Museum of the Department of Anatomy, Collegium Medicum, Jagiellonian University

The Anatomy Museum, that is the Museum of the Department of Anatomy of the Jagiellonian University Collegium Medicum, is the largest and oldest anatomy museum in Poland. It is housed in the Theatrum Anatomicum building at ul. Kopernika 12.

Beginnings of the collection

The collection began in 1803, when twelve bone specimens and foetuses arrived from Vienna. During the Second World War the anatomy lecturer Stanisław Kohmann secretly removed specimens in order to teach at the clandestine Jagiellonian University.

Three rooms of collections

The museum has over 2,000 specimens in three rooms. The first holds bone specimens, comparative anatomy and anthropology. The second holds wet specimens, that is organs, sections and foetuses with developmental defects preserved in formalin, as well as corrosion casts of blood vessels. The third room shows the most valuable specimens from the Teichmann period. It is a medical exhibition with human specimens, and for that reason it is not for everyone.

Neighbourhood

The museum lies in the Old Town, close to the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre and the Czartoryski Museum.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Kopernika 12, Kraków.
• Admission from the age of 16, by prior appointment. Contact: anatomia@cm-uj.krakow.pl.
• Photography and filming are prohibited. A visit takes about an hour.
• The museum has a summer break, and the hours and dates are worth confirming on the department's website before your visit.