Museum of Holy Father John Paul II

The family home of Karol Wojtyła is located at 7 Kościelna Street (formerly: Rynek No. 2). At present this is a site of the Museum of Holy Father John Paul II. The tenement house, built in the 19th c., was owned by Seweryn Kurowski, chemist, a longtime Deputy Mayor of Wadowice. In 1905 it was bought by the confectioner Józef Lisko, who six years later sold it to Yehiel Bałamuth, a merchant, president of the Jewish community and a town councillor. Apartments of the first floor were rented by lodgers, among others by Emilia and Karol Wojtyła, who moved here after World War I. The Museum occupies the former apartment of the Wojtyła family and the adjacent premises on the first floor. The Museum was established by the Metropolitan Curia in Cracow, the then parish priest Fr. Edward Zacher and the Town Office. It was opened on 18 May 1984, the Pope’s 64th birthday. The permanent exhibit includes photographs from the childhood, school years and youth of the future Pope, as well as from the time he was an auxiliary parish priest, bishop, cardinal, and Pope. Visitors can see copies of school transcripts, diplomas, manuscripts (e.g. of the Our God’s Brother play). Some furnishing from the old apartment have been preserved intact; they are the kitchen tile stove, some utensils, a shelf, a table, a laundry basket, and family portraits. The Museum also exhibits skis, an oar, a backpack, a cap, a prayer book, and four cassocks: from the time he was a priest, bishops, cardinal, and Pope. The layout of the exhibit was worked out by Marek Rostworowski, with photographs by Adam Bujak. The proprietor of the tenement house, Mr. Ron Balamuth from the USA (who inherited it from his father Chaim, son of Yehiel) sold it to the Polish entrepreneur Ryszard Krauze, who on 31 March 2006 transferred the property to the Archdiocese of Cracow.

aw, KAI //mam