum of the City of Łódź in 2025).
Director: Magda Komarzeniec
Curators: Anna Łagodzińska-Pietras, Adam Klimczak, Beata Kamińska
Subject-matter consultation: Natalia Scegielniak-Glica
Set designs: Maja Pawlikowska-Kobylińska, Filip Appel
Interiors restoration and conservation: Atlant Luiza Milewska
Restoration and conservation of museum objects: Anna Frankowska, Atlant Luiza Milewska
Digitalisation: Małgorzata Nadachewicz
Reprints and props: Filip Appel, Dominika Śliwińska
Application: AV Group, Filip Appel, Marcin Olczak
Films: Stefan Brajter, Wytwórnia Filmów Oświatowych Sp. z o.o.
Exhibition coordination: Ewelina Skorupa with Bartosz Krzemień and Jarosław Zajączkowski
Accessibility coordination: Paulina Długosz
Translations: Wojciech Owczarek, Małgorzata Pawlikowska
Visual identity: Izabela Jurczyk
Production and preparation of print materials: Tomasz Kochelski, Michalina Życzyńska-Konsztat
Promotion: Magdalena Makówka, Adrianna Tkaczyk
Assembly: Sebastian Glica and his team: Jarosław Barański, Jacek Borchun, Wiktor Dzwoniarek, Piotr Nowicki, Marcin Sadłowski, Paweł Sobolewski, Piotr Stankiewicz
Collections management: Anna Karbowiak, Michał Maciuk, Paweł Zaremba, Maja Czarnecka