Geological Museum of the State Geological Institute

On April 3, 1919, members of the Galician Parliament headed by Wincenty Witos appealed to the Sejm of the Republic of Poland to establish the Polish Institute of Geology, which began operating on May 7, 1919. The first director of the Institute was Józef Morozewicz, the professor of the Jagiellonian University - who emphasized that the Institute must have: "A museum that would house a possibly complete collection of fossil specimens found on Polish soil, and that would store originals and material evidence of scientific dissertations, by PGI (Polish Geological Institute) in print published". The first chief curator of the museum was Jan Czarnocki, who created the museum collection. The main collection of the museum consisted of collections collected by geologists, as well as exhibits donated from the Museum of Industry and Agriculture and the Warsaw University of Technology. In 1939, almost 200 collections were registered in the Book of Acquisitions, which translated into several hundred thousand items. During the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, a large part of the museum was burned, and it was possible to save 30% of the specimens. In 1945, under the leadership of Roman Kozłowski, the reconstruction of the Institute and museum collections began. In the 1950s, the museum was decorated with a specimen of salt from the Wieliczka Crystal Caves, a petrified trunk of a Carboniferous gymnosperm tree and skeletons of Pleistocene mammals. The mammoth skeleton exhibited at the PGI museum was assembled in the summer of 1957 from bone materials from the Pyskowice site by prof. dr. Zbigniew Ryziewicz and dr. Teresa Czyżewska from the University of Wrocław. In the 1950s, two permanent exhibitions were launched under the leadership of Dr. Maria Żelichowska: Mineral resources of Poland - on the ground floor and Stratigraphy of Poland - on the first floor. Most of the specimens were placed in desktop display cases, above which there were tables with text and graphic information. In 1970, the museum was enriched with two new exhibitions: petrographic and mineralogical. These exhibitions contained approximately 300 minerals and rocks. On the 90th anniversary of the existence of the Polish Geological Institute, a commemorative plaque dedicated to Paweł Edmund Strzelecki was unveiled, and the main exhibition hall was named after him. == Exhibitions ==

The museum has been divided into eight thematic exhibitions: Material of the Earth, Polish building Stone, Mineral Resources of Poland, Fossilized World, Magmatism, Sedimentation and Diagenesis, Metamorphism, Geological History of Poland 1919-1999. Material of the Earth The "Material of the Earth" exhibition presents almost 550 minerals and rocks from around the world that make up the lithosphere. Based on their chemical composition, the various classes of minerals as native elements, sulfides, halides, oxides and hydroxides, carbonates, sulfates, borates and phosphates, silicates and quartz group are discussed. Magmatism About 150 exhibits include minerals of igneous rocks and various types of rocks formed as a result of magmatic melting, products of volcanic eruptions of post-magmatic processes. In the exhibition, the themes are displayed in images as well as illustrations and diagrams. Metamorphism "Metamorphism" exhibition features descriptions of over seventy specimens from around the world, including minerals and formed rocks, representative of three types of sedimentary environments: terrestrial, transitional, and marine. Sedimentation and Diagenesis The exhibition describes the sedimentary environments, the sedimentary and biogenic structures associated with them. Over seventy specimens from around the world represent three types of sedimentary environments: terrestrial, transitional and marine. Geological History of Poland 1919-1999 The exhibition in the main hall of the museum presents the geological history of Poland, from the Archean to modern times, using showcases marked with standard stratigraphic colors and presenting specimens from each geological system. The displays offer general information about each era and period, including typical fossils, rocks, and minerals found in specific regions of Poland. Other exhibits include skeletons of Quaternary mammals, a dilophosaurus model, dinosaur footprints, and Carboniferous and Neogene tree trunks. The exhibition is complemented by geological maps of Poland, a stratigraphic table depicting the evolution of the organic world, a board illustrating the distribution of continents throughout Earth's history, and a diorama featuring models of the first land tetrapods. == Gallery ==

Mamut włochaty Muzeum Geologiczne w Warszawie.JPG|Mammuthus primigenius Blumenbach Coelodonta antiquitatis 1.jpg|Coelodonta antiquitatis Blumenbach Ursus spelaeus skeleton left.jpg|Ursus spelaeus Rosenmüller Dilofozaur PGI.jpg|Dilophosaurus wetherilli == See also ==