Esterka's House in Kraków

Esterka's House is a historic tenement house in Kazimierz, at Krakowska 46, on the corner with Trynitarska Street. Today it belongs to the Ethnographic Museum and serves mainly for temporary exhibitions, education and the museum's library.

From Gothic cellars to a Neoclassical roof

The oldest cellars of the building date from the 14th century, and Gothic stonework from around 1430 and from the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries has survived to this day. The house was rebuilt almost every century, the last time in 1876, and it owes its present appearance mainly to rebuilding at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. The wooden ceilings, wall polychromies and ceiling rosettes date from the end of the 18th century. The roof is Neoclassical, a mansard roof, known as the Kraków roof.

The building originally stood in the southern frontage of the former Kazimierz Market Square, a small remnant of which is plac Wolnica. According to the Wikipedia entry, it is the only surviving residential house from that square. In the 16th century it belonged to the architect Bartolomeo Berrecci, then to his daughter Anna. The name refers to the legend of Esterka, the Jewish beloved of Casimir the Great. The heritage register entered the house in 1968.

Esterka's House as a branch of the museum

After renovation in 1978-1985 the house was handed over to the Ethnographic Museum in 1987. Earlier, in the 1950s and 1960s, a coffee bar called "Esterka" operated here. Today the building holds temporary exhibitions, a library, a secretariat and educational workshops. Close by stands the Old Synagogue in Kraków, and Oskar Schindler's Enamel Factory can easily be added to the route.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Krakowska 46, Kraków (Kazimierz).
• Opening hours, tickets and accessibility for people with disabilities are given on the Ethnographic Museum's website; check them before your visit. The programme of temporary exhibitions changes.